This has been a chaotic week for everyone, especially in our industry as we see the effects of our customers' daily lives and work schedules interrupted by concern over the coronavirus (COVID-19). By now we trust you have read our
previous email sent on March 3
regarding coronavirus and the best information we have to date. GreenEarth has received numerous follow-up calls asking for advice on how to protect employees and what kind of concern there should be for contaminated clothing.
The best information available indicates that the virus can only live outside of a person for perhaps 20 minutes, but could last up to 24 hours on fabrics or bedding that is contaminated with body fluids or feces. The CDC states that dry cleaning is effective at killing nearly all viruses and bacteria, however the exact temperature and time required for coronavirus is not yet known. If coronavirus acts like other known viruses, then it too is killed in the drying phase of dry cleaning, hot water wash (at 60C), and when pressing or steaming clothing with a hot steam press.
We suggest, if you haven't already, to have a team safety meeting to review the best practices outlined
in this CDC link
which you can print and distribute.
We also encourage our Affiliates to frequently clean surfaces that customers, employees, and clothing frequently contact such as counter tops, keyboard and mouse, door handles, laundry carts, equipment handles such as the door of the dry cleaning machine or washer, and credit card terminals. You can be sure your cleaning products meet EPA standards for destroying coronavirus with
this document.
You should also be sure to provide surgical gloves to employees who are handling soiled clothing and adhere to strict hand washing schedules. Some people might find using a timer set for every 30 minutes as a reliable reminder to wash hands.
Remember that your team members are concerned about coronavirus, how it will impact their work, and how it will impact their family and loved ones. It's incredibly important to show your team that their safety and well-being is on the top of your mind and that together, we will get through this crisis. An organized team meeting will go a long way towards showing that solidarity.
Finally, some Affiliates have asked if we have information they can display or hand out to customers promoting dry cleaning as a way to sanitize clothing and bedding. We have created a counter display you can
download here.
If you would like to discuss these issues further with a member of the GreenEarth Team, please do not hesitate to reach out.
