Selecting Medical Cleaning Solvents: 3 Crucial Considerations

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When we think of what leads to good health outcomes in medical patients, any number of medical procedures could come to mind. But behind those procedures, helping to make them effective, are medical cleaning solvents for equipment ranging from scalpels to electronic diagnostic machines.

We rarely think of medical cleaning solvents as playing an important role in health outcomes. However, as the following three considerations for choosing medical solvents demonstrates, medical cleaning solvents can indeed underpin health outcomes for better or worse.

  1. High or Low Flashpoint

The flashpoint of a solvent is the temperature at which it combusts. If there are no ignition sources in the environment where they are used, low flashpoint solvents are relatively safe.

An example of when using a low flashpoint solvent (e.g., one with a high concentration of isopropyl alcohol) would not be safe, is spot cleaning the skin of a patient while he or she undergoes an electrocautery procedure, cleaning skin near the point of the procedure.

  1. Ability to Kill Microbials

Especially when choosing medical cleaning solvents for surgical utensils and other medical equipment that directly contacts patients, it’s important to use solvents that kill four elements: viruses, bacteria, fungi, and bacterial spores.

Choosing a solvent that kills all of these microbial elements can be tricky. For example, isopropyl alcohol (IPA) kills viruses, fungi, and bacteria, but not bacterial spores.

As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) note, “Steam under pressure, dry heat, EtO gas, hydrogen peroxide gas plasma, and liquid chemicals” are often used to kill microbials. Ecolink can provide custom chemicals that fully sterilize medical equipment and instruments to help prevent health outcomes that opportunistic infections complicate.

  1. Material Compatibility

To get the best result, cleaning the rubber and plastic parts on medical equipment can require using a different cleaner than one used to remove soils from metal in the equipment. For example, IPA can clean most metal parts well, but repeated use can prematurely age certain grades of plastic and rubber, causing them to malfunction during medical procedures.

Using two cleaners for a single piece of equipment may be logical, but it’s also a hassle. If you can’t find a stock solvent that cleans multiple materials without corroding some of them, inquire with Ecolink about producing a custom formulation.

Need Medical Cleaning Solvents?

If so, you can choose from hundreds of solvents that fall within this category. If you operate a hospital, finding a single medical cleaning solvent to meet all of you solvent needs is unlikely.

This is why many healthcare organizations turn to Ecolink for assistance identifying and procuring the right solutions. What’s more, when you work with us, you receive solutions that are environmentally preferred, containing no ingredients that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is scheduled to regulate.

To get started on selecting the right medical cleaning solvents for your requirements, call us today at 800-563-1305, or send us an email through our contact form. We look forward to supplying you with best-in-class solvents!

 

6 Steps for Choosing Precision Cleaning Solvent Substitutes

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There are several reasons why an organization could need precision cleaning solvent substitutes, such as Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) measures that regulate toxic chemicals, new business practices that involve new cleaning needs, recent discoveries about environmental dangers of a particular solvent, or simply the need to reduce solvent cost.

Regardless of why an organization needs precision cleaning solvent substitutes, there are six crucial steps for selecting the right solution. Taking the steps below helps ensure that you choose the right “drop in” solvent substitute for your precision cleaning requirements.

  1. Identify Materials That Need Cleaning

First, you need a solvent substitute that won’t harm the materials you clean. This can be a bit challenging if you’re cleaning a part that includes multiple materials, such as metal, plastic, and rubber — and may even include different classes of these materials. After identifying a solvent that’s safe for the materials you need to clean, it’s time to progress to step two.

  1. Identify Soils That Require Removal

Most industrial solvents are formulated for general cleaning or removing specific types of accumulations, such as grease, dirt, rust, adhesive residue, and the list goes on. If you can’t find a solvent that removes all applicable soils, there are two options: Use more than one solvent for the cleaning operation, or formulate a custom solvent that does the job in a single application.

  1. Consider Parts Washer Specifications

If your precision cleaning operation uses a parts washing system, your solvent substitute should conform to the requirements of the washing system. You can often find information about solvent compatibility in the owner’s manual for a parts washing system. If you need assistance choosing a compatible solvent, contact Ecolink; we can help.

  1. Assess Solvent’s Overall Safety Profile

You want a solvent whose formulation isn’t toxic to humans or the environment. The EPA continues to ban and severely regulate toxic solvents, and such solvents can reduce worker productivity due to negative health effects. Choosing an “environmentally safe” or an “environmentally prefered” replacement solvent is the best option.

