Systems And Processes For Treating Textiles With An Antimicrobial Agent

Abstract

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a method of treating a textile with an antimicrobial agent over a plurality of laundry cycles each including a wash cycle and a treatment cycle. The method includes (a) receiving a textile in a wash system for a first laundry cycle, (b) initiating a wash cycle comprising a detergent, (c) initiating a post-detergent treatment cycle comprising dosing the textile with a solution having a predetermined concentration of an antimicrobial agent that comprises a metallic ion, and (c) repeating steps (a)-(c) for each of a plurality of additional laundry cycles. The predetermined concentration is insufficient to achieve a predetermined antimicrobial efficacy for the textile due to the first laundry cycle alone but sufficient to achieve the predetermined antimicrobial efficacy for the textile due to a combination of the first laundry cycle and one or more of the plurality of additional laundry cycles.

1 . A method of reducing a microbial load in an inventory of textiles comprising a plurality of textiles, the method comprising:
 (a) receiving a first portion of the plurality of textiles of the inventory;   (b) initiating a treatment cycle, wherein the treatment cycle comprises treating the first portion of the plurality of textiles with a predetermined concentration of a metallic antimicrobial agent;   (c) testing a sample of the treated first portion for an antimicrobial efficacy, wherein the sample comprises at least one textile of the treated first portion of the plurality of textiles;   (d) determining if the antimicrobial efficacy of the tested sample achieves a predetermined antimicrobial efficacy; and   (e) based on determining that the tested sample does not achieve the predetermined antimicrobial efficacy, adjusting at least one parameter of a subsequent treatment cycle for a second portion of the plurality of textiles of the inventory.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the metallic antimicrobial agent comprises silver chloride. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the metallic antimicrobial agent comprises silver nitrate. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the metallic antimicrobial agent comprises silver acetate. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the metallic antimicrobial agent comprises silver carbonate. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the metallic antimicrobial agent comprises silver oxide. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the metallic antimicrobial agent comprises silver sulfate. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the metallic antimicrobial agent comprises a metallic ion. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the metallic ion comprises a silver ion. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the predetermined antimicrobial efficacy is achieved when the sample contains at least approximately 1 mg of silver ion per kg of textile. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the metallic ion comprises a copper ion. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the metallic ion comprises a zinc ion. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the metallic antimicrobial agent comprises at least one of silver chloride or silver nitrate, and wherein testing a sample of the treated first portion for an antimicrobial efficacy comprises detecting silver ion on the sample. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the metallic antimicrobial agent comprises silver chloride, and wherein testing a sample of the treated first portion for an antimicrobial efficacy comprises determining a concentration of silver ion on the sample. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the metallic antimicrobial agent comprises silver chloride, and wherein testing a sample of the treated first portion for an antimicrobial efficacy comprises determining an amount of silver ion on the sample. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the metallic antimicrobial agent comprises at least one of silver chloride or silver nitrate, and wherein testing a sample of the treated first portion for an antimicrobial efficacy comprises determining the microbial load on the sample. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein adjusting at least one parameter comprises determining an effective concentration of the metallic antimicrobial agent for the subsequent treatment cycle. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein adjusting at least one parameter comprises adjusting the predetermined concentration of the metallic antimicrobial agent for the subsequent treatment cycle. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein adjusting at least one parameter comprises adjusting a dosing rate of the metallic antimicrobial agent for the subsequent treatment cycle. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein adjusting at least one parameter comprises determining whether to initiate the subsequent treatment cycle. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein adjusting at least one parameter comprises determining whether to treat the second portion of the plurality of textiles with the metallic antimicrobial agent in the subsequent treatment cycle.