Courtney Crauthers
EDMOND — With the popular “going green” trend, Vista Dry Cleaners, 2120 E. Second St., uses GreenEarth Cleaning products to bring that trend to your personal clothing.
Shafi Chaudry, owner, said many dry cleaning businesses use a petroleum-based solvent called perchloroethylene (perc).
“That’s toxic and hazardous material,” he said.
If perc is spilled on the ground it contaminates the earth, Chaudry said. Also, state and city codes usually require businesses using the solvent to be housed in a freestanding building that is not connected to other businesses, he said. Vista Dry Cleaners is housed in the Vista Marketplace and will leave the building, if the business relocates, contaminent-free for future businesses.
Chaudry said GreenEarth Cleaning products uses an organic non-toxic silicone-based solvent called D5. The products don’t leave a “dry cleaning” smell and they are more gentle on clothes, he said. Liquid silicone is inert and doesn’t interact with fabric, according to the GreenEarth Cleaning Web site. The business uses a special hydro carbon machine specifically made to clean with D5.
Linda Wise, Edmond resident, said she was Chaudry’s first paying customer and brought her first set of clothes to him before he even officially opened.
“I’m allergic to everything,” she said.
Wise said she quit going to the dry cleaners altogether because the chemicals irritated her. She said, however, that she doesn’t seem to be allergic to the GreenEarth cleaning products.
Debbie Swanson also has made a couple of trips to the business.
“I was very pleased with the quality of cleaning on my last items,” she said. “The products they use are more green.”
Chaudry is a retired electrical engineer that decided to start a business of some type with his partner, the owner of Vista Market Place. They decided there was a need for a high-end dry cleaning business in East Edmond.
“We are hoping to bring business and revenue to the city,” Chaudry said. “We also want to bring a good product to Edmond because everyone wants to ‘go green.’”
Chaudry currently is offering grand opening specials, including 99 cents off shirts and 20 percent off any dry cleaning service of $10 or more.
VISTA DRY CLEANERS is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. For more information, call 359-7333.
