Best Way - Clean Room Cleaning Requirements

Clean Room Cleaning Requirements

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By Naima Manal
eHow Contributing Writer

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A clean room--often spelled "cleanroom"--is a specialized working environment whose levels of airborne pollutants are strictly controlled through specialized air filtration and clean room practices. Clean rooms are used in manufacturing--as in the production of delicate electronic parts--and in science for laboratory research and specimen handling. Clean rooms are essentially not sterile environments, as the focus is on the air quality. Clean room cleaning requirements set a standard of how to maintain a clean room facility.

Tools for the Job

The materials used to clean a clean room are specially designed to limit the amount of airborne particles and to even prevent air contamination from the cleaning materials themselves. Disinfectant cleaning solutions are used to clean surfaces. Depending on the components within a clean room, some tools used include lint-free polyester wipes for wet and dry cleaning, HEPA-filtered vacuum cleaner, a 100-watt white light, clean room outfits, and clean room mops and buckets, according to ACM and Steve Clemens of the Scottish Society for Contamination.

Clemens further states that airborne contaminants include particles and fibers from dust clothing and other materials, microorganisms, chemical residues and static electricity--which damage delicate electronics. Removing these contaminants increases the quality of the product or specimen.

According to Roger McFadden of Coastwide Laboratories, successful clean room management hinges upon effectively instructing clean room management of clean room procedures and detailing the procedures in a clearly outlined schedule of cleaning tasks.

10,000 Maximum Particles Per Cubic Foot Guidelines

To maintain maximum levels of 10,000 particles per cubic foot of air, the clean room must be cleaned daily. This maintenance also extends out into the restricted areas--which precede the clean room areas--to control the trafficking of contaminants into the clean room.

The specific requirements of any clean room environment involve schedule and frequency variations in cleaning the work surfaces, vacuuming counters, and floors and discarding waste. Working out from the clean room, the area of entry before the clean room--the pre-staging area--is cleaned with specific disinfectants on the doorways and lockers used by the clean room maintenance workers, according to McFadden. The clean room outfits are then mopped, followed by a thorough floor mopping.

1,000 Maximum Particles Per Cubic Foot Guidelines

When cleaning to the standard of 1,000 particles per cubic foot, the amount of items cleaned and the cleaning frequency is increased. Instead of once a day, wet and dust mopping is performed two times each shift. Waste is taken out, wet mopping and mopping with special cleaners and vacuuming, sweeping and mopping the entryway is performed one time each shift. Cleaning the passage preceding the cleaning room, vacuuming and thoroughly cleaning the bathrooms are performed one to three times a week.

100 Maximum Particles Per Cubic Foot Guidelines

Maintaining a maximum of 100 particles per cubic foot involves even more cleaning sessions and areas to clean. According to McFadden, Class 100 clean room areas are sectioned into zones, with each zone having specific cleaning requirements.

In some zones, trash is discarded once a day, while in other zones it is discarded once per shift. Likewise, mopping is performed weekly in the halls, while in the more controlled zones, the floors are mopped twice a shift. The specific cleaning requirements are dictated by the environmental requirements and the materials processed in the controlled environment.