We’re marking a company milestone: the thirty-year anniversary of the LANADOL product launch and the wet cleaning process which Kreussler developed in partnership with Miele as our machine partner.
Richard Fitzpatrick, Vice President of Kreussler Inc., interviewed Dr. Manfred Seiter for the history of wet cleaning and LANADOL, and here is what they had to say.
Richard Fitzpatrick:
Thirty years ago, a lot was different in the textile care industry, mostly from the technology perspective. I don’t believe that we had a computer-controlled washer-extractors. I think most of the washer-extractors, at least here in the US, were card read washer-extractors or fixed programs. Very, very simple basic control features. We didn’t have pressing equipment that would tension. We didn’t have dryers that could measure humidity. What have been the fundamental changes from thirty years ago when we introduced this technology to where we are today?
Dr. Manfred Seiter:
The main change was when the wet cleaning process was developed; there was a complete development of the procedure. That means we had the Miele prototypes here in the factory. We had to develop a completely different product type, and the situation was a strict pressure on perchloroethylene. We had many discussions that PERC will be phased out from the market even thirty years before 1992. There was a risk for the whole industry, for the textile care business. And after several years of work in the laboratory to develop, from the idea to a product or a process, I think we came right in time to the market. What Kreussler offered was a real fundamental solution or an answer to a question. Because the problem was, what shall be done in that time if PERC is phased out knowing PERC was by far the dominating dry cleaning solvent.
Hydrocarbons in that time we were mainly Stoddard solvents or aromatic hydrocarbon solvents. We had no isoparaffins, hydrocarbon KVL, as we call it here in Europe, the isoparaffins. They were not on the market at that time. Washing was the other process on the market. This development was a real answer to the demand, to a problem and the target in that time was to develop a process to wet clean non-washable garments in a water-based system or a water-based process. And that worked very well, we still have benefited because the demand worldwide is still growing. There’s more and more wet cleaning in the global market, everywhere in all the countries. It’s a growing business.
Dr. Manfred Seiter:
A lot of changes were made in the meantime. The machines from the card controlled more simple systems to the modern washing systems, which may be the drums’ design, the more gentle process, the water levels, and the products. We still call them the LANADOL range. But from day one, thirty years ago to the products we have nowadays, there’s also a development in between. Different types of detergents, different kinds of additives, different types of color protection.
Like in other industries, we made progress. Progress was done from the machine industry from a manufacturer of the wet cleaning systems—improvement in other types of machine industry for the tensioning equipment. And we made progress also with the processes and with the products we offer nowadays. Our wet cleaning range is, I think, maybe the biggest that is on the market, from textiles cleaning up to furs and leathers and silks. Our approach is still the same. We wanted to wet clean non-washable garments, and now with all the changes in the garment manufacturing industry, more and more garments are washable. You see it, what will come to the counter of the textile care operations. I think it’s still a process that has still growing importance. After 30 years, it’s becoming more important than ever, which is positive.
Richard Fitzpatrick:
To put this in context, you joined the company shortly after the wet cleaning launch, correct?
Dr. Manfred Seiter:
Yes. We had the first press release, December 2, 1991, and I joined the company in September 1992. The company already applied for the patents, for the processes, for the products. The idea came from Kaspar Hasenclever, my former CEO. He had a strong supporter, the owner Dr. Detlev Travers. These two gentlemen were the drivers for the wet cleaning process at that time.
Dr. Manfred Seiter:
When I joined the company, I joined right in time to contribute to this work because, in the beginning, we had a lot of resistance, which is typical. This procedure was absolutely new. That was a high time for dry cleaning and solvents, and in the beginning, I think it was like a misunderstanding that our branch was a little bit afraid that wet cleaning would attack the dry cleaning industry. That was never our intention because we came from dry cleaning. Kreussler was a big manufacturer of dry cleaning products. We still are.
It took some time for the branch and the dry cleaners to accept that wet cleaning is not a competitor. It is a supplement, or it is a useful tool to widen their offer to the textile market, to their customer. Because in the end, our definition, the activities of Kreussler, textile care is very simple, professional, and industrial cleaning of textiles. That is our mission. Very simple. And wet cleaning was only one part of our activities, but a strongly growing part. And it was something new, and it was innovative.
Richard Fitzpatrick:
We didn’t start with the intention to replace solvents but there was a fundamental risk for cleaners using PERC, correct?
Dr. Manfred Seiter:
When wet cleaning was invented, there was this one problem. We had these ongoing discussions about the risk of using PERC in the dry cleaning industry. Like always, if the government and politicians think about the risk for the environment or for human health, there was strong pressure to invent something special. We still have that product on the market, and the worldwide market stock is still number one. But in 1985 the PERC discussions started in Europe, very strict, very strong. And I think wet cleaning was a very clever idea and a solution for the market.
Richard Fitzpatrick:
How do you think the market has done in adopting the technology for over thirty years? Do you believe it dragged its feet a little bit? Certain technologies seem to be embraced rather quickly in our industry. Something comes to market like barcodes or auto sort conveyor systems, and we see rapid adoption. How do you think the industry did with professional wet cleaning?
Dr. Manfred Seiter:
The adoption was quite slow. We had very special, often handmade tensioning equipment, because tensioning equipment did not exist. So more or less nothing was existing. That means typically, you have resistance, and it took some time to adopt. And then, like every innovation, you have the so-called early adopters and people who follow a little bit more slowly. The branch or the industry was not prepared for wet cleaning at that time.
