Effect of laundering on the barrier properties of reusable surgical gown fabrics

Abstract

Background: Relationships between selected fabric characteristics and the barrier effectiveness of surgical gown fabrics to bacterial transmission were examined. The effect of laundering on these characteristics was determined. Methods: Five commercially available reusable surgical gowns were evaluated in this study. Four of the gowns were produced from woven fabrics. One gown was produced from a 3-layer composite that contained a microporous membrane between a woven and knit fabric. By using standard test methods, the following characteristics were evaluated: thickness, weight, pore size, and oil and water repellency. Gowns were laundered 25 and 50 times by a commercial laundry service that specialized in cleaning surgical gowns. Gown fabrics were sterilized only before laboratory evaluation and not after each laundering cycle. Resistance of the fabrics to the transmission of microorganism suspensions under a hydrostatic pressure was determined. Staphylococcus aureus was the microorganism used in this study. Conclusions: A combination of several fabric characteristics were associated with the barrier properties of the surgical gown fabrics studied. Repellency and pore size contributed to gown performance. Laundering reduced the ability of the fabric to prevent the transmission of bacteria through the fabrics. Only 1 fabric showed no transmission of bacteria after laundering. This fabric retained the greatest degree of repellency and had the greatest thickness. Higher repellency ratings generally corresponded with higher barrier properties. Two fabrics showed no significant increase in the amount of bacteria that transmitted through the fabric after laundering. Both of these gowns were reinforced with a second fabric layer. (AJIC Am J Infect Control 1998;26:495-501)