By Jacquelyn Pillsbury
More than seven years ago Mike Waintraub saw a need for a local “green” dry cleaner as traditional dry cleaners use perchloroethylene (or perc, for short) as a solvent in the dry cleaning process.
Not only does it smell bad, perc is so poisonous that the state has declared it a toxic chemical that will be illegal as of 2021. If overused or not properly disposed of, it can contribute to smog, poison the water supply, and leech into soils.
“It is hazardous for employees. If it is mishandled and spills the vapors go into the air, into the floor, and into the soil and ground water,” Waintraub said. It is also hazardous for customers as perc stays in the clothes after they are cleaned and under the plastic bag. He added many former dry cleaning sites are now polluted areas in need of clean up.
Instead of using perc, Waintraub uses two different methods to clean clothes at Captain Dry Clean, located in the Suburban Square Shopping Center on Scotch Road.
The first is an organic, biodegradable solvent called GEN-X, which is hypo-allergenic and non-toxic. Manufactured by Wayne-based Caled Chemicals, GEN-X is dry cleaning’s answer to its own toxic legacy. Waintraub embraced the solvent and its proprietary machines, which at about $90,000 each are double the price of a standard dry cleaning machine.
He recently added wet cleaning, which he describes as using “a little bit of water in an expensive specially made machine with specific detergents, fabric softeners, and brighteners.
“It cleans really great,” said Waintraub. Captain Dry Clean uses a combination of the two methods to keep clothes clean.
Captain Dry Clean is green in more ways than its cleaning. “All of the plastic we use to cover clothes is biodegradable,” he said. It will decompose in the ground and can be used in a compost pile. They also have a clothes hanger recycling program. “Customers give us their dry cleaning hangers back and we reuse what we can. It makes everyone happy,” Waintraub said. They accept all dry cleaner hangers, not just their own.
Waintraub prides himself and his staff on providing excellent customer service, and he trains each new employee to his company’s specifications.
“We sew on buttons and inspect every shirt before it goes back to the customers,” he said. “All of our shirts are hand-finished to make sure there are no wrinkles.”
“Our prices are competitive,” Waintraub added. “We are priced very similar to any other high-quality dry cleaner in the area.” Captain Dry Clean offers a customer loyalty card, which includes coupons on a regular basis and keeps track of customer’s activity.
Prior to entering the dry cleaning business Waintraub worked in the financial services and insurance industry for large financial firms in New York and New Jersey, and locally for a smaller agency. However, ever since he was a child growing up in Hamilton he knew he wanted to own his own small business. After living closer to Manhattan, he and his wife Stephanie (also from Hamilton) moved back to the area and made his dream a reality.
“I saw a need for [a green dry cleaning business] at the time,” he said. “I was looking for a good business model and did a lot of research on it.”
Part of his research included spending almost a year as an apprentice to a dry cleaner in Hamilton. He gained enough experience to successfully open his own business in Ewing in October 2008.
Waintraub recently expanded his business to a large commercial plant in Lawrenceville. “That is where we do our commercial cleaning for restaurants and hotels,” he said.
Captain Dry Clean also provides dry cleaning for the local boarding private schools in Princeton. This location also only uses organic dry cleaning. He has no current plans to open more retail locations. They no longer offer residential delivery.
Captain Dry Clean, 37 Scotch Road, Suburban Square, Ewing, (609) 771-8600. captaindryclean.com
