أفضل 20 نصيحة للتصميم من أجل سهولة التنظيف

In some industries, Design for Cleanability is just a must (food, medical), in all others, you may just want your product to be and maintain clean during its usage. This article reviews traditional and innovative نصائح التصميم and recommendations.

To start with a famous joke: “only dirty people need a shower” … while everybody would find it ridiculous on humans, it should be the same on products.

Do not expect your products to be maintained clean because you produced them clean and you ask to take care in the Instruction For Use. Actively design for cleanability and provide the means for it!

Not only in the food and medical industries,

design for cleanability is an expected & due specification

which is part of the product quality perception and usability: your product will not be the hero because they are clean, but if not, will have an immediate negative impact on your market.

Foreword: cleanness versus disinfection

Cleanness has to be distinguished from disinfection:

• Cleanness: absence of deposits of any size (usually visible ones, but grease films or small dust can be invisible)
• Disinfection: absence of livings germs of any king (usually invisible ones, although fungus or similar may be visible)

يقال عادةً أن

disinfection can NOT be obtained on a non previously cleaned object

Good to know: while most of the dirt gets softer or even more liquid when the temperature rises, starch is one of the rare exceptions which gets harder. So mind your cleaning or disinfection method in this case.

Clean by Design

Do design for cleanability in the first place, instead of cleaning by user effort, by owner effort, or no cleaning at all!

A small, not good, example as a start: a plane ventilation system interface in the passenger area. Although the planar surfaces were cleaned by the company, obviously the recesses areas are … well … we let you judge:

No design for cleanability was obviously taken into account when designing this small radius or plastic surface texture.

Surface Roughness

Whether it is mandatory for the production process or an end-user feature, clearly here some compromises have to be made, as some roughness may be required for the product to look & age well.

Minimal inner radius

See the example on this metal forming or the plastic molded plane cockpit above of what to avoid.

Even in public restaurants like this silver twisted spoon on the right. The design to cleanness was likely not in the specifications.

Well-adjusted parts (you think)

Less is More is fully applicable here. Do limit the number of different parts as much as possible; refer to all articles on تحليل القيمة for that.

Every gap or interstice between parts will be subject to cleanness problems. In most cases, do not rely on the quality of the assembly, as even a good produced part will have some interstice in the assembly, trapping liquids, debris, or dust.

Self-draining design

Seems basic, but one of the most forgotten aspects. It is so easy to involuntarily design a “rain collector”! Dust, dirt & potentially corrosion will just follow.

Particularly for

• medical
• food
• public equipment
• but also individual kitchen or toilet equipment

Accessible or Interchangeable parts

Parts or components but be accessible

In order to maintain them clean easily. This is obtained by either:

• good access: both openings and space between the sub-assemblies if cleaning is required
• single-use components: typically a patient medical probe. The ability to clean is then just avoided. From a manufacturer and designer point of view: it usually requires much more investment and volumes but then generates after-sells
• removable parts to ease its cleaning: -the best practice- Used usually mainly on good home appliances, this can be applied to almost all other industries when some area can not be cleaned or when the total product is either too big or fragile. 

Opinion: we believe that although markets have moved over the last decade to more single-use components due to the ease of use and lower initial investment, both ecological aspects so as total ownership cost and feeling of waste will invert this tendency

• more long-lasting glass instead of البلاستيك
• more usage of refill jars, box & containers (end-user food industry)
• back to some metal parts, better integrated with plastic

Design for Cleanability examples (or not)

Microwave door handle

A quality microwave with one small Design for Cleanability exception

The handle opening is lean and included/recessed in the door frame. Looks nice and would have a good value analysis.

Also, ergonomics is great (hand width and thickness + function location is visible enough)

… but to notice is dust or liquid collector. A large bottom opening would have likely added some mold complexity and cost but would have permitted to limit the wash, and when done wash easier

Cast-iron tile

Looks great, thick, heavy, and of high quality … if these 5mm recesses were facing upwards and placed everywhere in that public restaurant. “Designed by recesses” one could say.

A good example where a choice has to be made, in this example visual against the ability...