Cleanroom Packaging: Keep Your Sensitive Items Safe From Contamination
Some items must be packed in a clean room, an isolated area within a facility. It is a highly-controlled environment that can help with the packing of objects that are prone to contamination. Cleanroom bags are used in those situations where contamination must be avoided. They are used to store delicate objects such as medical equipment or microprocessors that must adhere to high hygiene standards. Cleanroom transport bags must meet strict guidelines, and failure to do so might render the finished product unusable.
Cleanroom packaging products include, bags, tubing, tapes, pouches, corrugated plastic boxes, foam boxes, films, foils and shrouds — all previous manufacturing activities and efforts are worthless without cleanroom packaging supplies that fulfill industry requirements and rules. To deliver your products in perfect condition, ensure that you never run out of cleanroom supplies. What is equally important, you must provide the quality and consistency of the packaging material in order to make your products safe and secure from the time it is manufactured, until the time it reaches your end customer. The most common cleanroom packaging types from Pristine Clean Bags® can surely help you with that.
Pristine Clean Bags®: Smart Cleanroom Packaging Solution
Controlled environment packaging is critical to your business’s success. Pristine Clean Bags® has a variety of solutions to meet your demands, and most of our packaging options are available in custom sizes. We provide a comprehensive choice of goods suitable for sterilization, minimal particle contamination, chemical resistance, high-quality sealing, and antistatic applications in cleanrooms and controlled environments.
We are a trusted cleanroom packaging provider with over 40 years of expertise servicing clients in various sectors, including life sciences, medical, automotive and aerospace. Call (410) 581–0303 to talk with one of our professionals.
What is a Cleanroom?
A cleanroom is a controlled environment in which contaminants such as dust, airborne germs, and aerosol particles are filtered away to offer the cleanest possible environment. The majority of cleanrooms are used to manufacture electronics, pharmaceuticals, and medical equipment. Depending on the number of particles permitted per cubic meter, a cleanroom can be divided into different contamination categories. Temperature, air movement, and humidity are all controlled in cleanrooms.
What is Cleanroom Contamination Control?
Contamination control is a broad phrase that encompasses all efforts aimed at limiting the presence, growth, and spread of contamination in specific locations. Contamination control can relate to the atmosphere and the surfaces, particulate matter and microorganisms, and contamination prevention and decontamination.
The cleanroom is one of the most typical locations where contamination control is part of the regular practice. In a cleanroom, there are several preventative processes in place. They include enforcing rigorous dress requirements on cleanroom employees, and there is generally a gowning room where they may change clothes in sterile circumstances to prevent particles from entering from the outside environment. In order to maintain cleanroom standards, several portions of the cleanroom have more rigorous procedures than others: packing areas, passageways, gowning rooms, and transfer hatches all have tight contamination control methods.
Who Needs Cleanroom?
There are several reasons why a corporation would want a cleanroom. Suppose you are producing something that is sensitive to pollutants or particles in the air, for example. In that case, you will almost certainly require a cleanroom. Here are a few reasons why you might require a cleanroom, as well as several industries that frequently need them:
· Medical laboratories
· Aerospace industry
· Electronic part production
· Automotive industry
· Manufacturing companies
· Pharmaceutical companies
· Life science industry
· Chemical industry
Cleanroom Packaging: Cleanroom Bags
Cleanroom packaging bags are designed for various industries and their specific needs. To ensure the utmost product quality, look for some of the most common features of the cleanroom packaging like puncture resistance, density, temperature resistance, clarity and strength, ziplock, moisture barrier, material (polyethylene, nylon, antistatic nylon, etc.), form (foil, bag, tubing) and ISO certification.
1. Polyethylene Cleanroom Bags
Polyethylene is an ideal material for general purpose packaging, for materials that require a moderate level of cleanliness. It is the most common type of plastic used for cleanroom bags, with high-density polyethylene and low-density polyethylene as materials of choice. These bags are approved for use in aerospace, electronics, semiconductors, food packaging, and many other applications.
High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) Bags
HDPE cleanroom bags are composed of an additive-free substance that prevents the bags from sticking together. As a result, they are a great option for packing things that could be harmed by touch. HDPE bags provide excellent temperature tolerance, allowing you to pack hot items straight from the press without fear of holes or melting. Its scratch and puncture resistance also make HDPE a good choice for transporting optical lenses and other related equipment.
Apart from these characteristics, HDPE poly bags are extremely robust and rigid, have excellent moisture retention capabilities, and can tolerate even extreme cold.
Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) Bags
The most adaptable bags for general use cleanroom applications is LDPE poly bags. They are strong, have a high moisture barrier, and are clear. When made from a barefoot resin, LDPE can be transparent. To increase clarity, the formula can be tweaked. In an ISO-certified cleanroom, cleanroom LDPE poly bags are produced. They are clean according to IEST-STD 1246D. However, those bags are not so temperature resistant as HDPE, so they are not a great choice for microwaves and freezers.
Linear Low-Density Polyethylene (LLDPE) Bags
When compared to LDPE bags of the same gauge, LLDPE bags give more strength and puncture resistance. As a result, it is frequently possible to utilize a smaller gauge LDPE bag to perform the same function as a heavier gauge LDPE bag, lowering the environmental effect. Because the bags are composed of virgin materials, they meet FDA standards for use in food applications.
