Washable polyester almost finished them off in the 1960s and now the surging price of oil is putting American dry-cleaners out of business at the fastest rate for four decades.

The dry-cleaning business is particularly sensitive to the oil price because almost every part of their operations is either dependent on fuel or derived from it.

On Friday the price of oil hit a new high with light sweet crude climbing to $142.99 a barrel, before settling up 57 cents at $140.20. This time last year, the price of oil was $88 a barrel.

Dry-cleaners use oil-based solvents to clean suits, jackets and ties and they have seen their operating costs increase almost threefold in two years as the oil price continues to rise.

Many dry-cleaners use a solvent called perchlorethene to wash clothes, a chemical manufactured from “cracking” oil. Dow Chemical, one of the world's largest solvent makers, has raised its prices twice in a month, by 50 per cent in total, to keep pace with the increasing cost of oil.

At the same time, American dry-cleaners have been hit by the rising cost of fuel for their vans.

The cost of the plastic garment bags - another derivative of oil - has risen and overall energy costs for dry-cleaners' machines, which require large amounts of electricity, have soared in the past few years.

Lynette Watterson, who owns the Crystal Cleaning Centre in San Mateo, California, said: “I took over this business from my mother, and this is the worst time for us since the Sixties, when polyester was introduced. My operating costs used to be about $2,000 a month - now they are about $7,000 (£3,500). We are hanging in there, but a lot aren't. People are closing their doors. They are either closed or under new ownership.”

Although California has the highest petrol price in the country - some gas stations in Orange County, California, were charging $4.91 a gallon yesterday - dry-cleaners across the country are in crisis.

Bob McBride, a spokesman for the Association of Pennsylvania and Delaware Dry-cleaners, which represents about 1,200 members, said: “You are going to see a lot more small dry-cleaners go out of business in the next year or so. This is a problem across the country, caused by a number of factors. "Energy costs have gone up, so the cost of running our equipment has increased. All the supplies that dry-cleaners use have risen, such as the garment bags and the chemicals we use to clean clothes.

“It is all putting pressure on the cost side. There is also the problem that dry-cleaning is a shrinking market. Businesses have shifted to casual attire - not everyone goes to work in a suit any more - and when there is a downturn, dry-cleaning really is a discretionary spend. It's not essential. One of our members goes bust every month or so.”

Mr McBride said that dry-cleaners have been forced to raise their prices to customers just when Americans can ill-afford additional costs with rising food and fuel to contend with.

Mr McBride estimated that he used to charge about $9 to clean a business suit two years ago, and now charges between $11 and $14. Ms Watterson and Mr McBride have also been hit by another far more unexpected cost. This year, threatened by the dominance of Chinese imports, Washington imposed a tariff on all Chinese metal coat hangers entering the US, almost all of which supply American dry-cleaners.

According to Hal Horning, editor of National Clothesline, the cost of a coat hanger has now risen from “about a nickel [5 cents] to almost a dime [10 cents]”.

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