Dry cleaners in Toronto have embraced eco-friendly and non-toxic strategies for making your silks and sweaters look spotless. As public opinion turns against traditional (and notoriously chemical-heavy) dry cleaning methods, the provincial government has put the squeeze on use of the main solvent in dry cleaning, Perchloroethylene ("perc", for short). These cleaners bypass government scrutiny by embracing wet cleaning, which uses water as the main solvent. (Don't worry, your clothes will be fine.)

Here are my picks for the top eco friendly dry cleaners in Toronto.

See also: The best dry cleaners in Toronto

Riverdale Cleaners
The newest name on this list, located on Broadview just south of Danforth, bills itself as the only "100% toxin free cleaner" in the east end, specializing in perc-free wet cleaning. (They just signed on with the city's Live Green Card.)

Eco Cleaners
The name says it all at Eco Cleaners, which has two locations in midtown and Leaside. On top of non-toxic dry cleaning, they also use recycled packing materials, biodegradable detergents, and a unique, efficient cleaning process that uses byproducts from one procedure - say, water collected from steaming garments - for the next.

Dove Cleaners
Dove boasts that their cleaning services are used by "celebrities, CEOs of multimillion dollar corporations, socialites, and more". But, more importantly (and more impressively), this cleaning chain, which uses GreenEarth cleaning solvents, also meets all international ecological standards, not just those in Ontario or Canada.

Canadian Dry Cleaners
Located at Queen and Coxwell, Canadian Dry Cleaners abandoned perc-heavy cleaning methods years ago - but it's their fair prices and quick turnaround time that really makes them neighbourhood favourites.

Glenforest
Glenforest, located on Yonge a few blocks north of Lawrence, uses the SMART system of non-toxic wet cleaning products (which, they claim, gets better results than Green Earth); they also use energy-efficient Miele machines.

New Way
Rosedale's New Way has been cleaning since 1936, but they ditched the percs in 2005, and now use an organic hydrocarbon compound (along with biodegradable detergents) in all of their dry cleaning

Gibson's
Gibson's, with three locations in Toronto (Bloor West Village, Royal York and Dundas, and Runnymede) and one in Brampton, also uses the Green Earth cleaning system; they also pledge to reduce, reuse and recycle as many materials as possible.

EcoPure
EcoPure's Mount Pleasant and Mississauga locations also stick to perc-free wet cleaning for pretty much any garment you can think of; as a nifty aside, they also do restoration work on clothing damaged by flooding or fires.

Alfred
The real draw to Alfred is the 24-hour drop-off and pick-up service, currently based out of a kiosk on Church St. and dozens of private apartment buildings - but it may please users to know that they only use organic solvents.

Del Ray
Parliament's Del Ray Cleaners will run your dry-clean-only items through an Ipura machine, built specifically for use with perc-free chemicals. If you keep odd hours, you can sign up for their "Green Team", which gets you access to a 24-hour drop box and free repairs.

Did I miss any? Leave your favourite green dry cleaner in Toronto in the comments.

Photo via Riverdale Cleaners