The dry-cleaning industry is slowly dying — and this chart makes it crystal clear

• The number of dry-cleaning establishments is falling in the US.
• The decline is not only due to COVID-19, but has been a trend since 2001 amidst other changes.

Many industries took a hit from the pandemic over the past two years — among them, dry cleaning.

But, as Bloomberg recently pointed out, it's not just the pandemic's fault that dry cleaning establishments are on the decline.

From the first quarter of 2001, to the first quarter of 2022, the number of dry-cleaning and laundry service stablishments, excluding those that are coin-operated, decreased from 27,204 to 16,497, according to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In the fourth quarter of 2019, just before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of establishments was 18,756, compared to 17,722 a year later.

The chart shows that dry-cleaning and laundry service establishments have been on the decline almost two decades before the pandemic started. There are several reasons for the drop, as Bloomberg outlined.

For one, the choice to work from home gave people an out from having to dress up in pressed shirts and suits to go into the office — clothes that would usually need to be dry cleaned. Even people going back into the office want to wear comfortable and stylish clothes that can transition from the desk to happy hour.

Yoon Dong Kim, the president of the Korean Dry Cleaners & Laundry Assn. of Southern California, told the Los Angeles Times in a story published in late July last year that at least a quarter of the group's members had had to close their shops during the pandemic, leaving 800 to 900 left at the time.

Bloomberg also highlighted that the Environmental Protection Agency has placed restrictions on dry cleaning businesses, by placing regulations on a dry cleaning solvent called perchloroethylene. The EPA said this solvent can increase the risk of liver cancer, and neurological, immunological, kidney, and liver damage if a person has a lot of exposure.

However, the data shows that laundry services and dry cleaning establishments that are coin-operated have seen a slight increase since the pandemic. According to the data from the BLS, the number of coin-operated establishments went from 9,548 in the first quarter of 2020, to 9,710 in the first quarter of 2022.

Correction: May 30, 2023 — An earlier version of this story misstated when Yoon Dong Kim talked to the Los Angeles Times. His comments were published in 2021, not 2001.