Method and apparatus for using steam in a commercial laundry machine as an environmentally-friendly replacement of conventional dry cleaning or wet cleaning processes

A method for using steam in a steam-cleaning laundry machine, the method comprising:

• rotating a drum in a steam-cleaning laundry machine to provide dust filtering and loosening of garments;
• transmitting fresh steam from a standalone water boiler system used in a commercial laundry operation to the steam-cleaning laundry machine using a steam-in duct;
• injecting a predetermined amount of the fresh steam into the drum of the steam-cleaning laundry machine while the drum containing the garments continue to rotate, wherein the predetermined amount of the fresh steam is calculated by a particular garment cleaning program a user selected;
• adding detergent and/or fabric conditioner into the drum;
• circulating unheated air into and out of the drum for a clean cycle periodically or continuously to condense at least a portion of the fresh steam onto the garments for effective garment cleaning with a mixture of steam and condensed moistures, wherein the mixture is intentionally created by the particular garment cleaning program, and wherein the step of circulating the unheated air into and out of the drum also involves a step of removing moistures, chemicals, and/or debris from the drum;
• raising an internal temperature of the drum for a press-friendly preliminary drying of the garments;
• and
• continuing to rotate the drum in the steam-cleaning laundry machine until a last air circulation from the steam-cleaning laundry machine is complete.