[labnetwork] gowning services and laundering vs. disposable

[Hughes, John S]

Hello Richard,

I'll add some slight variations to what you've already heard.

We at MNTL use launderable garments, which we own. We originally started with Tyvek disposables, then went to Aramark Cleanroom Services, where they owned the garments. Then, because I didn't like Aramark, we went to ALSCO Cleanroom Services. ALSCO was bought out by Aramark, giving me the justification to buy our own garments and contract with a different laundering service, TEK Products.

As Dennis Schweiger mentioned, coming to the right inventory numbers can be very tricky, and our user base has been steadily increasing (~260 users now), making it even more challenging. One big difference in our methods, though, pertains to when we send the garments out for laundering.

Each of our cleanroom users has their own cube locker for their garments. Our users are in the cleanrooms anywhere from 0-60+ hours/week, i.e., there's tremendous variability.

Rather than change out all the garments on a weekly basis, we use our keycard entry system to track an individual's cleanroom time, and when they reach a (somewhat arbitrary) limit, an email is sent to them letting them know how long it has been since their last garment change. In the email they are asked to acknowledge that they will change out their garment set the next time they come in the cleanrooms, by hitting a button on a web page they are directed to. Clicking the "I agree to change my garments" button resets their timer.

It's not foolproof. People could ignore the email, for example, but they'll get another one every day until they respond (and we'll know if they don't, since the emails are also sent to certain MNTL staff). And there's really nothing for them to gain by not changing out their garments on a regular basis.

 -- John

-------------------------------------------------------------
John S. Hughes                         Office: (217) 333-4674
Associate Director                        FAX: (217) 244-6375
Laboratory Operations                     hughes at illinois.edu<mailto:hughes at illinois.edu>
Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
2000E Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory
208 North Wright Street
Urbana, Illinois  61801              http://mntl.illinois.edu
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On Jun 24, 2013, at 11:23 AM, "Everly, Richard" <everly at usf.edu<mailto: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<mailto:everly at usf.edu>
www.nrec.usf.edu



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