SPRING CLEANING – ISSUE NO. 303

Well, spring is here at least according to the calendar. When Spring arrives, many of us start to think "Spring Cleaning Time" has arrived. Last week, I read two articles that dealt with cleaning your oven and dishwasher. As many of us know, the "commercial dishwasher" is what our present day washer disinfectors are based on. The article on the dishwasher stressed that the we need to clean the inside because "the dishes might not be as sanitary as they should be." I have to say, I have seen plenty of washer disinfectors that need cleaning on the inside. We call this scale removal and the IFU from the OEM of your washer provides guidelines for this practice. What is also interesting is that dishwashers have to pass specific tests to show they perform properly (NSF/ANSI 184 - 2003- residential dishwasher ). On the other hand, medical automatic washers also have their own standard to help ensure they are performing properly it is called ASTM D7225-Standard Guide for Blood Cleaning Efficiency of Detergents and Washer - Disinfectors. The oven article made me think of our sterilizer and how the inside (chamber) gets neglected. Its not always cleaned according to the OEM IFU. I see a lot of ugly sterilizer chambers. Thus, let us use the theme "Its Spring Cleaning Time" for us to look at our washers and sterilizers and see if they need cleaning and testing to ensure optimum performance.