2. Nylon Cleanroom Bags
Nylon/antistatic nylon bag is a laminated structure consisting of an LDPE product contact layer and a nylon layer that is biaxially orientated. It is clear, puncture-resistant, scuff-resistant, and sturdy. In comparison to monolayer bags, the film provides a higher barrier to oxygen and moisture transfer. It is most commonly utilized in applications to prevent rips and scuffing caused by friction rubbing. The material is also stable during and after gamma irradiation and works well in vacuum applications. The simple rip feature allows technicians to open the Nylon/LDPE cleanroom bag with gloved hands, eliminating potential knife, blade, and scissors damage.
3. Moisture-barrier Film
Cleanroom film protects cleanroom items against moisture vapor transfer (MVTR) and oxygen transmission (OTR). Nylon/Foil/Polyethylene is the film’s composition. It is a thick, opaque sheet with a foil-like look. It has no static dissipative coating; therefore, outgassing and non-volatile residue are reduced. The moisture-barrier film from Pristine Clean Bags® is made in an ISO-accredited cleanroom and is certified clean to IEST-STD 1246D.
4. Cleanroom Poly Tubing
Pristine Clean Bags® offers cleanroom poly tubing when individually cut cleanroom polyethylene bags are not acceptable for your items. Poly tubing is frequently utilized for items that are longer in length or for constantly packing the same component. For gamma irradiation sterilization operations, our cleanroom tubing is gamma stable. We exclusively utilize virgin resins and never regrind, reducing the danger of contamination and ensuring FDA/EU compliance and work for various applications.
5. Cleanroom Ziplock Bags
The simple tear bags are designed so technicians can unzip the cleanroom bag with gloved hands, preventing any harm from knives, blades, and scissors, thanks to the LDPE composition. Rip notches on the sides of a bag can be used to make an easy tear bag, eliminating the need for sharps to open the bags.
Easy rip LDPE bags are available in a variety of thicknesses and with or without re-closable zippers. For gamma-irradiated items, LDPE is commonly utilized. It is not recommended for extreme temperatures. LDPE bags are clean according to IEST-STD 1246D and are made in an ISO-certified cleanroom.
6. Cleanroom Pouches
Cleanroom pouches are a great option for labs and other applications where bulk items are manufactured within a cleanroom. Cleanroom pouches come in a variety of sizes, are double-bagged, sealed, custom-tailored, and may be printed in different colors. Most cleanroom pouches are gamma irradiation-compatible, have high barrier qualities, and may be used in many industries.
Cleanroom Packaging: Cleanroom Tape
Every job requires specific equipment, and cleanroom tape is one of them. When you are working in a controlled environment, you need to know that your floor marking tape will stay up.
Cleanroom tape is made of materials that mitigate the chances of unwanted particulates being released into the controlled environment. Technicians in cleanrooms need to know which tapes will operate best in their environment. The type of tape used is mostly determined by the kind of surface being taped as well as the amount of contact between surfaces before removal.
While your requirements may vary from application to application, your expectations should not. You must choose the best cleanroom tape for your particular business, which can be:
· ESD tape
· Barrier tape
· Foam tape
· Double-sided tape
· Packaging tape
· Safety tape.
Cleanroom Packaging: Corrugated Plastic Boxes
Corrugated plastic boxes have the advantages of corrugated paper in terms of durability, weather resistance, and low weight. In most uses, corrugated plastic goods survive for many years. They are manufactured of non-toxic polypropylene (PP), which is also recyclable. Available in various sizes, these are perfect for usage in cleanrooms since they do not produce any particulates and can be cleaned before entering the environment. On the other hand, regular cardboard boxes are absolutely prohibited due to particle generation in the form of small paper fibers.
Cleanroom Packaging: Foam Boxes
Polyethylene foams are the most generally approved foam varieties for clean room applications. They are closed cells that emit very few particles. Excellent shock absorption, vibration dampening, and die-cutting capabilities. There are a variety of weights to choose from. They can be made of:
· Extruded polyethylene
· Cross-linked polyethylene
· Extruded cross-linked polyethylene and polyolefin.
Cleanroom Packaging: Foils & Shrouds
When it is advisable to completely encase your equipment in an environmental protection bag system before shipping or storing it, foils and shrouds are available for application. They usually consist of a poly bag sandwiched between two sealed foil bags with desiccant in the middle.
Cleanroom Packaging: Specialty Items
These come in various sizes and applications. Some of them include:
· Protection pouches — an alternative to bubble wrap.
· Clamshell suspension packs — offer total shock protection by floating in sandwiched layers of film inside a rugged polystyrene box.
· Custom packages (conductive plastic holders, suspension packages, various separators, etc.).
Try Cleanroom Films and Bags From Pristine Clean Bags®
To satisfy your criteria for cleanroom bags, tubing, and cleanroom polyethylene film, Pristine Clean Bags® maintains the greatest degree of traceability and conformity. As a respected cleanroom packaging provider, we are delighted to be a leader in quality, on-time delivery, and customer service. Whether you work in healthcare, life sciences, biopharma, chemistry, electronics, or aerospace, our cleanroom film and bags are ready to go.
Manufactured from virgin materials which are animal- and surfactant-free, we provide products that are ISO certified, FDA- and EU- compliant. And that is not all. Due to our strategic sourcing ability, we are able to offer pricing 20–30% below the US and EU markets. Call our customer support at (410) 581–0303 to find out more.
