Disinfecting fabric seats

[Bob Ezra]

Any ideas on how to disinfect fabric seats/arms without ruining them ?

Who knows when this might be necessary, but trying to plan ahead.

[Gordon McLeod]

I would rent a steam cleaner

[Bob Ezra]

Gordon, Not clean but disinfect nightly, due to covid 19.

[Carsten Kurz]

A steam cleaner would still be your best choice, I guess, because of temperature effect. I don't think there are any studies/facts about SARS-CoV2 longevity on fabric surfaces, and no one can demand such a procedure. For a nightly clean, it also has to go pretty quick, so, a steam cleaner...
From what I know, the risc of picking up from furniture is pretty low. I think you have to wait and see how official rules develop. e.g. over here, many officials are concerned about people queuing up in or in front of your premises (concession, admittance), because we have specific show times (other than a shop that is open all day). So, managing these queues is something you should look into.

- Carsten

[Marcel Birgelen]

A steam cleaner is probably the more efficient way, but if you're running multiple rooms, it can become quite a burden. There are small handheld cleaners, but they still require power via a cord and well... they run out of steam quickly.

Another thing you need to check is if your material will survive the continuous steam treatment. Especially plastics can be problematic at those high temperatures.

Another possibility would be to spray problematic surfaces with disinfectant containing at least 70% ethanol or 2-propanol and water (and no glycerine, as this will make the surface sticky). This can be done without dedicated equipment but simply with a bunch of spray-bottles. Ideally, you should not wipe those surfaces but let the stuff evaporate, that makes sure the stuff has sufficient time to do its work. Most surface disinfectants need a few minutes to actually kill bacteria and destroy viruses, especially encapsulated ones like the new coronavirus.

The problem with continuous application of disinfectant is that everything will start to smell of ethanol or 2-propanol, a scent people may associate with e.g. hospitals and not so much with cinemas. Depending on your material, it could also cause stains, so you should selectively test it.

[Randy Stankey]

Lysol Spray works on coronavirus, per the EPA's "List N: Disinfectants for Use Against SARS-CoV-2"

https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-regist...nst-sars-cov-2

EPA Reg. Number 777-99

Yes, you can use Lysol on fabric if you use it judiciously. Just spray enough to lightly wet the surface. You can use a brush or cloth to wipe the surface of the fabric to make sure you covered the entire surface evenly.

Lysol comes in all kinds of scents so that, hopefully, it won't make your theater smell like a hospital.
Then, again, if people who come to your theater can tell that you use disinfectant by the smell, in times like these, that might be a positive thing. People will know that you are disinfecting your theater and might be more likely to come back. Just so long as the smell doesn't become overwhelming.

https://www.lysol.com/disinfectant-s...fectant-spray/

[Marcel Birgelen]

For what it's worth: My wife, who runs a small-scale cosmetics shop is currently making disinfectant for the local public. Her advice is to use a disinfectant without any added odors for surface sanitization, as the odor components used (mostly synthetically produced esters esters and/or essential oils) can compound on the surfaces you apply the disinfectant too, in the case of fabric, it can also bond with the fabric. The ethanol/2-propanol and water will eventually just evaporate and the smell will be gone too. If you want to compensate for the smell, her advice is to use a professional room spray instead. Those will also leave a small residue on surfaces, but the impact should be smaller than when spraying your seats every few hours with a fresh dose of disinfectant.

[Frank Cox]

Room spray might coat your screen with crud, wouldn't it?

[Marcel Birgelen]

I'm not the room spray expert, but apparently, there is professional room spray that doesn't contain essential oils and other stuff that doesn't leave a residue. Most of the expensive, fancy stuff is in the danger-zone though.

[Rusty Gordon]

Good luck finding enough Lysol to do all that. We've been trying to buy a couple of cans since all this started but haven't lucked up on any.

[Marcel Birgelen]

Well, it's a pity you're so far away, we're currently giving away 5 liter cans of disinfectant to local institutions and businesses who need it...

[Lyle Romer]

UV light?

I don't know how much time you have to keep it in one place.

[Mike Blakesley]

Since the virus only survives on surfaces for something like a few hours (according to some things I've seen), when we reopen my tentative plan is to use half the rows each night. Odd numbered rows one night, even rows the next. That way the bugs will have a full 48 hours to crawl off and die. I doubt we'll be open until the middle of June anyway.... the environment in the country will be much different after another seven weeks of this.

[Bob Ezra]

Interesting idea... but is 48 hrs enough?

[Carsten Kurz]

The current studies for SARS-CoV-2 longevity on surfaces deal with blank, hard surfaces like plastic or steel where the virus dries out quickly. On soft surfaces that always contain a certain amount of 'growth medium' and humidity, they will probably last longer. But, even if everyone is sterilising surfaces now around the world and wearing gloves, there has been no evidence so far for infections caused by contact to such surfaces.

Again, WHEN it comes to reopenings, then probably someone will tell you what is necessary to comply with rules. One may think ahead, but I would wait for these rules to be brought to the table.

Common antiviral sterilising solutions are typically made from either ethanol or isopropyl alcohol/isopropanol, mixed with distilled water, that is a very simple recipe, you can easily make it yourself (there is a recipe by the WHO circulating in public).

Recipes for hand sanitising recommend adding some glycerol, but you can leave that away for surfaces, and then it will leave no residues. Isopropanol is very cheap (but of cause, is highly flammable, so, take caution). You may not be allowed to offer your own mixture to the public for actual hand sanitising due to local health/pharmaceutical regulations, but, for surface cleaning, that is no issue.

While SARS-CoV-2 is a huge issue worldwide, the virus itself is easy to kill. Even soap water will actually kill it, not just wash it away:

https://virologydownunder.com/why-do...on-sars-cov-2/


- Carsten