Chapter XXXIII: Dry Cleaning by Means of Benzine

The cleaning of gloves and stained garments by means of benzine is an occupation which gives employment to large numbers of people. In some dry-cleaning establishments naphtha alone is used, so that what has already been said of naphtha in connection with indiarubber trades will equally apply here. The soiled articles are first washed with naphtha and soap in an out-building in which no naked lights are allowed, and then put into a revolving cylinder filled with naphtha. When benzine is the cleansing agent, two kinds are made use of: (1) a petroleum spirit obtained from mineral oil, and (2) spirit obtained from coal tar. In several dry-cleaning establishments fires have suddenly, and often in a most mysterious and unexplained manner, broken out. They have been attributed to friction, electric sparks, and to accidental ignition of the spirit by lucifer matches concealed in the clothes. One of the first things attended to on the arrival of garments to be cleaned is a thorough turning inside out of all the pockets, and the removal particularly of any matches that may have been left therein, also a stripping-off of all metallic buttons from coats, jackets, etc. The workmen are not allowed to smoke nor to have in their pockets any lucifer matches. The work is carried on in outbuildings, one side of which is quite open, so that the freest ventilation possible is obtained. No naked, nor artificial, light of any kind is allowed in these buildings. The garments, after having been examined on their arrival, and sorted, are placed in a revolving drum that contains benzine, and which can be hermetically closed, or in a fixed machine within which there is a revolving cylinder that contains the spirit. By either of these methods the clothes are brought into the closest contact with the benzine. After the garments have thus been sufficiently agitated and cleaned by contact with the benzine, they are removed and placed in a machine known as a hydro-extractor, whereby the excess of spirit is removed. This liquid is allowed to settle, the supernatant clean spirit is decanted off and redistilled. The garments on being removed from the hydro-extractor are rinsed in clean spirit, put through the hydro-extractor again, removed, dried, and finished.

The risks incurred by the workpeople are twofold: (1) danger from fire and explosions; (2) effects of inhalation of the benzine. Fires, as already mentioned, occur in dry-cleaning establishments under the most mysterious circumstances. In one establishment that I visited eight fires and explosions had occurred in fifteen years. In the summer evenings when the weather is sultry, and perhaps several hours after the employés have left off working, fires have broken out in these establishments. The cause of the fire is often unexplainable. It is believed that benzine has a tendency to undergo spontaneous combustion, and that this can be prevented by the addition of a small quantity of oil soap, ¹⁄₁₀ to ¹⁄₁₀₀ per cent., to the benzine, and well mixed with it. This soap is prepared according to the patent of an Austrian firm, Messrs L. Schutte, Landsberg, & Co., by dissolving one kilo of caustic potass, or soda, in four kilos of alcohol. To a litre of this solution one and three-quarter litres of oleic acid are added and the mixture heated. In order to keep the salt in solution there should be added to every 100 parts of the mixture, either before or after heating it, 250 parts of carbon tetrachloride, benzol, benzine, or other suitable solvent. Experience has shown that too great care cannot be taken in regard to the manipulation and storage of benzine. Materials that have just been removed from or cleaned with benzine should on no account be brought near a fire or naked light. Care has to be exercised, too, that naphtha and benzine are not poured into the drains in considerable quantity, for they give off explosive vapours which are dangerous when workmen enter the large drains in a city with naked lights.

Inhalation of the vapours of benzine affect people differently. Some persons are more susceptible than others, and are obliged to retire from the work while others can remain at it. Its effects are more noticeable in young women than men. Females on the whole are more readily intoxicated, they become excited and hysterical. The power of walking is not interfered with. Both men and women complain of headache and giddiness after working in an atmosphere laden with benzine vapour. Occasionally they vomit. Although women seem to be more susceptible than men, yet even the men become intoxicated and feel as if they were drunk. On a sultry afternoon the effects are more pronounced. The workpeople are often obliged to leave the rooms and go out into the fresh air. The vapour of benzine produces in some people a heavy, sleepy feeling, with a sense of great tiredness, amounting to a loss of muscular power and followed by a temporary defect of memory. Naphtha produces similar symptoms. As its vapour is heavier than atmospheric air, the workmen suffer most in hot, close weather.

_Prevention._--The air of the workroom should be kept as pure as possible by means of artificial ventilation. In the place where gloves are cleaned the air should be renewed by the running of a fan. No food should be allowed to be taken into the workroom. Attached to each revolving cylinder in which the garments are agitated along with benzine there ought to be an automatic fire-extinguisher. There should be plenty of loose sand lying about to put out any accidental fire, and there ought to be blankets in readiness to throw round any one whose clothes have caught fire. Woollen outer garments should be worn by the workpeople. If a dry-cleaning establishment is a few storeys high, there ought to be fire-escape ladders provided.

Workpeople who have become excited or intoxicated by the benzine should be taken into the fresh air. It is by the respiratory organs that the spirit which has been taken into the blood leaves the system. Anæmic girls who are subject to headache should give up the work, for experience shows that the inhalation of benzine aggravates headache.

THOMAS OLIVER.