Milliken & Company Guides Its Customers to Antimicrobial Protection Step-By-Step

A leading producer of whirlpool tubs set a goal of reducing cleaning chores for consumers by guarding against biofilm growth inside the tub’s piping. A commercial ice machine maker wanted to reassure restaurants that everything possible was being done to inhibit the growth of microbes. And a textile company was looking to create a new type of yarn that would reduce odors in socks.

While these companies are in widely disparate industries they share two things in common – they all selected AlphaSan® antimicrobial protection from Milliken & Company and they all benefited from Milliken’s ability to guide its customers through the process of creating microbe-fighting products every step of the way, from product development and testing through regulatory concerns and market launch.

“While there are countless consumer and commercial products that could benefit from the antimicrobial protection provided by AlphaSan, many companies find that the development and testing needed to change their product formulations are daunting,” according to Geoff Haas, AlphaSan market manager for Milliken & Company.

“We work to remove these concerns by providing comprehensive support for each phase of development and commercialization,” he said. “Our technical team today has a proven track record in bringing AlphaSan antimicrobial protection to numerous industry segments, ranging from kitchen and bath and food service to textiles.”

According to Haas, the first step in the antimicrobial product development process for consumer and commercial products is determining whether the product will actually benefit from the use of AlphaSan.

“We pioneered the use of screening tests that have become industry standards,” Haas said. “Our microbiologists can determine the relative efficacy of AlphaSan antimicrobial protection at various concentration levels, assuring that a measurable reduction in microbes is due to the performance of AlphaSan.”

After successful testing in a controlled lab environment using a product’s component materials and parts, the AlphaSan technical development team assists its clients with scalability testing and trials. The goal is to assure that lab results with limited samples can be duplicated cost effectively at the product level and in real life manufacturing settings.

An example of this testing and development approach is whirlpool tub producer American Standard, which approached Milliken with the challenge of applying AlphaSan to deter the growth of biofilm in their tubs. After lab tests proved the efficacy of AlphaSan within tub component samples, the Milliken technical services team created prototype whirlpool tubs with AlphaSan components and subjected the prototypes and conventional tubs to real life testing.

“Over a six-month period we ran dirty bath water through the tubs three times a week,” Haas said. “The results were amazing. In the past, the tubs needed frequent cleanings with bleach solution. The AlphaSan tub significantly reduced the number of cleanings required.”

In order to provide this level of technical support for its AlphaSan antimicrobial agent, Milliken has recruited a team of specialists in microbiology, chemistry, applications engineering and technical services. This team conducts its work on behalf of Milliken customers using state-of-the-art analytical testing and product development facilities.

“Virtually all of our testing and development work is done at the Milliken Research Center,” Haas said. “Our on-site capabilities include plastics compounding, injection molding, hand-held x-ray fluorescence and other proprietary testing and development services.”

As a global provider, Milliken’s testing and development capabilities are not limited to its Spartanburg, S.C. Research and Development facility. Regional technical centers are also located in Belgium, Singapore and Brazil, making Milliken one of the most comprehensive research and technical service corporations in the world.

“Members of our technical services team are frequently dispatched to customer m