SorbIts® Laundering Process

Our state-of-the-art petroleum solvent dry cleaning operations are designed to clean our SorbIts® products and water-sensitive materials such as leather gloves. We use petroleum solvent instead of the more common retail dry cleaning solvent called perchloroethylene. Perchloroethylene (also called PERC) is a colorless, nonflammable liquid commonly used in the dry cleaning industry that has been labeled by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a Group 2A carcinogen.

Soiled products are washed in 50 to 500-pound capacity washer-extractors. The machines remove the soil by agitating and dissolving it in solvent, much like paint thinner cleaning a paintbrush. This process is repeated several times. The product is centrifugally extracted a final time and then transferred to a solvent recovery dryer for drying. The dryer evaporates and recondenses the residual solvent, which is reused. The products are then inspected and delivered to the customers for reuse.