[labnetwork] gowning services and laundering vs. disposable

[Dennis Schweiger]

Richard,

good morning.  Here at UofMichigan we use all launderable suits for regular
entry, and we'll issue disposable suits to the one-off entry, the
occasional contractor that needs to enter, or if there is a potential for
damage to our launderable garments.  We've been using Cintas since about
2008, when we migrated from all disposable to the laundry service.  It's
not the cure-all, be-all, but it is working for us.  the hardest part is
keeping the inventory adjusted to accommodate the variety in user sizes.
 I've attached a snapshot of what we have had cleaned for the last 8
weeks.  It costs us about $1,100/week for the laundry service at our
current usage levels.  All of the suits are pulled every Monday morning
when we do lab clean, and Cintas delivers the clean product later that
day.  Now that our inventory is "correct" we don't have to worry too much
about running out of a size/garment.  Years ago, when we were using
disposable, the changeout of the suits was up to the user...........you'd
see the entire spectrum in the cleanroom in regard to wear levels......from
torn suits to new ones every single day.

One of the advantages of using the washable garments for us is that it
allowed us to modify them with fasteners on the back so that we can slowly
migrate to name tags (sports jersey style) for all of the users as a way to
easily identify who's in the cleanroom with our video cameras.  Currently
only our staff have the back tags.

For the disposable suits we use on occasion, we're currently using a Dupont
Tyvek (Micro-Clean 2-1-2) product, but are actively looking at a Kimberly
Clark A5 product.

Dennis Schweiger
University of Michigan
Lurie Nanofabrication Facility

734.647.2055 Ofc

"People can be divided into 3 groups - those that make things happen, those
that watch things happen, and those that wonder what happened."  Within
which group do you belong?


On Mon, Jun 24, 2013 at 12:23 PM, Everly, Richard <everly at usf.edu> wrote:

> NREC at USF operates a class 1000 cleanroom servicing about 10-20 students
> per week with about 40-60 cleanroom entries per week. We have 3 sets of 20
> gowns that we rotate out at regular intervals for cleaning.   We currently
> have our gowns cleaned by mail order but the current vendor wants to
> increase our contract rate by 10X the current amount, needless to say, this
> is not in our budget! The current company only seems interested in
> servicing high volume accounts and they want to move us to a minimum
> billing fee, based on their other clients usage.
>
> Right now I'm looking for alternate companies that service the southeast
> market that will rent/repair and launder gowns via mail order for a smaller
> operation like ours. We've tried to contact several vendors but we've have
> not received any replies, based on this lackluster response I can only
> assume that the economy has picked up so well that they can afford to turn
> away business!
>
> We've always used laundry services and purchased/rented our own gowns, but
> I'm entertaining the idea of the standard coverall disposables but I have a
> few questions regarding their use that your feedback will help me determine
> if they will be cost effective for a smaller operation like ours.
>
> 1. would you consider using the disposable gown more than once, as long as
> they are not torn/tattered or soiled? it seems to me they would last for a
> few days or maybe even a week.
> 2. if you use disposables what is your policy regarding these gowns and
> replacement?
> 3. what brands/suppliers could you recommend. (I know there are many out
> there but I'm relying on the vast experience of Labnet to narrow down the
> playing field to a handful of contenders)
>
> Respectfully,
>
>
> Richard Everly
> Research Engineer
> Nanotechnology Research and Education Center (NREC)
> University of South Florida
> Mailstop ENB 118
> 4202 E. Fowler Ave
> Tampa, FL 33620
>
> PH:   813-974-5365
> FAX: 813-974-3610
> everly at usf.edu
> www.nrec.usf.edu
>
>
>
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