Dumping a pile of jackets, pants and shirts on the counter of a West Village dry cleaner, Wayne Kasserman had a pungent problem: A skunk had sprayed outside a Los Angeles guest house where he was staying, and the stink had penetrated the closets and his clothes.

However strong the smell, though, he wanted the antidote to be gentle on the planet. Mr. Kasserman, 32, an actor and producer who lives in New York, chose Green Apple Cleaners, which advertises “nontoxic” methods that it says will not leave harmful residues in garments or the environment.

He had no shortage of businesses to choose from. In New York and around the country, dry-cleaning stores have increasingly sprouted signs reading “organic” or “green,” as environmentally conscious consumers look for alternatives to traditional dry cleaning and its use of the solvent perchloroethylene. Prolonged contact with that solvent, known as PCE or perc, has been linked in some studies to cancer and neurological troubles like vision problems, and its use is strictly regulated.

But marketing claims for the alternatives are not regulated at all. So customers like Mr. Wasserman, who said he was not sure just what methods Green Apple used, are left to hope for the best. And sometimes the cleaning methods advertised as environmentally sound are anything but.