NDG dry cleaning goes green: Local entrepreneur irons out the eco-wrinkles from a toxic industry

By Jessica Vihvelin

The first thing that one notices when walking into Nettoyeur Royal NDG is a lack of pungent chemical odors that characterizes most dry cleaning operations. Literally, and figuratively, owner Michael Kutchuk stands proudly behind the machinery that washes “dry-clean only” garments without the industry standard solvent, perchloroethylene (PERC).

PERC is a colorless, nonflammable liquid used to remove odors and stains from delicate articles of clothing. Because exposure can result from inhalation, customers bringing home treated clothes are at risk. Linked to a number of environmental and health problems, from skin, throat and nose irritation, to liver and kidney damage, Kutchuk began searching out other ways of dry cleaning.

Kutchuk simultaneously turned his business into an ecologically friendly and industry smart model by investing in a wet-cleaning machine, which does not use PERC, just over a year ago. He was the first dry cleaner in Montreal to take the plunge into the wet-cleaning method; an environmentally friendly alternative to PERC based cleaning.

A stroke of luck would have it so that his wife, while on a business trip to Germany, discovered a wet-cleaning technology, prevalent in Europe due to stringent pollution laws. After running the business as a typical, PERC based dry cleaners for four years, last year, he decided to take the plunge, and invested in the wet-based cleaning machinery.

“I did some research and found a company that was using the equipment in Guelph. So we took the staff, went on a field trip to see the operation, and made the purchase.” Making the purchase was a big investment—the German-made machinery cost over $100,000. But, thinking forward to potential bans on PERC based machinery, like those that exist in Europe, Kutchuk made a financially, and environmentally sound choice.

“One of the reasons I did it, was the talk of banning PERC in 10 years. If you finance over six years to buy machinery, and then four years later you have to switch to new machinery... It doesn’t make sense.” The washer, dryer and finishing equipment are able to clean anything from velvet, down, carpets, wedding dresses, and even stuffed animals. The cost of dry cleaning at Nettoyeur Royal NDG sits at about 15% above the average dry cleaners.

Anabela Familiar, the receptionist, often fields questions from potential or new customers. She says the motivations for coming in and checking out the service are evenly split: “some are for personal [health], some for the environment.”

Juniper Belshaw, who works in NDG, first looked into ecological alternatives for her own clothes after living above an ordinary dry cleaners that used PERC. She realized that she felt bad for the workers exposed during the cleaning, as she would occasionally catch the “sickly sweet smell of chemicals wafting up” into her apartment.

Kutchuk’s risk-taking has paid off. Even last year, amidst the recession and slipping sales for most stores, Kutchuk noted a 30% increase in business.

Nettoyeur Royal NDG is located at 5866, Sherbrooke W, in Montreal, Quebec. For more information, call (514) 842-3622.