Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th April 2024 Issue no. 1110
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Getting silver can put hygiene first
Doors are clearly there to help us enter and exit rooms, but when we're worried about hygiene standards they can in fact prove to be barriers rather than enablers, with users unwilling to touch them with their bare hands. Dave Carson from washroom hygiene specialist P-Wave says he has the silver bullet to solve the problem.
The use of silver in hospitals and other healthcare situations is well established. Silver interrupts bacterial cells' ability to form the chemical bonds essential to their survival; so it has recognised anti-bacterial and anti-infection properties.
Obviously, as a precious metal, silver is not considered a cheap option and its use has been relatively limited outside the healthcare industry. However, the development of silver ion technology - where silver atoms exist in an ionic state with one or more electrons removed - has meant wider applications in products such as washing machines, refrigerators and the like, are possible.
Now we're bringing that technology to doors in the washroom and other high traffic areas for the first time.
The P-Hold and P-Plate from P-Wave are patented systems which help reduce the spread of germs and infections in high risk areas.
Available in three sizes and taking just 30 seconds to install, the P-Hold fits over the existing door handle. Once in place it works immediately without the need for films, sleeves or gels. It is very low maintenance - just give it a general clean - and lasts six months.
Similarly straightforward and effective, the P-Plate replaces the existing push plate when there is no door handle and gets straight to work - and lasts 12 months.
Not only do the new systems have an immediate impact on hygiene, helping prevent the spread of germs through a facility, but they also have other knock-on benefits. With traditional doors, people often use paper towels to pull the handle and then discard the towel. This creates more work for the cleaner and makes the room look untidy, as well as unnecessarily using up towels more quickly, for instance. Unlike systems that need gels or sleeves, they don't need to be checked and refilled regularly either.
The use of silver ion technology in door handles and plates is an extremely cost effective way to use silver's anti-bacterial properties more widely to improve hygiene and prevent the spread of infection.
Silver is no consolation prize... In fact, using it in washrooms will see hygiene put first.
7th September 2017