An evaluation of the cleaning properties of a microfibre cloth

Abstract

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Cleaning serves to make surfaces more aesthetically appealing and may also help to reduce the spread of infectious diseases. This may be of particular importance in hospitals. There is some evidence to suggest that hospital cleaning may be inadequate and fail to achieve the desired level of microbial reduction. Reasons for this include poor and inadequate cleaning materials and cloths, which can cause surfaces to have a higher bacterial count after cleaning than before. This has prompted new approaches to surface disinfection and materials, including the possible benefits of microfibre cloths. However, there is little published data to support the benefits of using microfibre cloths. The present study compares the use of microfibre cloths with conventional materials in removing organic soil and microorganisms from surfaces. METHODS: 100cm 2 areas of stainless steel were inoculated with a mixture of Tryptone soya broth, horse serum, and Staphylococcus aureus . This was used to mimic organic and microbial soiling. The efficacy of soil removal after cleaning was measured using ATP Bioluminescence and microbial surface counts. One brand of microfibre cloth was compared to a conventional non woven cloth and paper towel using water, detergent, and a non-chlorine sanitizer. RESULTS: If an appropriate technique was used, all methods were capable of achieving at least a 5 log reduction in the numbers of bacteria. The microfibre cloth was nearly twice as absorbent as the conventional cloth, however, there was no significant difference in the efficacy of the microfibre cloth in reducing the number of microorganisms compared to the other methods. Using a microfibre cloth reduced the residual organic debris on the surface by an additional 10%. With the exception of use with a spray sanitizer over the total number of surfaces tested, this was not significantly different to the other cloth or the paper towel. CONCLUSIONS: There are increasing recommendations for the use of microfibre cloths in the United Kingdom for cleaning purposes. However, the present results indicate that given the initial cost of the cloths, this may not provide value for money. Additional data on the use of a wider range of microfibre cloths, and using different cleaning protocols, will be presented.