Classifications

• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06L—DRY-CLEANING, WASHING OR BLEACHING FIBRES, FILAMENTS, THREADS, YARNS, FABRICS, FEATHERS OR MADE-UP FIBROUS GOODS; BLEACHING LEATHER OR FURS
  • D06L4/00—Bleaching fibres, filaments, threads, yarns, fabrics, feathers or made-up fibrous goods; Bleaching leather or furs
  • D06L4/70—Multi-step processes
  • D06L4/75—Multi-step processes combined with cleaning or washing
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C11—ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE OILS, FATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES OR WAXES; FATTY ACIDS THEREFROM; DETERGENTS; CANDLES
  • C11D—DETERGENT COMPOSITIONS; USE OF SINGLE SUBSTANCES AS DETERGENTS; SOAP OR SOAP-MAKING; RESIN SOAPS; RECOVERY OF GLYCEROL
  • C11D3/00—Other compounding ingredients of detergent compositions covered in group C11D1/00
  • C11D3/395—Bleaching agents
  • C11D3/3956—Liquid compositions
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06L—DRY-CLEANING, WASHING OR BLEACHING FIBRES, FILAMENTS, THREADS, YARNS, FABRICS, FEATHERS OR MADE-UP FIBROUS GOODS; BLEACHING LEATHER OR FURS
  • D06L4/00—Bleaching fibres, filaments, threads, yarns, fabrics, feathers or made-up fibrous goods; Bleaching leather or furs
  • D06L4/20—Bleaching fibres, filaments, threads, yarns, fabrics, feathers or made-up fibrous goods; Bleaching leather or furs using agents which contain halogen
  • D06L4/22—Bleaching fibres, filaments, threads, yarns, fabrics, feathers or made-up fibrous goods; Bleaching leather or furs using agents which contain halogen using inorganic agents
  • D06L4/24—Bleaching fibres, filaments, threads, yarns, fabrics, feathers or made-up fibrous goods; Bleaching leather or furs using agents which contain halogen using inorganic agents using chlorites or chlorine dioxide
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C11—ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE OILS, FATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES OR WAXES; FATTY ACIDS THEREFROM; DETERGENTS; CANDLES
  • C11D—DETERGENT COMPOSITIONS; USE OF SINGLE SUBSTANCES AS DETERGENTS; SOAP OR SOAP-MAKING; RESIN SOAPS; RECOVERY OF GLYCEROL
  • C11D2111/00—Cleaning compositions characterised by the objects to be cleaned; Cleaning compositions characterised by non-standard cleaning or washing processes
  • C11D2111/10—Objects to be cleaned
  • C11D2111/12—Soft surfaces, e.g. textile

