Cleaning and decontamination of clothing for highly sensitive areas

Cleanroom system Cleancell4.0® of the ISO cleanroom class 5. The dimmable LED lighting ensures balanced light in the area of the spreading table.

External view of the cleanroom system Cleancell4.0®. You can see the cleaning steps from the outside through the large cleanroom windows.

The employees have been specially trained for safe conduct inside the cleanroom. Here you can see the dryer unloading process.

The family owned company Geiger Textil GmbH from Bad Säckingen is expanding its range of services with a new Cleanroom + service. The medium-sized company has invested in its own cleanroom and offers a full-service rental system for cleanroom clothing for the first time. The cleanroom textiles are collected after use directly at the location of the customer, they are then inspected in the new cleanroom system, restored, refurbished and securely repacked and delivered for further cleanroom use.

Not just clean but pure

The cleanroom operators in the field of pharmacy, microelectronics or the medical industry are perhaps the most demanding customers you can find in the field of work clothing. Surely the well-known advertising slogan "not only clean but pure" fits nowhere better than to the cleaning of cleanroom textiles. Because there are significant differences between a cleanroom laundry and an industrial laundry. There are very strict guidelines for the control, quality and hygiene standards of cleanroom clothing. The number of particles and germs must be strictly monitored.

Patrick Wenger, responsible for the new cleanroom division at Geiger Textil, explains the difference between the cleaning of normal work clothing and the decontamination of the cleanroom clothing: "The sensitive production processes inside a cleanroom can be jeopardized even by the release of the smallest micro-particles. Humans are the greatest source of danger. Special cleanroom clothing prevents particles from being released, for example, from the skin of the employee. After use, these garments must be carefully cleaned of particles and germs not visible by the naked eye before the next use. No new particles should enter the clothing even during drying and packaging. In order to prevent contamination during cleaning, the cleanroom clothing is treated in a cleanroom which corresponds to at least the same clean room class in which it is later used by the customer. In our case, this is a cleanroom of ISO class 5 in operation"

Modular cleanroom of ISO class 5

The cleanroom was integrated in the newly built production hall of Geiger Textil and is designed for a capacity of 20,000 articles per week. The cleanroom company SCHILLING ENGINEERING, which is also based at the Hochrhein, was commissioned with the planning of the 66 square meter cleanroom system. The CleanCell4.0® cleanroom is certified according to ISO Class 5 and is equipped with state-of-the-art technology and has been designed for the special requirements of the laundry. The cleanrooms are designed with recesses for the attachment of washing machines and drying units. The staff is safely routed into the cleanroom via an actively flushed personnel sluice. A self-closing gravity flap inserted in the clean room wall ensures the contamination-free output of the cleaned and packaged laundry. Two washing machines operated with specially treated water are connected to the rear of the cleanroom. The washing machines have a through-loading function for safe feeding of the textiles. They are filled outside the cleanroom and discharged in the cleanroom after cleaning. Drying, testing and packaging of the sensitive textiles are carried out within the cleanroom. A sample is taken from each wash cycle for which the remaining particle density is determined and documented using a Helmke-Drum test.

The tables and other furniture are made of clean-room compatible stainless steel. Large windows and a dimmable LED lighting create a balanced lighting and a proper external visibility. A counter-intercom system facilitates the communication between the individual areas.

The management of the new cleanroom team explains the special features of the system: "We have installed an ISO class 5 cleanroom in operation in our newly built hall. We are therefore in a position to meet even the most demanding requirements of our customers from the pharmaceutical industry or microelectronics. As we enter the market for cleanroom textiles, we have placed great importance on making the possible expansion of the cleanroom. The cleanroom has a modular design and has fully met our requirements. In close coordination with the engineers from SCHILLING ENGINEERING we have planned a cleanroom which exactly meets our requirements."

State-of-the-art technology, satisfied users

 The newly developed CleanCell4.0® cleanroom system is equipped with the latest technology and can be operated more energy-efficiently than comparable systems. Sensor data are used to set and monitor components such as number of particles, temperature, air humidity and air pressure. The data flows into the CRControl® control system which is easily operated via a monitor installed next to the clean room door.

A low turbulence displacement flow ensures full compliance with the pure areas as per cleanroom class ISO 5. Flush mounted Laminar-Flow units operated with U15 ULPA high-performance filters introduce pure air into the working area. An air recirculation process within the cleanroom walls introduces the already cooled and filtered air into the air exchange cycle. This allows filters and air conditioning equipment to be operated much more economically.

A special feature of the cleanroom systems from SCHILLING ENGINEERING is the modular, expandable design. The wall elements are connected with a patented silicone-free GMP sealing clip system and can be flexibly dismantled or extended.

Geiger Textil GmbH is very satisfied with the system: "The cleanroom has been running for several weeks now and works flawlessly. We can easily monitor and control the cleanroom just by using the touchscreen-controlled monitoring system. For example, the filter contamination is displayed and we can detect problems or perform maintenance early on. Previously this was not necessary. We especially like the dimmable LED lighting, which ensures very good light conditions for the workstations and saves energy."

With its investment in a high-tech cleanroom system, the third generation family owned company Geiger Textil has invested in the future and has raised its own benchmark for quality and hygienic standards. Opting for the module cleanroom CleanCell4.0® enhances the investment security for the newly developed service.