<div dir="ltr"><div>Hi Vince,</div><div><br></div><div>Cleanroom suit maintenance can be expensive but we made a compromise that I think worked well by buying our suits and setting up our own laundry system. We collected water from our DI water system in a poly drum ( to keep it isolated from our DI water system) and ran a pneumatically driven pump to pump the water to a high end home SS clothes washer. We started with special cleanroom gown detergent but you may find alternatives. Boots are washed separately from gowns and hoods. We went through detail trials with a particle counter to see if we could keep the particle count as low as a new suit and it worked well. We continued to use the particle counter from time to time (over years) to see if our cleaning was still effective. Cleanroom maintenance for laundry and general cleaning was typically done by undergraduate work studies and was a great way to introduce them to the cleanroom world. If they were good at cleaning spinner bowls, they learned to fab!</div><div><br></div><div>We never did any analysis on bacteria or ion contamination but it would be something that I would consider if I did it again.</div><div><br></div><div>Best Regards</div><div><br></div><div>Mark</div><div>Mark Crain</div><div><br></div><div> </div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, May 12, 2017 at 8:58 AM, Luciani, Vincent (Fed) <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:Vincent.Luciani@nist.gov" target="_blank">Vincent.Luciani@nist.gov</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
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<p class="MsoNormal">Hello LabNetwork,<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A new problem has come up for us and we have not been able to resolve the issue with the vendor. The contractor is adamant in discarding and charging us for stained or damaged garments at a startling frequency. The cost associated with
this have become prohibitively expensive and prominent on my radar screen.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I now have an opportunity to rethink that arrangement which is a fleeting opportunity for me simply due to the bureaucracy and lead time associated with the government acquisition requirements.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Current practice:<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Our cleanroom is class 100 and since our beginning (10 years ago), we have gone the conventional route of contracting with a vendor to supply and launder our Gore-Tex garments (bunny suits, hoods, booties, frocks). Currently, we collect
all garments every Friday so users get a fresh set weekly. We have about 100 different users weekly so swap out about 100 hoods/suits/booties per week.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, I will take this opportunity to reach out to the collective wisdom of the LabNetwork to see how others have contained the costs of cleanroom garments.<u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks,<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Vince<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Microsoft Sans Serif",sans-serif">Vincent K. Luciani<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Microsoft Sans Serif",sans-serif">NanoFab Manager<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Microsoft Sans Serif",sans-serif"><a href="http://www.cnst.nist.gov/" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology</span></a><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Microsoft Sans Serif",sans-serif">National Institute of Standards and Technology<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Microsoft Sans Serif",sans-serif">100 Bureau Drive, MS 6201<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Microsoft Sans Serif",sans-serif">Gaithersburg, MD 20899-6200 USA<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Microsoft Sans Serif",sans-serif"><a href="tel:(301)%20975-2886" target="_blank" value="+13019752886">+1-301-975-2886</a><u></u><u></u></span></p>
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