Hospitals and care homes use detergents to aid the cleaning of reusable bedpans and other medical equipment. Reusable bedpans and utensils require proper washing and handling to prevent infection breakouts. Human waste can spread bacteria, such as C difficile. Therefore, it is vital that bedpans, urine bottles and other care utensils are cleaned correctly to limit exposure to pathogens. This is where detergents can help with your infection control processes.
What is Detergent?
Detergents are water-soluble cleaning chemicals. They are surfactants which work by lowering the surface tension of water. Essentially they make water wetter!
Made of synthetic chemicals, detergents tend to be liquids and are used in items such as washing powder, shampoo and stain removers.
What does Detergent do?
Adding detergent to water makes the cleaning process much more robust. By making water wetter, it is more likely to penetrate, loosen and trap dirt meaning items are properly cleaned, and the dirt isn’t just moved around.
During the cleaning process, detergents surround the dirt particles and remove them off the unclean item. The dirt is moved into the water and then rinsed away, making the utensils cleaner.
Why use Detergents alongside Disinfection?
There is a clear distinction between cleaning and disinfection. When cleaning items, such as commode pots, sterilisation is required. This is the most thorough form of microbe control. Sterilisation kills all bacteria and viruses, meaning medical instruments and items that have been exposed to dangerous microbes are safe to reuse. Detergents do not kill microorganisms and therefore cannot sanitise. It is essential that after the washing process, disinfection takes place.
Washer Disinfectors
Bedpan washer disinfectors create an automated emptying, flushing, cleaning and thermal disinfecting process. They have been designed to ensure equipment exposed to human waste are clean and disinfected and can be reused again safely.
The Deko 190IX and 190GT are both reliable, durable and easy to use. They provide a high-quality cleaning performance. Bedpans are flushed and rinsed thoroughly using a high powered 600L/min recirculation pump. Detergent is then circulated with water, ensuring items are washed and cleaned. Finally, thermal disinfection takes place with steam generated by an integrated unpressurised boiler.
The whole process ensures all items plus the wash chamber, water tank and outlet are cleaned and steam disinfected with the minimum usage of water and energy.
Bedpan washer disinfectors guarantee that standard requirements of cleaning are met every time. The fixed, tested and approved pre-programme cycles ensure your bedpans and other care utensils are cleaned to the highest standards. You can change these cycles to meet any special requirement you may have.
Dekomed Detergents
At Dekomed, we offer a range of non-foaming detergents, rinse aid and de-scaler for your washer disinfectors. We understand how the cleaning process works, and we only choose the best products for our machines. You need the best cleaning results, and it is our priority to help you keep your patients as safe as possible and therefore provide bedpan washers and detergents you can trust.
Contact us for more information about our detergents or our washer disinfector range.