Lowering the cost of clinical garments such as visitor's coats and isolation gowns in infection control areas.

1.       Lower overall cost by using non woven single use visitor's coats and isolation gowns.

Replacing the use of launderable poly/cotton garments with single use disposables gowns and visitors coats saves on laundry, logistic support and managements costs. These cost savings are easily identified, the costs of disposable visitors coats and gowns is just the purchase price of the item, and the cost of launderables is often some obscure leasing pricing payable over many years. In purchasing or renting launderable items, at least 3 must be provided for within the system, one on, one in the wash and one spare. With disposables, a new clean gown is in the stores.

2.       Eliminating  laundry costs, saving on the consumption of chemicals and detergents

Modern washing techniques employ the use of environmentally harmful detergents and chemicals along with significant amounts of hot water not to mention energy in the drying and pressing processes. If the laundry is not on site, fuel and other transport costs are involved.  The logistic problems in sending and returning washed items to specific health cares departments' are considerable. The green credentials of poly/cotton materials are not what they seem, they still have to be disposed of. The situation is similar to that which exists between using disposable and launderable nappies and easy convenience disposables clearly won that argument.

3.       Barrier protection, low liquid strike through rate of non woven fabrics.

Poly/cotton materials offer no protection against liquid strike through, any liquids present on the outside rapidly become liquids on the inside. This is not only messy, but can cause cross contamination and infection. Some non woven products offer high liquid strike through protection due to their tighter weave that prohibits the movement of liquid molecules one way and permitting smaller air molecules to move the other way. Polypropylene garments with a polyethylene bonded film are impervious to liquid penetration, the inner soft layer of polypropylene is comfortable to the skin, and if necessary the seams can be sonic welded to provide a complete seal. This standard of clothing provides superior standards of barrier protection, both for patients and health care workers.

4.       Comfortable light fabrics, reduce heat stress.

Where there is the likelihood of heat stress as in theatres and warmly kept wards Microporous or Spunlace materials which are breathable can be used. These are cooler and much more comfortable than the modern generation poly/cotton clothing which employs tight weaves and other forms of liquid barrier protection, that do not assist breathability.

5.       Manufactured under ISO standards meeting QC standards at the point of issue.

Quality assessment of poly/cotton garments is often only carried when the garment is new and unwashed, this quality will diminish after laundering and is then not picked up as no further quality assessment is undertaken, this unnoticed falling of standard can often be rapid. With single use garments the quality standard only needs to be verified once at the place of manufacture.  Aside from the technical specifications, single use garments are always straight out of the packet, so they are always clean and smart with a complete absence of stains and other marks.

6.   Disposables help with Infection control procedures.

In these days of super bugs, MRSA and other HCAI [healthcare associated infection] non woven technology gowns provide greater protection than conventional linen based products and can simply sent for recycling after use.

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