Hohenstein says that while a chemo-thermal process, the main hygiene procedure used by textile service companies, achieves the best results for bacterial reduction, the warm damp conditions in commercial laundries are ideal for bacterial growth. So there is a risk that laundry that has already been disinfected can be re-contaminated as it passes along the production line.
The coating is based on copper and silver and provides an effective and lasting anti-biofilm that covers not only the inside surfaces but also the perforated outside surface of the tunnel washer's drum.
Researchers found that the best possible coating, which uses a combination of silver and copper metal ions, only washed off very slowly. Extrapolating the release rates that they measured suggests that the coating would remain effective over a period of 10 - 15 years.
The project, carried out jointly with the Friedrich Baur Research Institute for Biomaterials, also studied the adhesion of the coating and found that it was highly resistant to mechanical pressure.
Results obtained in laboratory were verified in conditions similar to the conditions in practice.
