One of our favorite products here at SOS Cleanroom is the TX1009 wipe, which is an incredibly versatile cleanroom wiper, but you don’t need us to tell you again why we love it so much. What we’d like to look at today is the amazing molecular structure of the 100% continuous-filament polyester that the ITW Texwipe TX1009 AlphaWipe is made of.

Just what is it about this material that makes it usable in a cleanroom environment without shedding?

Origin

If you think of typical fibers that the industry uses for wipes and fabrics, they have an animal- or plant-based origin. It may be that the original material is wood (paper towels, toilet paper), cotton (t-shirts, dishrags), wool (sweaters, blankets), or silk (blouses, scarves). Think of your favorite fuzzy sweater. Now think of a cotton ball. If you’re already sweating and shuddering at the thought of how many huge particles these materials would be shedding every second in your cleanroom, you would be right.

Continuous-filament Polyester, on the other hand, has a petroleum origin, so right off the bat we’re talking about a completely different product. But on the macro-level, what we can see and feel, some materials can be misleading. Most people can easily envision a cotton ball or a fluffy sweater being a problem for creating dust and lint, but to the uninitiated, a silky blouse or a piece of glossy paper wouldn’t seem to pose a problem.

Molecular Structure

It’s only when you go down to the microscopic level that you can truly see the reason why the TX1009 wipe is superior to any product made from traditional fibers. A simple Google Images search for “wool under the microscope” will quickly reveal to you a filament made of what looks like large flakes stuck together, and if you imagined it a foot in diameter, you would think you were looking at a rough palm tree trunk. Even silk fiber under the microscope has little irregularities that look like tiny hairs or loose bits of dust when you look at an image from a scanning electron micrograph of woven silk fabric.

On the other hand, if you look at continuous-filament polyester under the microscope, what you see is akin to a row of pencils or drinking straws all lined up in perfect order. Their smooth sides look completely different and you can easily visualize why this material does not create lint particles or contaminants.

Absorption and Adsorption

It’s one thing for something to be an ultra-smooth fiber and it’s quite another for it to also serve as a wipe. You can create something out of glass filaments, stainless steel fibers, or nickel fibers and it won’t be useful to wipe up a thing, even though those filaments are totally lint-free. The beauty of the continuous-filament polyester is that liquids also adhere to it, allowing you to either wipe up liquid spills or moisten the wipe for certain applications.

Now that we’ve taken a look at the science behind the TX1009 dry wipes, you’ll feel even more comfortable using them in your cleanroom. Order yours now!