the westinghouse coin drycleaning machines question

[stan]

Thanks for posting Robert

Thats impressive for self service machine.
Looking at diagram and reading above..it’s makes more sense to me.
However that trap (86) is something that needs daily cleaning by someone who would have known how to service it. Those clog up quickly and can cause the pump to suck dry and burn up if not caught in time.
The machines I worked with..well I knew the sound of a clog or a pump sucking dry.
Cleaning that trap was usually done daily at the end of each day to ready the machine for next morning.
I once was cleaning a down comforter and a seam busted loose and that trap and pump let me know it real quick!
The trap had to be removed and blown out with an air gun and pump sometimes had to be primed with solvent.
Certain stains were or treated with a water based pre treater but stain removed and dried with the same air gun on the spotting board before going into machine.
The detergent..Staticol I believe was the name of it..was added at 1% and sizing at 1% to the total volume of solvent in working tank. So it also make sense as to why it says “increased detergent dose not increase the systems potential for spot removal”
Water soluble stains really needed to be dealt with prior.
Every garment already had a certain amount of moisture in it (relative humidity) even if it felt dry, and you’d want the least amount moisture possible entering the system.
I’m still curious about this coin op machine..who drained and changed filter? Who recharged solvent? Who kept that trap clean during operation?

 

[frigilux]

There’s were two Westinghouse dry cleaning machines at the laundromat in the small town of 2,000 I grew up in. There was a local dry cleaning business in town—owned by a classmate’s parents, in fact—and I always knew the weeks when money was tight in our household because we’d take dry cleaning to the laundromat instead of to the “cleaners.”

 

[thedrycleaner]

westy drycleaning machne-what would be the equivalent?

thanks fellows for all the great writing. also much thanks to stan for mentioning me about the filter powder. we must talk sometime. what would the westy washer dryer equivalent be? thanks Bill

 

[neptunebob]

We had a coin operated dry cleaner....

There was an attendant there because the dry cleaning process would take over an hour and people would leave after putting the coins in. I just vaguely remember it, had to be around 1970 and the next year a Dunkin Donuts went in there that is still there.

I guess the environmental regulations were not as strict back then because later on, a regular dry cleaner in another community went out of business nearby and it had an expensive cleanup because it was a Superfund site back in the 80s. Only now is there any other development after a huge amount of dirt was removed and replaced.

I thought coin op dry cleaners went away because they were an environmental disaster. the machines were not as well sealed as professional machine would be and maybe people might open one in the middle of the cycle and let all the PERC fumes out. Also, most legitimate dry cleaners will clean things like sofa cushion covers by the pound without all the pressing a suit would need. Mom did that once, and the covers came back on hangers, covered with the dry cleaning plastic.

Reading all that Stan had to do with the PERC solvent it is a wonder we don't have a Superfund site on every street corner. It had to be worse in the 50s, when people dressed up sharper than they do now and thus used a dry cleaner more often.

There were rumors going around that PA DEP might ban PERC in Pennsylvania and if that happens I heard most dry cleaners will just retire than get something else (if there is a something else, is there?). I have read that dry cleaning machines that use CO2 can cost upwards of a Million dollars which most cannot afford.

I guess if that happens, the world around here is going to look more casual.

 

[neptunebob]

We had a coin operated dry cleaner....

There was an attendant there because the dry cleaning process would take over an hour and people would leave after putting the coins in. I just vaguely remember it, had to be around 1970 and the next year a Dunkin Donuts went in there that is still there.

I guess the environmental regulations were not as strict back then because later on, a regular dry cleaner in another community went out of business nearby and it had an expensive cleanup because it was a Superfund site back in the 80s. Only now is there any other development after a huge amount of dirt was removed and replaced.

I thought coin op dry cleaners went away because they were an environmental disaster. the machines were not as well sealed as professional machine would be and maybe people might open one in the middle of the cycle and let all the PERC fumes out. Also, most legitimate dry cleaners will clean things like sofa cushion covers by the pound without all the pressing a suit would need. Mom did that once, and the covers came back on hangers, covered with the dry cleaning plastic.

Reading all that Stan had to do with the PERC solvent it is a wonder we don't have a Superfund site on every street corner. It had to be worse in the 50s, when people dressed up sharper than they do now and thus used a dry cleaner more often.

There were rumors going around that PA DEP might ban PERC in Pennsylvania and if that happens I heard most dry cleaners will just retire than get something else (if there is a something else, is there?). I have read that dry cleaning machines that use CO2 can cost upwards of a Million dollars which most cannot afford.

I guess if that happens, the world around here is going to look more casual.