Abstract: In a process for cleaning one or more articles in the vapor phase of an organic solvent the solvent vapor is fed into a cleaning chamber (1) wherein an absolute pressure of 200 mbar or less is maintained and the cleaning is conducted at a temperature at or above the flash point of the organic solvent. A preferred apparatus for conducting the cleaning process contains a cleaning chamber (1), two storage tanks (2 and 3), an evaporator (4), a heating device (5) and a condenser (6). These devices are connected by means of a conduit system which is equipped with a vacuum pump (7), two pumps (8 and 9) and valves (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22). Inlet air (11) can be fed into the cleaning chamber (1). Waste gas (10) can be removed from the apparatus by means of the vacuum pump (7).