What you need to consider when choosing cleanroom clothing

The workwear/ cleanroom clothing worn by staff can make a significant contribution to ensuring the cleanliness of the production environment. Ensuring the air cleanliness class in the cleanroom therefore depends above all on the correct cleanroom clothing, but also on the behaviour of the personnel.

There are many aspects to correct behaviour in the cleanroom. One that is often underestimated is the correct donning of cleanroom clothing. Perhaps one reason why misbehaviour is often observed here is that it is seen as a matter of course or triviality. But neither is the case.

In this blog post, we look at the importance of cleanroom garments, which functions they should ideally fulfil, the advantages and disadvantages of disposable and reusable garments and how to put them on correctly.

Cleanroom clothing is used to protect the process and product from contamination by the people working in it. It consists of

• Hair net/ bonnet
• Safety glasses
• Face mask/ beard protector
• Overshoes/ cleanroom shoes
• Overall/ coat
• Gloves

The higher the air cleanliness classes, the higher the requirements regarding the seal between the body and protective clothing. Additional cleanroom clothing must be worn, particularly in the face area (mouth and beard protection, safety glasses), on the hands (gloves) and feet (cleanroom shoes).

To ensure that the entry and exit process into the clean environment is ‘clean’, a clear procedure must be defined for staff.

Due to the wide range of options for using cleanroom clothing (e.g. disposable or reusable clothing), each clean production area must be considered separately according to the individual requirements and circumstances.

The order in which to put on clothing

The order in which the cleanroom clothing is put on is of great importance. Due to the special air flow, dressing takes place ‘from top to bottom’. If, for example, the overall is put on before the bonnet, it can be contaminated by falling hair or flakes.

1. Put on the hair net/ bonnet.
   Make sure that all hair is covered by the hair net.
2. Putting on the face mask
   Bearded people in particular must wear a face mask or beard protector.
3. Putting on the clothing
   The overall/  coat/ gown must be put on and closed completely. Special care must be taken to ensure that this clothing does not come into contact with the floor.
4. Putting on the cleanroom shoes
   Shoes must not be changed on the same side of the sit-over bench. It is advisable to take off the street shoes on the ‘unclean’ side and then swing your legs over to the other side and put on the cleanroom shoes there. If overshoes are used, these must be put on before the ‘’swing-over‘’.
5. Putting on gloves
   The gloves must always be worn over the cuffs. When putting on the first glove, the outside of the glove should be touched as little as possible. If necessary, fold the gloves into the cuff.

To check that clothing fits correctly, a full-length mirror should be installed in the personnel airlocks. This allows staff to take a close look at themselves before entering the cleanroom.

The cleanroom clothes are removed in exactly the reverse order ‘from bottom to top’.

Damaged cleanroom garments (e.g. tears) must of course be replaced. The service provider (cleanroom laundry) is responsible for repairs. The wearing cycles and scheduled disposal must be regulated.

The clothing concept is defined, enforced and controlled by the management.

The correct dressing of cleanroom clothing is only a small, but important, factor in ensuring the desired clean environment. We recommend our whitepaper 'behaviour in the clean environment.'

You can also find more information on the importance of cleanroom clothing in our additional blog post ‘Cleanroom clothing: regulations in the clean environment’

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