Dry cleaning vs Wet cleaning: the benefits of dry cleaning in industrial applications

If you work in or own a manufacturing or production plant, you know for sure the needs related to guarantee a clean and safe working environment. Probably, over time, you have had to deal with finding out the best possible way to make effective, quick, and cost saving cleaning operations. Consequently, while doing your research, you have probably come across words like “wet cleaning” and “dry cleaning”. For sure, you have wondered: “What is the difference between dry cleaning and wet cleaning?” And then: “Which is better, dry or wet cleaning?” Sounds familiar? If reading these words makes you feel like looking in the mirror, this is the blog you were looking for. We are here to help you clarify; let’s start by understanding the difference between wet cleaning and dry cleaning and their effects.

WHAT IS WET CLEANING?

Wet cleaning in industrial environments is a sanitation process mainly based on the use of water.

For sure, the use of water is effective; however, it entails some risks and disadvantages:

• In case the water used for cleaning is not completely removed, bacteria can reproduce due to water stagnation (bacteria needs water to grow)
• For the same reason, mold and infiltrations can be generated (that may be hard and expensive to remove).
• It is more difficult to get good results when dealing with oily or/and greasy substances.
• It takes much longer to clean the environment from the water used for the cleaning process.
• Slippery environment, with possible operators’ injuries.
• The prolonged presence of water may get machineries and tools rusty.
• The disposal of dirty water contaminated by residuals of production processes is increasingly difficult to manage.

It is also important to mention that the current global market goals are more and more sensitive to environmental protection due to climate change. Consequently, preserving natural resources as vital as water is becoming imperative (by 2025, the world will probably face water shortages with two-thirds of the world’s population having insufficient access to water). That’s why in 2008, the 2030 Water Resources Group (2030 WRG) was started in Davos, Switzerland, at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, aiming at narrowing the gap between global water demand and supply by 2030.

Finally, the use of water is expensive and a fixed cost.

WHAT IS DRY CLEANING?

Dry cleaning industrial environments is a sanitation process to remove dust, dirt, and other materials without using water.

Dry cleaning has significant advantages compared to wet cleaning:

• Hygienic: dry cleaning helps guaranteeing product quality by avoiding cross-contamination and bacteria to reproduce.
• Lower environmental impact since water (as seen above, an essential natural resource) is not involved.
• Preservation of process machinery from wear.
• More effective than wet cleaning when dealing with greasy and oily material.
• Safeguard operators’ health (no slippery environment).
• No downtimes required – improved production activities.
• Cheaper: there is no fixed cost related to the use of water.
• Possibility to recycle the residuals from production processes.

For sure, dry cleaning would be the best choice for all those environments and applications where eliminating all risks of cross-contamination and the formation of mold is imperative. Food industry is undoubtedly a striking example.

CLOSE-UP: THE FOOD INDUSTRY

In the largest part of food industries, dry cleaning is the most suitable choice, notably in all those applications where the use of water may cause microbial growth. Dry cleaning is the preferred choice when it is fundamental to guarantee safe food production to minimize any risk of cross-contamination, thus damaging a business’ reliability. A couple of examples are grain and cereal processors (e.g., milling) or dry storage areas (e.g., packaging). Of course, dry cleaning is not a synonym of sanitizing a production environment, but, for sure, will help in decreasing the possibilities of incurring in food safety hazards.

So, how can you start effectively cleaning your production environment by only using a dry system? Delfin industrial vacuums are the solution to get safely and effectively rid of dusty material.

DELFIN INDUSTRIAL SOLUTIONS FOR DRY CLEANING

Delfin offers a wide range of total dust mitigation solutions, a one-time investment for a long-lasting and quality product (the only expenses you may incur in are maintenance-related, which, by the way, are only occasional).

The journey in dry cleaning starts a way before with Delfin: the first step, is prevention. First, we work on preventing the material to spread into the environment. Secondly, we offer a full assortment of portable and fixed vacuum solutions to extract and collect material and dust.

• Pneumatic Conveyors: this customizable product conveys material from one point of a production plant to another in total safety. Since it’s a closed system, powders and other solid materials like dry fruit will never be spread into the production plant (no environment cleaning action will be required then).
• Dust Collectors: to vacuum airborne dust during a product discharge and for direct extraction on production machinery. This champion of airflow prevents airborne dust to spread into the environment first and then to settle on the floor. This way, no contaminant is dispersed, and no injuries occur. Moreover, getting rid of airborne dust guarantees the standard performance of the machinery, thus preventing maintenance.
• Industrial Vacuums: they are only the last step of the process, and they are engineered to collect the material and dust from surfaces (residuals). While brooms, pressurized air and other tools only move dust and debris, industrial vacuums effectively and easily trap them, making it easy and effective to dispose of this material. Industrial vacuum cleaners are not only the most effective dry-cleaning tool, but also the safest. In fact, Delfin offers a wide range of certified industrial vacuums [ATEX certified (zone 22; zone 21; zone 20 inside the vacuum); NRTL certified and FDA compliant] but also compressed–air supplied solutions.
• Central vacuum systems (CVS): to efficiently collect large quantities of material in an industrial plant over long distances and to expel exhaust air from the production plant. CVS consist of highly powered vacuums and a piping system to convey materials to the discharge point.
• Wide range of accessories: stainless-steel, antistatic, overhead, and color-coded accessories. Color-coded accessories are particularly relevant when it comes to avoid cross-contamination in a Food industry. In Delfin, these components are FDA-approved: they are made of nitrile rubber and silicone, they are available in different shapes and colors and in different dimensions. The different available colors make these accessories easily recognizable. Furthermore, they can be designated for a specific zone, so they don’t get moved or mixed, thus compromising food processing and product integrity. Not to mention that the concept of color-coding is based on the guidelines of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), a management system that addresses food safety, and so crucial in such industrial application.

TO CONCLUDE: WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF DRY-CLEANING BUSINESS?

In our opinion, the facts speak for themselves. The most logical conclusion is that, over time, all industries will opt for dry cleaning as the cheapest, safest, and most effective solution (not to mention that dry cleaning is an inevitable step: you cannot have a good result with wet cleaning if you don’t use a dry-cleaning system first). Obviously, Delfin will be by your side, providing you with the best solution to your (dry) needs. Contact us to start your dry-cleaning experience today!