As the name suggests, pre-wetted wipers are cleanroom wipers that have been pre-wetted with the optimum amount of 0.2 µm filtered solvent (typically 70% IPA solutions) to accomplish the cleaning task at hand. Further, these pre-wetted wipers are sterilized by gamma irradiation to a probability of non-sterility (Sterility Assurance Level) of 10-6. This insures that only one wiper out of a million would not be sterile.

These wipers, as delivered, are ready for immediate use to wipe down critical surfaces before, during, and after production shifts, inside and outside the sterile suite. Sterile pre-wetted wipers provide a means of sanitizing key surfaces and simultaneously removing particulate matter that can act as transport vehicles for bacteria. They are particularly useful for wiping down any articles brought into the sterile suite, to sanitize those articles and to physically remove endotoxins from surfaces.

Sterile pre-wetted wipers have been used for wiping down gloves to maintain glove sterility during sterile suite activity. This has the advantage of simultaneously sanitizing the glove and as well, physically removing dead bacteria from the glove surface, thereby reducing or eliminating a potential source of endotoxins. Spraying gloves with 70% IPA solution will sanitize the glove, but will not remove the dead bacteria. Sterile pre-wetted wipers have been found to reduce the incidence of false particle alarms caused by IPA spraying.

These wipers are also used to wipe down surfaces that have been contacted with environmental sampling devices such as Rodac plates, to remove residual agar. If this is not done, the agar on the sampled surface acts as a culturing medium for opportunistic bacteria.

From: “Advantages of Pre-Wetted Wipers in Sterile Environments”