Textiles are ever-present in our environment. How we effectively clean and disinfect our clothes, upholstery, and the textiles that adorn the myriad of surfaces in our homes, schools, churches, work, healthcare, and public spaces is foremost in our minds right now.
In the past, resiliency, durability, value, and aesthetic appeal have been the primary factors informing materials choice, alongside maintenance. “Double rubs,” mimicking wear and tear, measuring the abrasion resistance and durability of fabrics have been one of the primary measures of performance specifications. In our healthcare and education work, we specify antimicrobial materials that are age-appropriate, attractive, and easy to disinfect. In a COVID-19 world, cleanliness and scrubbability are now primary considerations in selecting textile products.
Our material world can be healthier, cleaner, and more responsible.
Jackie Rush is an account executive specializing in design [with Chicago-area Wolf-Gordon] who works with high performance fabrics, wall-coverings, upholstery, paint, and other surfacing products. We asked Rush about developments and advice from textile manufacturers for Church.Design, and this is what she reports:
"... of foremost concern is air quality alongside the constant maintenance and cleaning of frequently touched surfaces. It is likely [that] building owners will address cleaning of every surface with more regularity."
Cleaning considerations of highly touched door and cabinet hardware and the introduction of touch-free entries, touch-less bathroom fixtures, and social distancing signage have already been the norm. But Rush speaks of the need for facilities to maintain wall surfaces, as well as woven and coated textile seating with equal priority:
"In the past it was believed that anti-microbial products would be one solution to help protect people against infectious particles. The term 'anti-microbial' refers to a finish that is toxic to, or inhibits the growth of, microorganisms such as bacteria or fungi.
At this time, anti-microbial products are not recommended as a defense against [disease], since most anti-microbial technologies have not been proven to reduce human infection or destroy viruses.
"Bleach is an effective and commonly used disinfectant against viruses. There are a wide variety of bleach cleanable products in the marketplace. These surfacing products are developed specifically for use with a diluted bleach solution and include everything from woven and coated upholstery, wall-coverings, and paint."
Rush further reports that textile and surfacing companies have made it easier to locate bleach-cleanable products on their websites, enabling informed decision-making by designers and building owners. Past ambivalence to the cleanability of vertical and soft surfaces to protect against viral contamination has given way to the necessity of using products that are bleach-cleanable.
As architects, we know that many of our public spaces are already working hard to reduce the risk of exposure by stepping up cleaning regimens. The New York subway system epitomizes this, closing nightly for enhanced cleaning since the outbreak of the pandemic. Such a closure was unprecedented in its 115-year history. These measures will be the appropriate new normal in designing and operating resilient, healthy places and communities. This will reassure our clients and the people that live, work, worship, and play in new and existing spaces that they are safe places to be. We will do this, in part, by reupholstering and sourcing high performance, responsible, and high-quality scrubbable products that will hold up to enhanced cleaning protocols.
Rush sums it up: “This is why selecting appropriate materials and products durable enough to be disinfected repeatedly will be critical as [we] move forward.”
Resources to learn more
While the CDC does not “approve” of any cleaning agents, they work in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Rush recommends reviewing the EPA List N, which registers cleaners that kill or disinfect viruses like coronavirus (using norovirus as the current standard, which is actually more difficult to kill than the coronavirus).
Read more about List N here: https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/list-n-disinfectants-use-against-sars-cov-2
Cleaning and disinfecting FAQ’s: https://www.wolfgordon.com/resources
[Editor's note: This submission was originally published in June 2020.]
