JPS6024859B2 - How to wash hospital clothing - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to a method for washing clothing used in hospitals.

More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for cleaning clothing that has special stains such as blood and disinfectant stains, which are different from ordinary laundry, such as white coats, surgical gowns, bedding such as sheets used in hospitals, etc. Conventionally, in the conventional method of washing hospital clothing, since the clothing has these special stains and stains and is heavily soiled, it is usually first washed with water, and then washed with water. 50~8 using detergent solution as main washing
After washing at a high temperature of about 0 qo is repeated two or three times, a bleaching agent, mainly a sodium hypochlorite solution, is added to the washing solution for bleaching and sterilization.

The most noticeable stains on hospital clothing are blood stains, and the bleaching power of sodium hypochlorite has traditionally been the most effective against blood stains that have deteriorated over time.

However, even with the cleaning method using sodium hypochlorite as described above, horizontal brown stains resembling blood stains often remain on washed hospital clothing, causing the hospital to lose its sense of cleanliness. There has been a desire for a cleaning agent or cleaning method that can better remove stains from clothing.
As a result of research, the present inventors discovered the following fact.

i.e., Rivanol, Chlorhexidine Gluconate (
The product name is Hibiten, and red dye is added), etc.
Stains caused by commonly used disinfectants are yellow to red water-soluble stains, but once they adhere to clothes and dry, they are more difficult to remove than blood stains using the above cleaning methods, and blood stains can be seen with the naked eye. It was found that it remained as a yellow-brown stain similar to . It was also discovered that stains caused by these disinfectants turn brown when they come into contact with sodium hypochlorite, and once brown stains cannot be removed no matter what chemicals are used. In other words, it has been found that blood stains that cannot be removed by conventional cleaning methods such as those described above contain many stains from these disinfectants.

Therefore, as a result of extensive research aimed at completely cleaning hospital clothing where such blood stains and disinfectant stains coexist, the present inventors have developed a two-step cleaning method as shown below. I was able to achieve my goal.

That is, the hospital clothing cleaning method of the present invention includes, as a first step,
First, the hospital clothing is washed with an acid solution, then as a second step,
This is a cleaning method that uses a cleaning solution containing sodium hypochlorite, and this cleaning method can almost completely remove not only blood stains but also brownish stains caused by disinfectants, leaving clean clothing undisturbed. is obtained.

- Also, according to this method, it is possible to remove stains that were previously thought to be the most difficult to remove in this one process,
There is no need to repeat washing with detergent many times as in the conventional method, and the cost of washing can be reduced. In the present invention, the pre-washing step, which was conventionally carried out with room temperature water or water to which sodium silicate or the like was added as an alkaline agent, is carried out with an acid solution.

According to the findings of the present inventors, disinfectant stains such as those mentioned above can be removed better when washed with an acid solution than when washed with water, but the first step of washing with an acid solution alone is not sufficient. No effect can be obtained. However, if the second step is a main washing step in which cleaning is performed using a cleaning solution containing sodium hypochlorite, not only blood stains but also disinfectant stains can be almost completely removed. On the other hand, if the first stage cleaning with water or an aqueous solution containing an alkaline agent is followed by the main cleaning with a cleaning solution containing sodium hypochlorite, the disinfectant stains will turn brown and the appearance of the clothing will deteriorate. Rather, it is damaged. Therefore, it is of course not preferable to include sodium hypochlorite or other oxidizing agents in the acid solution in the first stage, but it is acceptable to include a neutral detergent. As the acid used in the first step in the method of the present invention, any of inorganic acids such as phosphoric acid, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, and nitric acid, and organic acids such as oxalic acid, acetic acid, citric acid, gluconic acid, lactic acid, and glycolic acid are used. However, in order to reduce corrosion of the washing machine, weak acids, especially phosphoric acid, are preferably used.

