This site from Chemistry and New Zealand provides a wide variety of household chemistry techniques on how to remove stains without dry cleaning.

How Stuff Works provides a brief introduction to how dry cleaning works as well as links to a number of sites about thetopic.

About.com's description of different types of paint and the substances from which these mixtures are made. The HowStuffWorks site has information on paints made for acccoustic tiles and paints lowin volatile organic compounds, or VOCs.