Home Care
Did you realise how many chlorinated solvents are used around the home? Here are some examples:
Methylene Chloride is used in adhesives which are useful for the construction and renovation of houses. This chlorinated solvent also has other diverse applications such as being a feedstock for the refrigerant R 32 used in home air conditioning.
Furthermore, it is used to decaffeinate unroasted coffee beans and tea leaves. It also features in the extraction of natural substances such as fats and oils, hop oil, flavours and pharmaceutically active natural compounds.
Perchloroethylene is used by dry cleaners to get our clothes ready for your big day. This chlorinated solvent is the number one choice around the world thanks to its cleaning efficiency and recyclability. It remains the benchmark for high quality dry-cleaning as it rapidly penetrates fibres to dissolve soils, stains, fat and oils without shrinkage or damage of garments.
Carbon tetrachloride has found use as the building block for innovative climate friendly fluorocarbons called HFOs that are used as refrigerants to keep our homes, cars, and offices cool. HFOs are also blowing agents for the insulating foams found in many major appliances.
Chloroform is the feedstock for fluoropolymer films that make up many non-stick coatings used in cooking ware and water/stain repellent coatings found in garments and upholstery.
Finally, most chlorinated solvents and related co-products are used as feedstocks to produce the fluorocarbon refrigerants to keep food products cool and fresh from production to consumption.