How to Wash Clean Room Garments

Clean Rooms and Clean Room Garments

Different industrial sectors and research institutions utilize clean rooms for work and building products. Some of the organizations that rely on these kinds of sterile environments include institutions that work on aerospace applications, optics, semiconductors, solar cells, pharmaceuticals, and more. The ability to limit airborne contaminants is critical to commercial success, as well as for fostering advances in research.

Clean room garments are an integral part of operating well-managed clean rooms. Human beings can't be sterilized, as we're continually shedding hair, skin, and other biological “impurities.” The best we can do is require clean room staff to don clean room garments.

The purpose of wearing clean room garments is twofold: these protective suits stop human contaminants (flaking skin, mucus, etc.) from polluting the environment. These garments also shield the people wearing them from any dangerous materials they might be working with, or that are nearby.

How to Wash Clean Room Garments

Careful attention needs to paid to the care and washing of clean room outfits. Two critical factors to be acutely aware of are the kind of water employed to wash these garments, as well as the type of detergent used.

Failure to use the right kind of water or detergent will significantly reduce the lifespan of your clean room garments — and in some cases, cut the life expectancy down by half. Below, you’ll find some straightforward advice about how to wash your clean room garments.

Washing Clean Room Garments: Use Deionized or Reverse Osmosis Water

Water, naturally, is one of the main components employed when washing most objects. In the case of washing clean room garments, you'll want to either stick to deionized water or reverse osmosis water.

Deionized water (DI), which comes from specialized water purification systems (with stainless-steel fittings), is ideal because the physical deionization process helps reduce static.

Static on clothing attracts particles and pollutants that can quickly containment your clean room. Washing your clean room attire with deionized water will help ensure garments are as pollutant-free as possible before people put them on in gown-up spaces prior to entering clean rooms.

Reverse osmosis water — which removes pollutants and minerals from water — can also be used for washing clean room apparel. Reverse osmosis (RO) water is created when water is pushed through a semipermeable membrane, removing impurities from the liquid.

In addition to using either ultrapure DI or RO water to clean your garments, the water used should be extremely hot to maximize the cleaning effect.

Washing Clean Room Garments: Use Non-Ionic Detergent

The detergent used for washing clean room garments should always be non-ionic. Ionic contamination (from detergent that isn't non-ionic) is difficult to remove from clean room clothing. The best way to combat ionic contaminants is to only use non-ionic detergents.

Another factor to focus on when it comes to detergents is pH level. If the detergent you rely upon is either too alkaline or too acidic, it will wreak havoc on the integrity of the thread and fiber your garments are made of. You should aim for a detergent pH level that rests somewhere between 6.5 and 7.5, which is around neutral.
Wash your clean room garments in ultra-hot, ultrapure deionized or reverse osmosis water, and always ensure the pH levels of the detergents you use are as neutral as possible. By following these simple steps, your protective garments will be cleaner and should last much longer.