Perc Ban Dry Cleaning: What It Means for Laundromats

EPA estimates that 6,000 dry cleaners still use perchloroethylene, or perc, according to its final rule published in the Federal Register on December 18, 2024. That rule is the perc ban dry cleaning owners have been bracing for, and it shuts off perc in stages through December 19, 2034. For a laundromat or wash and fold shop, the question is what an industry on a federal deadline does to your customer base, and what it costs to catch that work.

What does the perc ban mean for dry cleaning?

It means every perc machine in the country now has an expiration date set by federal rule, not by wear. New perc machines are already off the table, third generation machines stop running perc after December 20, 2027, and all perc dry cleaning ends after December 19, 2034.

Here is the schedule, straight from EPA's January 2025 compliance guide for perc dry cleaners:

Is that still the schedule? EPA's perc risk management page, last updated July 27, 2026, still lists the 10 year perc phaseout for dry cleaning. EPA opened a 30 day public comment period in July 2025 to start reconsidering the rule.

EPA says the public will get to comment on any proposed amendment to the rule, so that page is the one to watch. This is a map of the deadlines, not legal advice; your state agency or counsel has the final word.

What are dry cleaners choosing instead of perc?

They have four paths: replace the machine with a non perc system, convert to wet cleaning, close the plant and become a drop store, or partner with another operator. The same EPA compliance guide names wet cleaning, hydrocarbon systems, methyl siloxane solvents, and glycol ether solvents as the alternatives.

Equipment life drives the choice. In the Federal Register final rule from December 18, 2024, EPA assumes dry cleaning machines are retired 15 to 25 years after they are manufactured. A perc machine built in 2020 would, on that assumption, run into the 2035 to 2045 window. The rule cuts that to December 19, 2034 at the latest, and a third generation owner faces the cutoff in December 2027. In the same rule, EPA says it expects few closures, because most perc machines retire on their own by the end of the phaseout. The shift happens one retirement at a time, which is exactly why it is easy to miss.

That is a stranded asset problem, and per the same Federal Register rule, a majority of the cleaners still using perc are small businesses. From the owner's chair, the four paths compare like this:

• Replace. A new non perc machine keeps the plant running, but it takes new equipment capital up front, so it pencils out only for an owner with years of runway left.
• Convert to wet cleaning. Water based equipment swaps the solvent and changes the process at the pressing table, so it costs capital and retraining at once.
• Become a drop store. Keep the counter and the customer list, send the cleaning out. Zero plant capital. Some owners will take the clean break.
• Partner. Hand off the work that never needed solvent, like household laundry, to an operator who already runs it at volume.

The drop store path leaves a cleaner with customers and no plant, and the partner path hands off the laundry your shop already runs every day. That is where your shop enters the math.

What does the perc ban mean for laundromats and wash and fold shops?

It opens two doors at once: customers whose cleaner closes go looking for a new place to drop their bags, and cleaners who keep their counter need someone to wash and fold the household laundry that crosses it. Your shop catches both only if it is easy to reach at the hours those customers already keep.

Someone who drops shirts at a cleaner every week already pays a professional to handle their clothes. That is the exact habit wash and fold service runs on, so you are not converting a skeptic, you are giving a buyer a new counter.

Now the capital math, run the way I run any purchase: cost to stand it up, then time to pay it back. The obvious way to catch customers from a closed cleaner across town is a second storefront near it, with its own lease, buildout, and counter staff. Smart lockers with 24/7 drop off and pickup let a locker bank serve a new neighborhood without leasing new retail space.

Pair that with driver route planning for pickups and deliveries, and a cleaner turned drop store becomes a stop on your route instead of a second location you staff. The pickup and delivery playbook for laundromats shows how it fits beside walk in traffic.

Last, make sure displaced customers find you first. A free laundromat audit grades your website, Google profile, reviews, and local competitors, which is the same search a customer runs the week their cleaner posts a closing sign.

I closed up my family's store on plenty of slow Tuesday nights, so I know what a locked door costs a laundromat. Every cleaner that turns into a drop store or locks up for good sends its customers looking for a new door. Do the math now, before the calendar does it for you.

Adam

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