FAQ

The log-in is typically used for our customers who are taking advantage of our traditional pick-up and delivery service. It allows you to log in to your account, change account information and billing info, view historical statements, track orders through our system, and request pick-ups. Our customers who come to our stores typically don’t use the log-in features of our website, but as long as you have an email address on file with Greener Cleaner, you can log in too!

Go to our account log-in page and use your email address that you gave us when you signed up as your log-in.  If you’ve forgotten your password or need help, simply click the “forgot password” button, or call (312)-321-0033.

Simply log into your account and click on the customer information page.

The best way to let us know is to simply leave a detailed note inside your bag identifying the specific garment along with your specific instructions. You can also notify us of special requests when you request a pickup online by logging in to your account. You’ll see a there is a “comments” field, where you may enter any special instructions you wish.

Contact Greener Cleaner customer service within 14 days by sending an email to customersupport@greenercleaner.net or calling (773) 784-8429. Please include your name, address, and a description of the problem in your message. Greener Cleaner takes the utmost care to ensure that every single item comes back in the best possible condition, but we also recognize that problems still do arise from time to time. While unlikely, when problems do happen, Greener Cleaner will do everything in its power to make sure that we make the situation right for our customer. Depending on what type of problem has occurred, we will handle issues individually on a case-by-case basis.

For our in-store customers, we accept cash, check, and all major Credit Cards. For our pick-up and delivery customers, your cleaning will be automatically charged to your credit card or debit card. You will be billed automatically prior to the delivery of your order. For large corporate accounts, we may be able to arrange different billing options. Please contact customersupport@greenercleaner.net, or call (773)-784-8429 for more information.

An emphatic NO! All dry cleaners are NOT the same! Statistics in our state show that 99.3% of dry cleaners are using some form of petrochemical to clean. Some of these are known as Perc, Hydrocarbon, DF2000, DrySolv,, and more. Some of these petrochemicals are known carcinogens, can cause brain hemorrhaging, birth defects, and other serious health issues. Many of these Petrochemicals have been banned in other countries and other states in the US. Why are they still legal in Illinois? GOOD QUESTION! We’d love to see these harsh chemicals removed from our towns and neighborhoods, but in the meantime, you can rest assured that Greener Cleaner is one of the 0.07% of dry cleaners in Illinois that use absolutely no Petrochemicals in our cleaning.

Your inner alarm bells are correct in almost all cases. You know the word “Organic” to mean healthy and safe, from the food and grocery industry. Unfortunately, the dry cleaning industry is bereft with unscrupulous owners who like to use the term “Organic” or “Eco” improperly. The reality is, the term “Organic” simply means ‘comes from the earth’. Perc, the most notorious dry cleaning chemical out there, and all of the other Petrochemicals out there are derived from petroleum, which comes from the earth… (just like gasoline). So cleaners who are using the harshest of the chemicals out there can say they are “Organic”, because ALL Petrochemicals in that sense are “organic”. But not in the sense that you know the word Organic!

Ask! If your dry cleaner is using truly safe cleaning methods, they will be darn proud of it. Ask for specifics, and do your research. Ask specifically what cleaning solvent they use, and if they can’t give you a direct answer, you can be almost assured they are using petrochemicals!

The Greener Cleaner was the very first cleaner in the United States to offer 100% wet-cleaning as an alternative to Perc and the other harsh dry cleaning chemicals! Back in 1995, The Greener Cleaner, in partnership with the Center for Neighborhood Technology, unveiled the first commercial wet cleaner to open in the USA.

So what is Wet Cleaning? First, a note about Dry Cleaning. Generally, the term “Dry Cleaning” refers to the process of cleaning clothes using a liquid solvent. While still a liquid, the term “Dry” in dry cleaning referred to the fact that there was no water being used. This is because traditionally, water could not be used on certain fabrics, like wools and silks.

Professional wet-cleaning has changed all that. Thanks to the investments made by The Greener Cleaner and The Center for Neighborhood Technology, professional wet cleaning was brought to this country, and has now been perfected. We’re now able to safely clean virtually any garment using only water and specialized bio-degradable soaps and conditioners. These specially formulated cleaning agents are all gentle and safe enough to wash down the drain like detergents you use in your own laundry machine. The difference is in our specialized equipment to clean and then finish the garments correctly.

GreenEarth is a breakthrough in dry cleaning technology, that represents a departure from traditional petroleum-based cleaning solvents. While traditional solvents did a fairly good job of removing stains, there are also serious problems, including health hazards, environmental issues, and issues with damage to clothing because the chemicals are so strong. GreenEarth is a patented and trademarked solution, and is the only silicone based commercial textile cleaner. The silicone solvent breaks down chemically to water, and sand, so it’s totally environmentally friendly!

