Clean Source Newsletter Archive

“To err is human, to forgive divine,” Alexander Pope (1) To err is not an option in critical product cleaning. The stark reality for manufacturers is that error leads to low yields, unsatisfied customers, lost business. Error, often resulting from ineffective or avoided critical product cleaning, can jeopardize patients, passengers, and mission-critical operations. Understanding Human Factors can keep human errors […]

For new perspectives on effective cleaning, simply go to a trade show. What trade shows? Explore cleaning options by continuing our virtual tour of the 2019 parts2clean trade fair in Stuttgart. In the first installment of “Cleaning Perspective “(1), we discussed cyclic nucleation, laser and CO2 processes. We continue with cleaning agents and cleaning systems that use solvents, including co-solvents […]

Read this if you use free-range, cage-free cleaning agents to clean products during manufacturing. Read this if you clean with halogenated solvents. Even if you don’t use halogenated solvents, there is a good chance that the performance of your current cleaning processes depends on manufacturers in your supply chain who do use halogenated solvents. Developing U.S. EPA regulations, based on […]

Successful manufacturers make it a point to look at cleaning options from new perspectives. They picture how those options can improve production – whether or not they plan an immediate change in critical product cleaning. There are lots of ways to gain new perspectives, including actual travel to programs, webinars, and virtual travel. This past fall, we gained inspiration from […]

If battling COVID-19 involves new strategies, doing so in a manufacturing environment demands coordinated brilliance. Manufacturers are adding emergency protocols to protect employees, including the way they clean work surfaces. For many manufacturers involved in critical product cleaning, precision cleaning, and surface preparation, the concern is with removing soils that interfere with coating, assembly, or product performance. The soils might […]

Imagine that you manufacture medical devices. As a final step, the devices are placed in an autoclave; and sterilized using an approved, validated method. Next, you open the autoclave. What do you see? A mouse on top of the devices! YUK! The mouse may have been sterilized. The devices may have been sterilized. However, you darn well better physically remove […]

Cleaning agents have truly amusing trade names! However, the name is not the molecule; and mixtures with similar trade names may behave very differently. I’ll give you some tips to understand the chemicals or mixtures behind the trade name. Choose the right cleaning agent, and you make critical product cleaning faster, more effective. This makes for reliable production and higher […]

We were helping a client set up cleaning evaluations at a provider of cleaning equipment; and the client received a questionnaire asking for details. The first question: what manufacturing steps occur before the cleaning process to be evaluated? The second question: what’s the next step in manufacturing after the cleaning process to be evaluated? These are two reasonable, logical questions […]

To achieve and maintain world-class manufacturing, many of you ask how to become a Cleaning Lady. This is not surprising, because critical product cleaning is essential for successful assembly, for effective coating, and for product quality and reliability. In Part 1, I covered ideas ranging from articles and podcasts to conferences and trade associations. Read on for more ways to […]

Manufacturers ask how they can become a critical cleaning expert. I am not aware of college major called “Cleaning Lady.” Therefore, in this two-part feature, I’ll show you how to find good resources. I will explain the benefits and limitations of those resources and show you how to use them effectively. The goal is to develop your best cleaning strategy […]

You are in charge of improving the cleaning of your company’s product. You think ultrasonic cleaning is needed but need to know which frequency is best. In this two-part article, we will explore aspects of ultrasonic cleaning to make it easier to choose; in some cases, a system with more than a single frequency may be optimum. High-frequency sound is […]