Abstract: Heavily soiled shop towels, mops and other industrial laundry are initially contacted with a mixture of a cleaning solvent and an emulsifier to efficiently penetrate the industrial soil in the fabric. Thereafter water is added to provide an oil-in-water emulsion cleaning composition which effectively removes both the industrial soil and the solvent from the goods. A preferred class of hydrocarbon solvents suitable for this purpose is the class of solvents known as terpene solvents. Particularly suitable are terpene solvents having a tagg closed cup flash point, of 140.degree. F. or higher. The oil-in-water emulsion thereafter is demulsified for separation of the cleaning solvent from the water and recycle of the solvent to the process.