These acids can be used at any concentration in the cleaning bath, but are limited by the cleaning effect in main washing and the damage to clothes, so generally a range of 0.01 to 0.2% by weight is suitable. It is preferable that the pH is in the range of 2.5 to 4. This pH' can be adjusted with a small amount of alkali if necessary. The cleaning temperature with the acid solution can range from room temperature to 80 qo, but if the processing temperature is too high, it will be more effective in removing stains from disinfectants, etc., but blood stains will coagulate and become difficult to remove. It is preferable to treat at 5 to 10 minutes at 0. The second stage of main washing can be carried out in the same manner as in the conventional method. The cleaning solution is sodium hypochlorite with 5% effective chlorine.
．． It is preferable to contain 0.05 to 0.2% by weight. Further, it is preferable that the cleaning solution contains a detergent and an alkaline agent as required in the conventional method. As the detergent, soap or a synthetic surfactant alone, or a commercially available detergent containing a builder can be used. Further, as the alkali agent, sodium silicate is typically used, but other sodium silicate, soda carbonate, and sodium phosphate may also be used. Generally detergent 0-0.5%, preferably 0.1
~0.5%, sodium silicate 0.1~ as an alkali agent
0.5%, subbox sodium chlorate (available chlorine 5-6% product) 0
．． It is appropriate to use 0.05 to 0.2% and wash at pHIO 12, 50 to 80 o'clock for 10 to 30 minutes. In addition,
After the first stage of washing with an acid solution, it is better to perform centrifugal dehydration or light washing with water to reduce the amount of residual acid so as not to reduce the alkalinity in the second stage of main washing. This is a preferred embodiment because the cleaning efficiency is improved.

Hereinafter, the method and effects of the present invention will be specifically explained with reference to Examples.

Example 1 Cotton broadcloth was soaked in blood (horse blood), 0.1% Rivanol aqueous solution, and Hibitene solution (manufactured by Sumitomo Chemical, 5% Hipitene solution, colored red No. 2) for 3 minutes at room temperature, deliquified, and air-dried. Thereafter, the fabric was washed once with water and then iron-pressed to obtain a fabric contaminated with each of the contaminants.

This contaminated cloth was pre-washed for 7 minutes at 60 qo with a pre-washing acidic solution under the washing conditions A to Day shown in Table 1, and then rinsed once with water. ) Washing was carried out at 60 qC for 18 minutes in the main washing bath. Also, for comparison, i, j, k, 1 in Table 1
Preliminary cleaning and main cleaning were performed under various conditions shown in , m, n, and o. In addition to the chemicals shown in Table 1, 0.2% sodium metasilicate was added to the main washing bath. Table
0, Kao soap products).

×× Sodium percarbonate: 11 kinds of effective oxygen. Table 2 shows the detergency evaluation results.

The evaluation method was as follows: The cleaning rate was determined for each contaminating component of the contaminated cloth. (Cleaning rate of Livanol-contaminated cloth and Hibitene-contaminated cloth) The cleaning rate of Livanol-contaminated cloth and Hibitane-contaminated cloth was determined by measuring the reflectance of the cloth before and after cleaning (40 antih wavelength for Rivanol-contaminated cloth, and The cleaning rate was calculated using the following formula.

Washing bowl after washing - Ishago of Jun-dyed cloth The cleaning power was evaluated with the following 6 levels and 5 points by visual judgment.

5 points: Completely removed (white cloth) 4 points: Mostly removed (close to white cloth) 3 points: It is clearly visible 2 points: Slightly removed 1 point: Slightly removed * After washing Because the cloth turned brown, the reflectance was lower than that of the contaminated cloth, so the calculated cleaning rate was a negative value.

table. 2) It has been found that the two-stage cleaning treatment of the present invention removes Livanol and Hibitene liquid stains well, and at the same time removes horse blood stains as well or better than the conventional method. Example 2 Using blood and disinfectant-stained sheets obtained from a hospital, the method A (invention method) and method B (conventional method).

The weight of each sheet was 18k9. After washing and drying, we observed with the naked eye how well the sheets were cleaned, and it was clear that the sheets washed using Method A had fewer stains and were better at removing stains overall than those washed using Method B. Ta.

Table 3x Same as Example 1

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A method for washing hospital clothing, which comprises washing hospital clothing with an acid solution of an organic acid or an inorganic acid, and then washing the clothing with a cleaning solution containing sodium hypochlorite. 2. The cleaning method according to claim 1, wherein the acid solution is a phosphoric acid aqueous solution having a pH of 2.5 to 4. 3. The cleaning method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the cleaning solution containing sodium hypochlorite contains 0.05 to 0.2% by weight of sodium hypochlorite based on 5% available chlorine.