July 2009
GREENEARTHSOLUTIONS
It was standing room only at GreenEarth’s booth when the exciting new polymer laundry technology from Xeros was being demonstrated.
GreenEarth booth makes a big splash at Clean Show 2009 The GreenEarth booth at the Clean Show is always busy, but this year, it was downright crazy. As we did at Clean Show 2007, we built a giant GreenEarth sandcastle in the booth during the convention. There is something about watching a seven-foot tall sand sculpture actually take shape that is hard for the kid in all of us to resist. Everyone loved it. And they loved learning the reason we build the sandcastle is because the silicone used in the GreenEarth dry cleaning process is essentially liquified sand. It’s a fun way to demonstrate our difference, and an attraction we will be sure to repeat at Clean Show 2011 in Las Vegas.
This year we added another big attraction to the GreenEarth booth: demonstrations of a revolutionary new technology called Xeros. A patented aqueous cleaning system that cleans clothes with 90% less water than conventional laundering systems, Xeros holds great promise for the dry cleaning industry, both environmentally and economically. GreenEarth is partnering with Xeros to bring the technology to North America (see story on page 2). Demonstrations of Xeros cleaning in action, held two to three times daily, drew huge crowds, the largest of any exhibitor. While a laundry rig was washing shirts
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with week-old stain sets, people watched as Steven Jenkins, a world-class polymer physicist, conducted an amazing demonstration of the polymer science behind the cleaning. After his demonstration, the 30 minute wash cycle finished and the shirts came out beautifully clean! The Xeros process was invented by Professor Stephen Burkinshaw at the University of Leeds. After spending decades perfecting technology to lock dyes into nylon fabric, one day he realized that stains behave molecularly just like dyes and that the process could be reversed to clean laundry. What a serendipitous discovery it was!
GREENEARTHSOLUTIONS July 2009
“We honestly believe this has the potential to change how the world does laundry. Xeros promises to be a perfect fit with GreenEarth on the dry side. Together these technologies will offer the lowest possible carbon footprint in retail dry cleaning.” Ron Benjamin
GreenEarth partnering with Xeros to distribute exciting new laundry technology GreenEarth has been chosen as the exclusive distributor of Xeros technology for retail dry cleaners in North America and GreenEarth Affiliates around the world. What is Xeros? It’s a revolutionary, patented technology that replaces conventional water-based laundering with a polymer-based system, enabling operators to clean effectively with 90% less water and considerably less energy. Xeros Ltd. has world leading know-how in the area of polymer cleaning. The core system uses tiny nylon beads that clean stains off garments and absorb the dirt into the bead itself. The beads can be used hundreds of times before needing to be replaced. The beads can then be recycled, which ensures the best possible environment impact.
Special machines are being designed that will automatically release the beads into the wash and then separate them out again before the garments are taken out of the machine. The machines are now in prototype development with the goal of having first versions ready for market by late 2010. Xeros will begin conducting nationwide validation testing as soon as commercial machines are available. Naturally, GreenEarth Affiliates will enjoy priority status as potential partners for Affirmation Site testing.
Nylon offers a sort of “molecular magic” ideal for laundry. Highly resilient, it also becomes highly absorbent in humid conditions when its Glass Transition Temperature (Tg) goes negative. In essence, the Xeros beads go from hard crystalline structures to viscous, absorbent material. So soils and stains, Together with the Xeros beads, the system requires only a which are already naturally attracted to the nylon beads, are small amount of water to loosen stains and create a water vapor able to then diffuse within the open, amorphous regions of the and a small amount of detergent. Less detergent is required as polymer. At the end of the cleaning cycle when the humidity the beads display inherent cleaning efficacy and detergent reduces, the Tg rises, the beads become rigid again and the concentration stays high under low water conditions. stain is locked inside, unable to redeposit onto the garments.
A newsletter to help you grow your business
GREENEARTHSOLUTIONS July 2009
What’s new in marketing from GreenEarth? Alot!
“GreenEarth has a huge library of professionally developed marketing materials and they are all yours for the using.”
By now you should have received your copy of Growing Green, a booklet of all the different marketing tools we offer to make it easy for you to market your GreenEarth difference.
Stacy Sopcich
This 60 page reference guide features many new items we have developed to help you grow your business. In it, you will find a wide range of new tools you can customize to your store, from direct mail postcards, Valpak and Money Mailers to route brochures and door hangers to van wraps. You will also see lots of pre-produced marketing and promotional materials that are easy to order and simple to use. Want a unique way to “touch” your customers and let them know how much you care about their garments? Try the new garment care tags, a GreenEarth exclusive. The tags are pre-strung and make a high quality statement. Early feedback is that they are very popular!
Many of our Affiliates find that being environmentally friendly gives them an advantage when marketing to hotels, so we have developed a new hospitality brochure that touts the benefits of your GreenEarth process, and tent cards for hotels to market their green cleaning services in-room. Inexpensive and professional, these materials will set you apart from competition.
Money saving tip for solvent recovery When removing water from the separators it is hard not to remove a small amount of solvent. Solvent costs money so if you can return the solvent to the machine you are saving money. Here is a solution. Purchase a large clear drink dispenser with a spigot near the bottom, a plastic measuring cup and some food coloring. When you drain the water from the separator, measure and log the amount before pouring it into the dispenser. The volume of water taken out on a daily basis serves as a barometer. If the volume suddenly increases, it may indicate that you have a leak in a steam coil or cooling coil.
Save solvent. Save money!
If the volume suddenly decreases, the water management system isn’t allowing
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Need help securing a new location? Our new landlord book will make your case. And for employees, we have lots of new logo apparel to keep them looking sharp. Everything you see in the Growing Green guide can be accessed and ordered online in the new Online Marketing Center. Have a question or need help? Call us Toll-Free 877-926-0895.
all of the water out. The sensor may be malfunctioning. There may be blockage in the tubing or valve that drains the water to the receiving vessel. By logging the amount of water removed each time you will have information to help a technician should he be looking for a moisture problem. Once the water (with solvent) is poured into the dispenser, add a few drops of food coloring, which will fall through the solvent and color the water only. This makes it easy to drain the water off when the dispenser nears full. Do not drain the water below the spigot unless you are about to pour the solvent back into the machine. If you leave the spigot exposed to the solvent it may start to swell and fail, so always leave enough water in the dispenser to keep the spigot covered with water.
GREENEARTHSOLUTIONS July 2009
Are your customers hung up on having to take down their drapes to have them cleaned? Offer in-home cleaning! The truth is, even if you offer in-store drapery cleaning services, your customers probably have dirty drapes and you probably don’t have their business. Why? Eighty percent of window coverings are permanently mounted and can’t be taken down or rehung. And, among customers whose drapes can be taken down, most don’t want to hassle with it and many have drapes with sun degradation that can’t withstand the mechanical action of machine cleaning. SquibCo Solutions, our newest custom licensee, can help you add residential and commercial drapery cleaning revenue in one of two ways. You can market on-site cleaning and outsource it to one of SquibCo’s 150 certified Fabricare Specialists nationwide. Or you can become a certified Fabricare Specialist yourself. SquibCo is offering GreenEarth Affiliates a discounted rate for their package, which includes all the equipment, training and supplies necessary for mobile cleaning. SquibCo has a referral network that includes brand name companies like Hunter Douglas and Comfortex, and an injection-extraction process that is gentle enough for sun-damaged drapes. To learn more, give Jeff Berkowitz a call at 800-811-9367.
SquibCo Solutions, a national provider for in-home cleaning of drapery and window coverings, can help you grow your business.
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Copyright July, 2009. All rights reserved.