There are 3 main differences:

1. Turnaround Time
2. Delivery fees and minimums
3. What happens when you’re not home for service

Here’s the different ways the two services work:

Item	Traditional	On Demand App
Turnaound Time	3 Days (i.e. Monday – Thursday)	24 Hour (in most cases)
Delivery fee	None	$5.95 ($14.95 Additional fee for 24 Hr Turnaround)
Can I pick the service days?	No, days are assigned based on your address	Yes
Can I pick the time the driver arrives?	No	Yes, 1-hour service windows
Order Minimums	No minimum	Yes, $25.00 per order
What happens if I’m not home for service?	To use Traditional delivery, a way to pick-up/deliver without someone at home must be set up in advance.	We can pick-up or deliver unattended, or you may reschedule through the app.

Our Traditional service is unattended, meaning we have to have a way to pick-up and deliver even when someone isn’t home. It allows us to be as efficient as possible, and because of that efficiency, we’re able to offer that service with no minimums and no delivery fee.  For our On-Demand service is the service that allows the most flexibility for you, our customers, but it is much less efficient for us, and therefore it carries with it a small delivery fee and an order minimum.

The delivery process is incredibly simple, and you never need to be home! Since our Traditional Pick-up and Delivery service is unattended, you simply need to let us know how we’ll do the pick-ups and deliveries, even when you might not be home. For doormen buildings in the city, it’s very easy. Same for single-family houses in the suburbs, where the pickup and delivery area is typically the front porch. For other situations, like non-doormen buildings, townhouses, gated communities, office buildings, etc., we’ll figure out with you in advance what the best way to set up service. Once we’ve got you set up and ready to go, it’s smooth sailing from there!

Unfortunately, not with our traditional service. For Traditional service, we do require a way to pick-up and deliver, even when you might not be home. If you prefer to always be home for service, you’d probably be a better fit for our On Demand App based service, where you can schedule service around your own schedule!

Greener Cleaner covers a huge part of Chicagoland, including many suburbs. Our coverage area does periodically change, so click here to find out if you reside in an area that we currently service. If you’re not in one of the shaded regions, and would like to request service anyway, please email us, and depending on the situation, we may be able to accommodate your request.

When you leave your first order for pickup, you can use any bag(s) that you have around the house. Any bag will do fine, we just ask that you please make sure that your name is written on/inside each and every bag so that your order does not get mixed up with other new customers who we’re picking up that day. When your first order is delivered, you’ll receive that order back with your brand new Greener Cleaner bag, to use for all future orders. If you would like us to provide you with a free door hook to hang your cleaned clothes from, please let us know at sign-up, and our driver will leave you the hook when he picks up the first order.

It’s up to you! Our Traditional service offers two frequencies: You can use the service on a regular basis, or an “on call” basis. Regular schedule means we automatically stop by your residence two times per week to see if you have any cleaning to pick up. It’s designed for frequent dry cleaning/laundry users who typically have cleaning at least once per week. The other option is called “On Call” service, where you simply request a pickup online whenever you need us to come by! And since we’re already in your neighborhood, there are never any minimums for dry cleaning pickups.

Yes we can! However, hotel guests are limited to using our On Demand app-based system, and must be present for both pick-up and delivery, as hotels typically will not accept pick-ups and deliveries for guests (they want you to use their ridiculously expensive in-house services!)

Absolutely not! There are two similar questions that are always asked by customers who want us to pickup and delivery from an outside location, and that is should I be worried about theft, and should I be worried about the weather? To answer the first question, we have found that theft is simply not a problem when it comes to dry cleaning and laundry deliveries. No matter how much your clothes mean to you, theft is generally about resale value, and there just isn’t an incentive to steal clothes. And remember, all your UPS and FedEx packages arrive in the same manner. Regarding the weather, Greener Cleaner will only deliver clothing to an area that is protected from the weather. Also, during periods of severe weather, your driver may choose not to deliver the clothes that day, and instead deliver the clothes during the next delivery period.

At this time, 24 hour delivery service is NOT available through our Traditional pickup and delivery service. Customers who would like 24 hour service will need to use the On Demand app. However in most cases, we can honor special requests for 48 hour turnaround times. If you need same day or next day service, please visit our location at 4837 Oakton St, Skokie (only 2 minutes off I-94 and 10 minutes from Downtown Chicago), where we offer same day service before 10:00 am at no additional charge.

No problem. Simply log-in to your account and click on the “schedule a pickup / cancel service” link. Here you can schedule temporary account cancellations for when you are out of town. If you prefer, you can also email us at customersupport@greenercleaner.net.com and let us know!

Our traditional pickup and delivery service is always free. All you pay for is the cost of cleaning, and we take care of all delivery costs. The only other charge you will ever see on your account isn’t actually a charge – it’s a fully refundable deposit of $7.95 for any Greener Cleaner bags that are provided to you while you are using our service. If you ever decide to stop using our service for any reason, simply return the bag(s) for a full refund.

