GreenEarth Cleaning was awarded a U.S. Patent earlier this year for the development of an anti-viral cleaning methodology which has been incorporated into the GreenEarth Cleaning System.
The patent enables GreenEarth affiliates to integrate vaporization into the drycleaning cycle to deliver the highest level of protection from current and future lipid-layer viruses.
“In the spring of 2020, after the World Health Organization (WHO) had declared the Covid-19 outbreak a global pandemic, we contracted with MRI Global – an independent laboratory approved for testing with SARS-CoV-2. Our intent was to determine the effectiveness of our system in penetrating the lipid layer of the coronavirus using a high drying temperature of 158° F (70° Celsius) for 30 minutes,” explained Tim Maxwell, president of GreenEarth Cleaning. “We were surprised when the initial reports showed only a 14.28% deactivation efficiency with heat alone, so we went back to the drawing board.”
Eventually, through diligent manipulation of the washing extraction and drying steps, GreenEarth was able to achieve deactivation levels of 75%.
In response to that result, GreenEarth created a silicone vapor program component that achieved a deactivation level greater than 98% on SARS-CoV-2 contaminated wool fabrics. “Once we solidified the vaporization and process, and attained the result on a consistent basis, we added the anti-viral cleaning methodology to our suite of offerings available to GreenEarth affiliates,” Maxwell added.
“We continue to achieve extremely high viral eradication without adding aggressive chemistry,” he continued. “With this innovation, we are providing an expanded level of care without doing harm to the environment, people or their garments.”
Earlier this year, GreenEarth technical support began incorporating the necessary program modifications into all of its GreenEarth affiliate machines.
“With this advancement, we feel that our affiliates are better prepared for the potential arrival of any possible new variant of Covid, or the next virus,” Maxwell said.