Healthcare Fabrics and Finishes ~ 1

27.12.2011 § Leave a comment

Do I need an antibacterial finish? Which brand should I pick?

Each of the different healthcare finish brands is slightly different, but for the most part they are very similar. It is like selecting between different brands of cleaning solutions; they each have slightly different ingredients, but all three use fluorocarbons, which is the main component for their stain resistance. To my understanding, the percentages of fluorocarbon content from most to least are Crypton, Nano-Tex, then GreenShield.

Most of our GreenShield fabrics are also finished with Balance Barrier. It is not GreenShield itself (which is treated on the face of the fabric), but it is the Balance Barrier finish that adds a moisture barrier to the back of the fabric and gives it its antibacterial properties. For Balance Barrier, the antibacterial component comes from snow crab shells, a by-product of the food industry. We do have a few products that only have GreenShield for stain resistance. It is like substituting Teflon with GreenShield; in other words, fabrics that only have GreenShield without the Balance Barrier do not have the antibacterial functionality.

Unlike GreenShield + Balance Barrier, Nano-Tex + Durablock does not have antibacterial functionality. Bio-Am may be added during the Nano-Tex process in order for the healthcare product to have all of the functions including stain resistance, moisture barrier, and antibacterial treatment.

Please note that it is not possible to add this finish onto a fabric that already has been finished with Nano-Tex. Bio-Am must be added at the same time the Nano-Tex is added. This means we are not able to send our existing Nano-Tex treated product to add the antibacterial finish. The client has to wait for fresh goods to be made and finished to order.

Tagged: antibacterial, antimicrobial, Balance Barrier, Bio-Am, Crypton, Durablock, finishes, GreenShield, healthcare fabric, Nano-Tex, stain resistance

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