If you choose to take advantage of our On Demand delivery service, that service does carry a $5.95 delivery fee and a $25.00 minimum. This is necessary because our On Demand deliveries are so much less efficient than our traditional delivery service, so they are more expensive for us to provide.

We’d like to think that Greener Cleaner provides the very best value around. You’ll find a wide range of pricing for cleaners out there, just like any other industry. On the lower end of the pricing scale are “discount” operations and small mom-and-pop stores, and on the complete opposite end of the spectrum are “couture” cleaners. At Greener Cleaner we like to think we fit happily in the middle, with the highest quality standards, yet reasonable pricing. For an example, imagine a sweater that you absolutely love – you can bring it to a discount operation who may charge $3.99, or a mom and pop that may charge $5.50 – $8.00. The problem with taking one of these two options is that you may be taking a risk with your beloved sweater (more on this in the next question). The other option is to take the sweater you love to a “couture” cleaner, but to clean this one sweater you may be charged more than $58.00! At Greener Cleaner, you can feel totally confident entrusting us with your garments, because we provide a quality of cleaning that matches up to any “couture” cleaner around, and yet we keep our pricing totally reasonable. Currently our price for most sweaters are $8.99. For more information and detailed pricing please click here to see our Price list.

Unfortunately, sometimes you pay for what you get.  Think about it like this: you don’t buy the cheapest clothes you can find, right? Of course not!  That’s because your clothes are an expression of who you are.  And for that same reason, we think you should think twice before choosing to have your clothes cleaned by the cheapest cleaner around.  Some cleaners out there may not be treating your expensive garments the way they deserve to be treated.   At Greener Cleaner, you’ll feel confident trusting us with your garments because:

• We don’t use harsh chemicals like PERC to clean your clothes. PERC leaves your clothes with that familiar “cleaning” odor, and it is a harsh chemical that can be rough on your clothes. Our GreenEarth solvent leaves your clothes softer, brighter, and odor free, every time!
• Our solvent is fresh every load. Greener Cleaner guarantees that our environmentally friendly solvent is freshly distilled and purified after every load. With other cleaners, you just don’t know… unfortunately, sometimes solvent can be old, dirty, and dingy.
• Our equipment is state of the art. Greener Cleaner has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in a brand new, state of the art plant. We use the newest technology to bring you the best possible quality in cleaning and pressing. The reality is that there are other plants out there that still have equipment from the 1950′s and 60′s. Seriously!
• Our staff is properly trained. At The Greener Cleaner, your clothes will be cared for by qualified garment care professionals, who are properly trained to handle your most treasured garments. In addition, you’ll get outstanding customer service to match our high standards of cleaning quality.
• Our equipment is properly maintained. Proper repair and maintenance of equipment is of paramount importance. Like changing the oil in a car, if a cleaner does not properly maintain their equipment, the equipment will start to perform poorly. Greener Cleaner has a structured maintenance schedule that is followed to ensure continued quality over the long term.

It’s easy!  Once you have an account, there’s no need to place an order.  Simply ship us an order whenever you’d like, using the carrier that’s most convenient for you! (FedEx, UPS, USPS, etc.)

Use any box you have around the house, and send orders to:

The Greener Cleaner
Mail Order Department
4837 Oakton St.
Skokie, IL 60077

For qualifying orders of $100 or more, we’ll automatically credit the order $15 to pay for shipping to our facility, and then we’ll pay for the return shipping in a “standard” box.

With “standard box” shipping, we’ll gently fold your cleaned and pressed garments and ship them back.  Due to the folding required to fit inside a standard box, some creasing may occur, and you may need to steam these out at home.

A “wardrobe box” is a large, flat box that allows us to completely fit about most garments inside without folding.  Garments actually lay flat on top of one other inside the box – still on hangers!  Since there’s no folding, there’s little-to-no creasing.

Unfortunately, due to their size, wardrobe boxes are expensive to ship.  Cost to ship back a wardrobe box is as follows:

• Cleaning Order over $150:  Free
• Cleaning Order over $100: $15 flat fee
• Cleaning Order under $100:  Price will vary by weight, typically $30-$38 (as of 2/2021)

You would be responsible for shipping both ways, in that case. So you would not receive the $15 credit, and we would add the return shipping fees onto your bill.  Shipping fees for standard boxes are typically between $12-$20 depending on weight, and wardrobe boxes between $30-$38 depending on weight.

You can pick between a “standard box they are folded neatly and placed inside a standard box. Wardrobe boxes (as pictured on the top of this page) are available and may be requested, at an additional cost.

No problem!  Once you sign-up for an account, you’ll get an email explaining exactly how the service works.  If you have any questions after that, you can always reply to that email to reach our representatives directly.  Or you can simply call us toll-free at (855) WET-CLEAN (855-938-2532) or use our direct local line, (312) 321-0033.