Rynex

Rynex has re-emerged and it appears it may be better than ever. The California Cleaners Association show in Long Beach (8-2010) had the full Rynex team including their European Program Manager, Owner of the chemical company who is manufacturing the product, the U.S. Program Manager, and others. They were a sharp and intelligent group of people. Bill Hayday is still involved as it was his original idea to make a “drop in” solvent for the industry. He may have just been a bit ahead of his time.

A little history is in order. About fourteen years ago Rynex was first mentioned to the industry as an alternative solvent to perchhloroethylene as environmentalists and regulators had perc in their sights to restrict the use and eventually eliminate it as a widely used chemical. In about 1995 there were the first generation of hydrocarbon dry-to-dry machines and they were designed strictly for petroleum solvents. About this time there also was a high flash point solvent developed by Exxon that worked quite well in the macines of the time. A number of cleaners switched to the Exxon solvent and it served their purpose.

Since Rynex needed extra time to dry and the operators in the industry wanted every replacement to have the same total cycle time as perc; this was impossible with either hydrocarbon or Rynex. The first few formulations of Rynex also had a lingering odor that simply took time to get rid of. However, it was an excellent cleaner for textiles. The two main areas of concern were the long cycle time which was about one hour and fifteen minutes, or longer, and the lingering odor. There was nothing that could be done to the machines that would make them clean thoroughly and reduce the time to a perc short cycled time of 40 to 45 minutes. The garments cleaned in Rynex simply would not dry in that length of time. This created several false starts for the solvent but those who used it talked highly about its cleaning properties.

Fast forward to 2010 and it is a different ballgame. What is available are two high-flashpoint hydrocarbon solvents, a very expensive carbon dioxide/glycol ether machine, nPb (DrySolv) which is getting a lot of negative comments on it, and some positive ones also, and wetcleaning. With the reintroduction of Rynex, company back-up, reformulations and much better dry-to-dry hydrocarbon machines this may be the year that it is finally accepted as a viable solvent without a lot of environmental baggage.

The manufacturer of Rynex is Rynex Technologies in Albany, GA. The MSDS furnishes the following information: Rynex Biodegradable Dry Cleaning Solution. The product is a mixture of biodegradable azetropes of substituted aliphatic glycol ethers. No occupational exposure limits have been established for this material of its components.

The Flash Point is > 200° F.
Flammable Limits LEL 1.7 – UEL 6.7.
Auto Ignition Temp. >515° F.
Boiling Point 214° C @ standard atmosphere.
Appearance and Odor, Clear Liquid, Slight Solvent Odor.

The product is not regulated as a hazardous waste by the EPA. Is not expected to be hazardous to aquatic species. Not regulated under transportation regulations. Before using this product a copy of the MSDS should be obtained and kept on file. This is a general reporting of the contents of the MSDS and should be verified by the user.

Rynex holds between 3.5 and 4.2% moisture for excellent water soluble soil removal and the total cycle time is reported to be between 55 and 65 minutes. Solvent mileage has been averaging 2000 pounds of garments cleaned per gallon of Rynex. Higher mileage has also been reported. The solvent is not as harsh as perc and not as likely to damage sequins, beads or remove dyes.

The website for Rynex is www.Rynex.com where additional information may be obtained.