These days the situation has changed completely. I think wet cleaning is not only accepted, but it is also a very useful tool for professional textile cleaning. I think without wet cleaning, the branch would suffer much more. It gave the textile cleaners an opportunity too. We are not fighting for a special type of solvent, water, or organic solvent. In the end, textiles are still very complex, they are complicated. And to give dry-cleaners the option to choose the best way to clean stains, clean the garments, and keep the textiles in the best condition. And to do the job perfectly. I think that’s the intention, but it was a difficult time and not so easy in the beginning.
Richard Fitzpatrick:
We still see a small amount of resistance to the idea that you could be a dedicated professional wet cleaner. I don’t want to use the term 100% because nothing’s 100%. But we still see that with some of the associations or some cleaners in a regional aspect, there’s some resistance to that idea.
Dr. Manfred Seiter:
I think an option must be seen as an option. You can take it, or you don’t take it. And these wet cleaning systems, in the end, are the missing link between a form of dry cleaning of very delicate, often non-washable garments and washing. It gives their cleaning operations much more flexibility. They can use the same system as a conventional washer using washing programs. And in the wet cleaning programs, you can use it for all the super delicate, often non-washable garments. This is a benefit. You can take it as a very useful tool to solve your daily problems. That’s my opinion about wet cleaning. Very useful.
Richard Fitzpatrick:
Where do you see, if you’ve got your crystal ball out, the innovation coming that will allow cleaners to implement wet cleaning more broadly over the next several years?
Dr. Manfred Seiter:
I think in the end, wet cleaning is proven now for thirty years. And I think all the technologies available, the washers, the dryers, the specific dry control, and there are humidity sensors. The machines are more sophisticated. They are more clever, they are more intelligent, they are more flexible. All this is already on the market. And the price for a wet cleaning system often is very competitive to dry cleaning. And frankly speaking, the bigger dry-cleaners, the majority of them, they run both types of systems. They have dry cleaning machines as well as wet cleaning, and they use it in a flexible way. I think the most significant benefit is the flexibility. Doing the work in the plant every day. Also, the type of stains nowadays, if you see the more formal wear after a party and the majority of stains are water-based stains.
Typically in dry cleaning, you have a lot of manual stain removal, pre-spotting, pre brushing, and wet cleaning; the stains will come off more easily. The risk of having a problem with local color loss spotting in a wet cleaning system is more manageable. The risk is lower.
I think those are the main benefits. And in the end, it’s proven. It’s already on the market, and in outstanding quality, the price range from different suppliers is slightly different. The dryers also are more sophisticated now. These days, they have a special drum design to be more gentle. The machines often also have special drum designs for the lifters, for the cage. Many dryers are also offered with the rest humidity control, which is also a good technology. It will give more safety. And so I think times have become easier. Everything is available.
Richard Fitzpatrick:
There is a movement within some garment manufacturers and design houses to introduce luxury fabric that can be washed instead of traditional dry cleaning. There’s a desire for consumers, especially at the top end, to look for garments that don’t have to be dry cleaned as a way of being more environmentally friendly. We’re certainly seeing washer-extractors being sold at the residential level that have the ability, which are pre-programmed with some of the functionality that we would see with professional units installed at textile care providers able to wet clean, sensitive items. Do you see any kind of existential risk to the industry that as more garments become available for consumers to buy that can be wet cleaned at home, we’ll say, or more easy-care garments that would have been traditionally cleaned by a dry cleaner? Do you see anything that could influence consumers to process those at home instead of using a professional care provider?
Dr. Manfred Seiter:
There is some competition between domestic household washers and the professional textile care industry. But on the other hand, I think these small household machines and especially the finishing equipment at home are far away from the professional level of tensioning equipment. I believe in professional textile care; the quality is far better. The possibilities to treat a garment in the wet cleaning system and a professional finish is simply more for the professional. I know that household washers sometimes are sold with wet cleaning programs. They are not bad. You can use it maybe for a pullover or for a sweater. The bigger machines, they have simply more possibilities. And you cannot forget the knowledge, the level of expertise in a professional plant is typically much, much higher than in a domestic household.
There’s a difference between typically standard washing and wet cleaning using water; that’s the only thing in common; all the rest are different. I’m not afraid that the small household washers are a real competitor for the industry. As long as the industry will do good service, fulfill the customer’s demands, that is the key. Our branch is a textiles service industry. We are in a service or a situation that means we have to offer easy customer solutions. We have to be flexible, and we have to do work which customers don’t like to do. The majority of people like to wash, but they don’t want to iron. For the more delicate items, it’s better to give it to a professional plant.
Richard Fitzpatrick:
There are plans to have a trade show in Frankfurt at the end of this year Not to steal your thunder, but should we expect anything new from Kreussler relating to our Lanadol range?
Dr. Manfred Seiter:
Yes, but this is nothing special. We try to improve and to develop products and also new products all the time. And the LANADOL range is one of the main product ranges. We are known, and we are seen in the industry still as the pioneers in that branch. So we have to do everything to keep our reputation.
You always have to do your best to keep a good position, like a sportsman. We are also keen on the next trade show because after such a year with the pandemic situation, such kind of disaster, we have to do everything to revitalize the markets and the branch.
November this year will be a big trade show, Frankfurt Texcare. And I think other trade shows will follow as soon as traveling as possible and soon as we get back to our normal life, hopefully.
Richard Fitzpatrick:
Thank you Dr. Seiter for taking some time from your busy schedule to talk to us on this topic as we start our 30th year of Lanadol.
Dr. Seiter:
You are very welcome.