  1. Review Packaging and Supply Options

Can you receive the solvent in the type of container you need (e.g., aerosol, drum, spray bottle, etc.)? Can you receive orders in the size you need on the schedule you require? Because they affect how solvent is deployed and how much reserve solvent you can purchase in a single order, these basic questions are important to answer before you choose a solvent and a supplier.

  1. Request a Free Test Sample of Solvent

If you order precision cleaning solvent substitutes from Ecolink, you have the option of receiving a free test sample of the solution. This lets you see if the new solvent you plan to use is truly a “drop in” substitute for your cleaning operations. After you see how well the solvent performs, you can order it with confidence in any supply size you choose.

Need a New Precision Cleaning Solvent?

If you need precision cleaning solvent substitutes, get the substitution process rolling by calling Ecolink at 800-563-1305, or send us an email through our contact form. We specialize in providing stock solvents and custom solvents that fit our customers’ requirements perfectly. For assistance with selecting the best substitution, contact us today!    

Medical Industry Cleaners for Critical Degreasing: FAQ

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Medical industry cleaners comprise a category of cleaning solvents that are used to clean medical equipment of various sorts. Degreaser is one type of solvent that falls within the category. If this is your first time shopping for degreaser for critical cleaning of medical equipment, you may have some questions regarding critical degreasers. The answers below can help.

 What is the official definition for critical parts degreasing?  

 Critical parts degreasing is the process of using a degreaser to remove “sub-micrometre particles and non-volatile residue measured in Angstroms” (Wikipedia). The process is typically performed in a clean room environment. The maximum allowed soil for critical cleaning is ? 5 mg / m² (1). “Critical cleaning” is the highest level of cleaning for any type of equipment.

How do standard degreasers and critical degreasers differ?

Most standard degreasers are formulated to perform “intermediate cleaning” and “final cleaning”. As mentioned above, these types of cleaning provide a lower level of soil removal than “precision cleaning” and “critical cleaning.” If you need to perform critical degreasing on medical equipment, a standard degreaser will not suffice. Using a degreaser made for critical cleaning is the only option.

Is it necessary to use precision degreasers in a parts washer?

No. However, using a parts washing system is an easy way to ensure that parts are cleaned according to the definition of critical cleaning. Parts that have simple geometrical designs are easier to clean outside of a washing system than parts that have complex geometrical designs. It’s optimal to clean the latter type of parts using an industrial grade parts washer.

What if I can’t find a degreaser for parts with multiple materials?

This is common problem organizations un into when they first start shopping for a critical degreaser. Metal, rubber, and plastic — and different grades of these materials — are commonly found in a single part. If you can’t find stock medical industry cleaners that meet your needs, working with Ecolink to develop a custom precision cleaning solution is the best option.

How do I know whether a precision degreaser is eco friendly?

Eco friendly medical industry chemicals fall within two basic categories: solvents that are “environmentally safe” and solvents that are “environmentally prefered”. These classifications apply to degreasers containing no ingredients the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) bans, regulates, as well as no ingredients that the EPA is slated to ban or regulate in the future.

Need Medical Industry Chemicals for Critical Degreasing?

If so, Ecolink is a great place to find them. We offer several types of stock degreasing solutions, and we routinely formulate custom degreasers that match customers’ unique requirements. Medical equipment needs the level of degreasing that only critical cleaning can offer. We can provide a degreaser that performs according to the strict requirements for this level of cleaning.

To get started on evaluating your options for medical industry chemicals for degreasing, please call us today at 800-563-1305, or send us an email through our contact form. We look forward to presenting you with dynamic, industrial grade degreasing solutions for a great price!

 

 

   

Why Make Ecolink Your IPA Chemical Supplier?

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Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) is one of the most used chemical compounds for industrial cleaning. In addition to being used in its original form, the compound serves as an efficacious ingredient in various solvents that feature blends of multiple chemicals.

Due to its plentitude and broad range of application, industrial-grade IPA is available from hundreds of solvent suppliers in the U.S. alone. With so many options on the table, why should you make Ecolink your trusted IPA chemical supplier? There are five good reasons.

1. Solvents With No EPA Regulated Ingredients

Implementing a solvent with EPA regulated ingredients generally means you can’t use a large volume of the solvent regularly. It’s also important to note that using a solvent with ingredients that are scheduled for regulation by the EPA will eventually lead to the same situation. We provide environmentally-prefered solvents that contain no EPA regulated ingredients.

