How To Clean Vertical Laminar Flow Hood

With each piece of lab equipment, there are unlike steps you demand to take to ensure you have a sterile and rubber surroundings. We will discuss how to effectively perform laminar period hood cleaning and give you a few other tips to ensure your lab is safety.

Start Upwardly The Unit

The commencement thing you will want to practice is first the unit. Information technology is of import to have the hood blowing for at least 30 minutes prior to starting time the cleaning process.

Suit Upward And Get The Cleaning Equipment!

Before you begin the cleaning process, y'all are going to want to ensure you are wearing sterile clothing. Start by putting on the appropriate PPE. This more often than not involves wearing a gown with gloves, a mask, head roofing, and shoe coverings.

Lab technician in a full body gown and mask reviewing a checklist

During this stage you will also want to grab laboratory form cleaning wipes forth with a lxx% ethanol spray solution. (Lather and h2o should not be used and e'er use lint costless cleanroom clothes)

Pre-Cleaning Important Facts To Know

Earlier you begin cleaning the unit, at that place are few important things you need to know.

HEPA Filters

HEPA filters are very delicate and require careful attention as to not be damage when cleaning the unit of measurement. Depending on how your unit is set up, you may accept a metal shield over the HEPA filter which can be wiped down. Do not use excessive pressure when wiping this shield as yous could damage the filter if too much pressure is applied. You also should never spray cleaning solution directly on the shield, instead spray the solution onto a wipe.

illustrated drawing of air and contaminants passing through a HEPA filter

In other units, you lot may not have a protective metallic shield in front of the filter. Instead, it may exist a metal grate where you can easily run into the filter media. In this style of hood, you should not clean the HEPA filter surface.

Wipes

You lot should use a clean wipe for each surface of the hood. This reduces the adventure of contagion.

Outset Cleaning

In the starting time stage of the cleaning process you will be using the laboratory class cleaning wipes.

Start by cleaning the ceiling of the unit first for horizontal laminar menses hoods. (For vertical laminar period hoods y'all will skip this pace unless your HEPA filter on the ceiling has a protective shield.) Start in the dorsum-left corner and make clean from left to right with a long swiping motion. As you motion from back to front, overlap each swipe by 25 to l% to ensure all surfaces go cleaned.

Adjacent clean the back wall if a HEPA shield is present. Work from superlative to bottom using the aforementioned swiping and overlapping you used on the ceiling of the unit. If a shield is not present, then you practice non make clean the HEPA surface.

Next work your mode to the sides of the unit, get-go in the back corner. Clean from top to bottom and from dorsum to front. Ensure you apply a make clean wipe for each surface.

Finally, information technology is time to clean the work surface. In a similar style equally the ceiling cleaning, piece of work from the dorsum corner and wipe from right to left. Ensure a 25 to fifty% overlap on each wipe and practise this until you attain the front of the unit of measurement.

Sterilize The Unit of measurement

You volition follow the same steps laid out to a higher place, this time using a lint costless cloth and your 70% isopropyl booze solution. Ever spray the alcohol onto the fabric and never straight onto the surfaces. Ensure a clean portion of the cloth or new textile entirely are used for each of the surfaces you wipe downwards. And that's it!

Be certain to dispose of all discarded materials in a biohazard waste-basket. If the unit has a UV Sterilizer, this can too be used to disinfect the hood.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Are The Different Classes Of Laminar Flow Hoods?

There are 3 different classes of laminar period hoods.

Class I Laminar Flow Hoods – These hoods the simplest of the 3 classes. These hoods practise a good job of protecting the user and outside environs but exercise not protect the work substances or cultures from contagion.
Form Two Laminar Menses Hoods – These hoods are often used when chancy material and fumes pose a run a risk to the user. These hoods as well provide a sterile aseptic surround for the materials in the hood. Class 2 hoods are used in applications involving BSL-1, 2, and 3 materials.
Form 3 Laminar Period Hoods – These offering the most protection. They provide the ultimate level of possible protection. These units are gas tight and are used in BSL-4 materials. This often includes pathogens and infectious substances.