Environmentally friendly dry cleaners opens second location in San Diego

provided by San Diego EarthWorks

angers Cleaners, the world's first environmentally friendly dry cleaner, celebrated the opening of its second location in San Diego by announcing a donation program for San Diego EarthWorks, a volunteer-based, nonprofit organization. Hangers downtown will donate twenty-five cents for every dry cleaning garment in its first three months of operation. Owner Gordon Shaw says, “We are proud to offer the first environmentally friendly alternative to traditional dry cleaning and to give back to the community in which we do business.”

    Hangers uses state of the art cleaning machines and specialized detergents that dissolve in liquid carbon dioxide – just like the CO2 used to carbonate sodas. This patented process eliminates the pollution and health risks associated with traditional dry cleaning solvents. CO2 is an environmentally friendly garment care alternative that is also gentler on clothes than traditional methods, significantly reducing lint and fading, and therefore extending the life of garments.

    The new Hangers is in the Renaissance Condo Tower at 101 West G St. in San Diego. Gordon Shaw describes this and the existing store opened two years ago in the Fenton Marketplace, 2169 Fenton Parkway, Suite 1054, San Diego as the only 100% all natural liquid carbon dioxide dry cleaners on the West Coast. As the entire industry slowly moves to alternative solvents from the widely used perchloroethylene, Hangers is on the cutting edge in its dry cleaning technology.

    A recent article in Consumer Reports (Feb. 2003), stating that CO2 cleaning was the best alternative to perchloroethylene (which was actually based in part on cleaning results from Gordon's Hangers), has had a significant impact on interest in Hangers by customers in San Diego and by others around the country.

    Hangers is the leading CO2 dry cleaner chain in the country, with more than 40 stores in New York, Austin, Houston, Little Rock, Lincoln, Orlando, Madison and throughout North Carolina. New stores will be opening later this summer in Vancouver, Kansas City and Edmonton.

    Gordon began his career as a dry cleaner in 1978. He owned and operated five plants and three agencies between 1978 and 2000. He says of his first experience with CO2 dry cleaning at a Hangers location in North Carolina, “On the plane back to San Diego I felt more excited and energized by my industry than I had in years.” Shaw thoroughly believes in the maxim, “Don't resist change, embrace it.” He was about to do some big time embracing. The next day he put his last plant up for sale and started looking for locations.

    There are now two Hangers Cleaners locations here in San Diego and more to come. Hangers Cleaners and San Diego EarthWorks are both committed in service to increase awareness, encourage leadership, and inspire action toward a healthy, prosperous, and sustainable future for all living things. Clean clothing and a clean environment, a good idea that's time has come.

    Hangers Dry Cleaners, www.hangersdrycleaners.com, San Diego EarthWorks, www.EarthDayWeb.org