2. Container Seals That Prevent Vapor Emission

Industrial grade IPA is usually 99% pure isopropyl alcohol. However, when the compound is placed inside a storage container, its purity — and thus its efficacy — can diminish due to vapor loss caused by the vapor density of the compound. Our industrial grade IPA arrives in containers designed to prevent IPA from evaporating during shipping and storage.

3. Option of Custom Solutions for Unique Needs

If you need a blended solvent that contains IPA, and you can’t find a stock solvent that’s exactly the right fit, creating a custom IPA solvent is the solution. We can custom blend an IPA cleaner that meets your precise cleaning requirements, and supply the solution in the volume you need, on the schedule you require.

4. Free Test Sample Prior to Purchasing Solvent

The best way to assess how a solvent performs is to try before you buy. This is why we offer free samples of any solution you’re interested in using. The IPA solvent you plan to order may look perfect on paper, but why not try it out and see if it performs perfectly based on your requirements? To order a free sample, visit the Request Sample page on our website.

5. Order Various Amounts on Various Schedules

Industrial IPA users frequently need IPA in large volumes, but not always. This is why we offer containers that have different supply volumes. We also offer scheduled shipments and shipments on an as-needed basis, giving you the flexibility to order the amount of solvent you need, when you need it.

Contact Us Today

Choosing an IPA chemical supplier should be an educated decision. When you consider everything you could need from an IPA chemical supplier now and in the future, we feel confident that Ecolink will be your strongest supply options for IPA and IPA-based solvents.

To place an order, or to learn more about the benefits of making us your IPA chemical supplier, call us today at 800-563-1305, or send us an email through our contact form. We look forward to helping you tackle your toughest IPA cleaning needs!

6 Common Acetone Solvent Uses by Industry

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Acetone is one of the oldest chemical compounds used for industrial purposes. Wikipedia notes that “about 6.7 million tonnes [of acetone] were produced worldwide in 2010.” As more businesses crop up in industries where acetone has a purpose, usage increases. Below are six industries where businesses and organizations commonly use acetone in an official capacity.

  1. Cosmetics

As you may already know, fingernail polish removal is one of the most common acetone solvent uses. Some polish remover brands use ethyl acetate as an acetone replacement. But acetone still delivers the gold standard: It thoroughly cleans the nail and leaves it exceptionally dry, which prepares it to bond quite strongly with the next layer of polish. Acetone is also used as a solvent for other cosmetic products, including makeup and skin creams.

  1. Pharmaceuticals

Pharmaceutical production is also one of the most common Acetone solvent uses. It’s ideal for blending fillers and active ingredients that comprise pharmaceuticals in pill and liquid form. Without acetone, some pills would be harder to compact to the correct density, and partially dissolved, active pharmaceutical ingredients could literally make one pill stronger than another. Acetone can be absolutely essential for the efficacy of a medication.

  1. Textiles

Dilutions of acetone are commonly used in the textile industry to remove gums, oils, and other undesirable substances from the fibers of raw textiles (e.g., silk and wool). Because high strength preparations of acetone can dissolve some fibers, the dilution must be precise. This is why textile companies often get their acetone in custom blends from a custom solvent supplier.

  1. Electronics

Technically, cleaning electronics with acetone isn’t always counted among acetone solvent uses. In many cases, acetone is used as the single active ingredient — and not as a solvent for homogenizing other ingredients — when cleaning electronic devices and components. However, it still makes the list because acetone is used as a solvent for many electronics cleaners.

  1. Disaster Response

Disaster cleanup for oil spills often employs acetone as a primary weapon. Acetone can dissolve oil sludge, breaking it up and making it flow away instead of stubbornly staying stuck in place. Other chemical compounds could be used instead, but acetone has the advantage of being an organic compound that is considered non-toxic to humans and the environment.

  1. Petroleum

Just as acetone can break-up petroleum-based oil sludge, it can thin the petroleum found in gasoline. According to automakers and car aficionados, making petroleum molecules more diffuse makes it easier for engines to vaporize gasoline, which leads to better fuel efficiency. With that said, always consult a mechanic before pouring acetone in your gas tank. The gas you use may already have the acetone it needs to promote good fuel efficiency.

About Ecolink

The industries above consistently have one or more acetone solvent uses. Ecolink specializes in supplying eco friendly formulations of acetone to industrial users of all stripes. In addition to offering stock products, we create custom solvents and provide free test samples. To learn more about acetone solvent uses in your industry, please call us today at 800-563-1305, or send us an email through our contact form. We look forward to helping you use acetone effectively!