Wet cleaners are opening up around the country as an alternative to environmentally nasty dry cleaners. Traditional cleaners use a cleaning solvent, perchlorethylene, that has been linked to health and environmental hazards. A recent study, for example, found that dry-cleaning workers were more prone to certain types of cancer than the general population. In 1996, Consumers Union estimated that there were 150 excess cases of cancer among every million people who wear newly dry-cleaned clothes. Wet cleaners use simple soap and water, but claim to be able to clean delicate fabrics like silk just as well as dry cleaners.
