Dry cleaning is a huge business globally and is growing at a fast pace. Daniel Ries, Business Development International, Kreussler, spoke to Clean India Journal about the prospects of business in India.
Kreussler is a German based chemicals manufacturer and providing dry-cleaners with alternative cleaning methods that meet their customers’ requirements remains an important focus for the company. The company produces detergents for industrial laundries and dry cleaning segments. We, at Kreussler, saw and see the potential of the Indian market. There is a development into the Indian laundry and dry cleaning market that goes more and more to a high technology level.
Global Laundry and dry cleaning business
The dry cleaning industry is changing as traditional methods are gradually being complemented by more environmentally sustainable textile care solutions. This change has resulted from the closer co-operation between the solvent producers and the manufacturers of the latest generation of dry cleaning machines.
Laundry business is based on bigger laundry shops and hotel laundries. For washer extractors and tunnel washers especially from big companies, the detergent supplied should be of high quality. In order to cater to the textile industry per se, you need to offer good quality laundry detergents.
The dry cleaning business is different worldwide as compared to India. Unlike in India, dry cleaning machines are used in the Europe and US. The dry cleaning industry as a whole is keenly interested in improvements and developments in the dry cleaning process and more cleaners are actively adopting such developments in their business.
Environment friendly technologies
In the last 10 years, development of efficient dry cleaning solutions has taken place and people are looking for environmental friendly technologies. Alternate solvents like Hydrocarbons and Silicones, and others like System K4 developed by Kreussler in 2010 have imparted cost efficiency on to the cleaning platforms.
The history of textile cleaning has been defined by the different solvents used, from light to heavy petrol, from trichloroethylene to perc and from there via CFC to hydrocarbon solvents. The halogen-free solvent used in Kreussler’s SystemK4 – Solvon K4 – is bio-degradable and eco-friendly. This solvent can clean as well as perc without the use of harmful chemicals. System K4 comprises four main product elements – Solvon K4, Clip K4, Prenett K4 and Vinoy K4. SystemK4 is also dermatological tested.
The system has been used with great success on a variety of garments such as gowns, sweaters and leather jackets. Kreussler’s Clip K4 is a highly concentrated dry cleaning detergent, Prenett K4 is a brushing agent that removes soil and Vinoy K4 is a water and stain-repellent that preserves solvent pureness.
Kreussler introduced SystemK4 to the European and the US market in 2010 and 2011 respectively. Over 90 businesses globally use System K4 – in Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, France, UK and Austria. The system is environment friendly and cost effective over a period of time but more expensive than perc. Consumption of solvents and detergents for the dry cleaning will render cost-affectivity after one year. You need a special machine for that which is also an investment. We here installed about 600 machines worldwide.
The Clean India Show 2012 (Bengaluru) has given us the opportunity to show and demonstrate the technology and ideas from other countries.
