What IS Dry Cleaning?

[Enola_Straight]

I know that during dry cleaning, the clothes actually DO get wet; the cleaner uses a fluid other than water.
I gather back in Victorian times they used kerosene to dry clean clothes, but what do they use TODAY?

[Doctor_Jackson]

According to the US Department of Labor OSHA page at http://www.osha-slc.gov/SLTC/drycleaning/index.html

Perchloroethylene (PERC), a potential human carcinogen, is the most commonly used dry cleaning solvent.

Other chemicals are listed further down the page, including 1,1,2-Trichloro-1,2,2-trifluoroethane and Stoddard Solvent. More info is available at the OSHA page.