It is recommended that when comparing cleanroom consumable products manufactured by several vendors that all products be tested at the same lab, with the same test method, and by the same technician. What test methods are recommended for cleanroom consumable products?

Disposable gloves, wipers, swabs, bouffant, and garments are used in cleanrooms and controlled environments throughout the world. They are tested by contract testing labs and or by the consumable manufacturer during product development for product literature information, compliance to customer specifications, and during root cause investigation for product failure or contamination. The customer may also perform similar tests to confirm the consumable item is per contracted specifications.

There are a variety of tests to determine contamination, functionality of the cleanroom consumable item, and its physical characteristics. The test methods are described in standards from the ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials), ANSI (American National Standards Institute), ISO (International Organization for Standardization), IEST (Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology), and military specifications. I recommend consulting the IEST recommended practices for gloves, wipers, and swabs for performance of specific test methods.

Some countries and industries have specific standard methods, such as the Gelbo flex test used in Germany and the U.S. to determine the number of particles on wipers and garments, and the standard methods established by IDEMA for the disk drive industry and SEMI for the semiconductor industry.

The company requesting the tests specifies the testing to be fast, inexpensive, a direct sampling of their product, quantitative, and robust. Therefore the testing lab delivers a standard test method that is repeatable and reproducible, can test a variety of products, delivers relevant information at the lowest possible detection limit, and value for the price of the testing.