Definitions

• Thermal disinfection has been shown to be insufficient in killing spore forming bacteria, such as C. diff. C. diff. can survive extended heating at 160°F. Temperatures of 145-160°F may actually enhance spore germination of some aged spores.
• EPA registered sanitizers/disinfectants are sometimes used in healthcare laundries. When used properly, these sanitizers/disinfectants have kill claims on certain organisms. The deficiency in using these sanitizers/disinfectants is that they do not have kill claims on many organisms present in the healthcare environment.
• One such sanitizer/disinfectant has kill claims for Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (M SA), Acinetobacter baumannii, Listeria monocytogenes, Ecsherichia coli, and Salmonella enterica.
• Certain textiles require a bleaching step. This is particularly required for white textiles such as white linen.
• Chlorine-based bleaches such as sodium hypochlorite, are typically used. Generally the commercial laundries bleach such textiles at temperatures about 150°F, similar to the laundering temperature, and at relatively high pHs, around 10.2 to 10.8. If the chlorine bleaches are used at lower pHs, the textiles are damaged by the bleach.
• the present invention is premised on the realization that one can effectively launder and bleach textiles by initially washing the textile at a low temperature, generally 140°F or lower, and subsequently bleaching the textiles, again at a low temperature of less than 140°F, at a pH less than 9.5, generally from about 7 to 9. This effectively launders and bleaches the textile without causing any damage to the textile, which typically would be expected when bleaching at such a low pH.
• the linens are cleaned in a four zone process, the first zone designed to remove chlorhexidine also referred to as Hibiclens, wherein a concentrated high-performance detergent is used, along with a Hibiclens remover, such as Hibiclear, to remove any chlorhexidine from the fabric, preventing it from setting in subsequent zones.
• the linens are washed, again at a low temperature, generally 140°F or less, such as 100°F, down to 85°F.
• a high performance laundry detergent along with a concentrated alkali, is added. This zone helps to reduce microorganism contamination.
• the textiles become hygienically clean by treating the textiles with sodium hypochlorite, a bleach activator, at a pH of less than 9.5, generally 7 to 9, more particularly 7-8, again at a temperature less than 140°F, generally 100°F or less.
• the linens are rinsed and the pH adjusted to about 7.
• softeners can be added if required.
• FIG. 1 is a graph showing tensile strength of a cotton fabric after repeated washes.
• FIG. 2 is a graph showing tensile strength of a 65/35 polyester/cotton blend after repeated washes.
• textiles are laundered in a manner that ensures destruction of bacteria and other pathogens to provide hygienically clean textiles.
• the washing process will be conducted in typical commercial laundry facilities.
• any commercial laundry equipment can be used in the process of the present invention.
• One such typical apparatus is a tunnel washing apparatus, generally one having at least four zones.
• the textiles are initially subjected to a low temperature, low pH laundering.
• the textiles are treated in a manner, well-known to remove chlorhexidine, an antimicrobial agent typically used in hospitals, also referred us to as Hibiclens.
• the textiles are subjected to a wash at an acid pH to prevent the chlorhexidine from setting.
• the wash washing solution can include Hibiclear, a commercially available product which is designed to facilitate removal of chlorhexidine.
• This initial zone washing is conducted generally at a lower temperature, preferably at 140°F or less, such as 130, 120, 110 and generally about 100°F.
• the initial wash is conducted for a time effective to remove any chlorhexidine present and generally from about 2 to about 8 minutes and generally about 8 minutes. This step is unnecessary for textiles that do not include chlorhexidine.
• the textiles are treated in the initial zone, they pass to a wash zone, where they are washed using a high-performance, low temperature laundry detergent, generally a nonionic surfactant- based detergent at an alkaline pH.
• This washing step is conducted at a temperature of 140° to 85°F , generally 130°F to 95°F, 120°F or less, 110°F or less and preferably at about 100°F.
• the time during which the textiles are treated in the wash zone may vary, depending upon the materials being laundered. In most applications, the time is from 6 to about 15 and generally about 12.
• the washing liquid is separated from the textiles.
• the textiles are then passed to a third zone, which is a pathogen removal zone or a bleaching zone.
• a bleach solution typically sodium hypochlorite at a pH of 6.5 to 9.5, generally 8 to 6.5 and, in particular, a pH of 7.
• the pH is adjusted as needed by the addition of an appropriate water soluble buffer, such as urea sulfate.
• the concentration of the bleach will be about 5 ounces to 30 ounces per hundred weight textile or 25 to 500 ppm.
• a bleach activator is added, such as Pathfree. This will effectively established the pH within the desired range.
• the temperature in this zone will be maintained at 140°F or less, generally 130°F or less, 120°F or less, 1 10°F or less and typically at about 100°F.
• other suitable bleaches include powdered bleaches such as lithium hypochlorite, trichloroisocyanuric acid and hypochlorous acid.
• the washing solution in zone three should have a minimum oxygen reduction potential of 665MV, which is achieved by establishing sufficient sodium hypochlorite and an effective pH.
• the clothing is subjected to the hypochlorite solution for about 4 to about 30 minutes, which is more than adequate to destroy potential pathogens on the textile.
• the textile is rinsed in a fourth zone or a finishing zone. In this zone, which is optional, any remaining wash chemicals are removed from the textiles and the pH is adjusted to a proper finish pH of 6-7. Softener may be added as required by the end-user.
• the present invention has many different advantages.
• all the zones are operated at lower temperatures, generally around 100°F. This eliminates the need for either adding or removing energy from the textiles during the laundry procedure.
• they are disinfected, destroying pathogens utilizing the third zone which effectively kills the pathogens with the hypochlorite at a relatively low pH and low temperature. Again, the low
• the present invention reduces the damage to the textiles, as compared to current bleach parameters which operate at a higher temperature and higher pHs.
• the tensile strength of cotton is measured after repeated washes, either under current bleach parameters or the low temperature bleach parameters as discussed above for zone three.
• the tensile strengths of the textiles bleached with the bleach parameters of the present invention are substantially higher than those bleached using current bleach parameters (i.e. higher temperatures and pHs).
• current bleach parameters i.e. higher temperatures and pHs.
• test Parameters The objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of the present invention as a means of reducing known amounts of microorganisms. Test Parameters:
• the effect of the present invention on known quantities of microbes was tested to examine how the different wash parameters affect the different organisms.
• One by one inch square swatches of linen were inoculated. After inoculation the swatches were allowed to dry for thirty minutes in a sterile petri dish. Upon completion of the dry time, the swatches were pinned to a mesh net and subjected to the differing wash parameters.
• Each organism was grown in trypitic soy broth for approximately 24 hours at 32.5°C in a sterile baffled flask, while shaking on a Thermo Scientific multipurpose orbital shaker. After the incubation period the suspension was diluted with tryptic soy broth, to yield a specific absorbance with the Hach D 2700 spectrophotometer. The adjusted suspension contains approximately 5.0 x 10 8 CFU/mL.
• the objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of resource conservation wash parameters as a means of reducing known amounts of microorganisms.
• Each organism was grown in trypitic soy broth for approximately 24 hours at 32.5°C in a sterile baffled flask, while shaking on a Thermo Scientific multipurpose orbital shaker. After the incubation period the suspension was diluted with tryptic soy broth, to yield a specific absorbance with the Hach D 2700 spectrophotometer. The adjusted suspension contains approximately 5.0 x 10 8 CFU/mL.

Landscapes

• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Textile Engineering (AREA)
• Inorganic Chemistry (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• Oil, Petroleum & Natural Gas (AREA)
• Wood Science & Technology (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Detergent Compositions (AREA)
• Agricultural Chemicals And Associated Chemicals (AREA)
• Apparatus For Disinfection Or Sterilisation (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=54937399

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (4)

Families Citing this family (4)

Family Cites Families (21)

• 2014
  • 2014-12-16 US US14/571,394 patent/US20160168780A1/en not_active Abandoned
• 2015
  • 2015-12-10 CA CA2974047A patent/CA2974047A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2015-12-10 EP EP15813674.7A patent/EP3234095A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2015-12-10 WO PCT/US2015/064884 patent/WO2016100062A1/en active Application Filing

Non-Patent Citations (2)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events