Everything You Need to Know about Cleanroom Wipers

In today's high-tech manufacturing and research environments, maintaining absolute cleanliness is not just important—it's critical. Cleanroom wipers play a vital role in ensuring the pristine conditions required for semiconductor manufacturing, pharmaceutical production, aerospace applications, and many other advanced industries. These specialized wiping materials are engineered to meet strict cleanliness standards and are essential tools in contamination control.

This comprehensive guide covers everything from basic concepts to detailed specifications of cleanroom wipers. Whether you're a cleanroom manager, quality control specialist, or new to the field, you'll find valuable information about different types of wipers, their applications, and how to select the right product for your specific needs. Let's begin with understanding the environment where these specialized wipers are used.

I. What is a Cleanroom?

A cleanroom is a specially designed enclosed space that primarily aims to control airborne particles to meet specific cleanliness standards. Inside a cleanroom, through strict air filtration, environmental control, and process procedures, the concentration of solid particles in the air can be maintained at an extremely low level. This ensures that mechanical production, experiments, or processing conducted within are not affected by external environmental contamination.

Through strict control of particle concentration in the air, cleanrooms are widely used in electronics manufacturing, biomedical, food processing, and other industries. In electronics manufacturing, cleanrooms protect microelectronic components from dust and impurity damage; in the biomedical field, cleanrooms ensure sterile and clean production environments for pharmaceuticals and medical devices; in food processing, cleanrooms prevent contamination of food by dust and impurities. Overall, the design and operation of cleanrooms play a crucial role in ensuring product quality, improving production efficiency, and maintaining experimental accuracy.

II. Cleanliness Classifications

Cleanliness classifications are determined by the number of solid particles in the air. Common standards include ISO 14644 and U.S. Federal Standard 209E. These standards classify different cleanliness levels based on the number of solid particles allowed per cubic meter of air in the cleanroom.

ISO 14644 standard divides cleanroom cleanliness into 10 classes from ISO 1 to ISO 9. Class ISO 1 represents the highest cleanliness level, requiring fewer than or equal to 10 particles greater than or equal to 0.1 microns per cubic meter of air. Class ISO 9 represents the lowest cleanliness level, allowing up to 35.2 million particles greater than or equal to 0.5 microns per cubic meter of air.

U.S. Federal Standard 209E uses 0.5-micron particles as the baseline for classification, ranging from Class 1, 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000, to 100,000. Class 100 is a commonly used higher cleanliness level, requiring fewer than or equal to 100 particles greater than or equal to 0.15 microns per cubic foot (ft³) of air, also known as Class 100. Class 100,000 represents a lower cleanliness level, requiring fewer than or equal to 100,000 particles greater than or equal to 0.15 microns per cubic foot (ft³) of air, also known as Class 100,000.

ISO 14644-1 Cleanroom Standards | Cleanroom Classifications

US FED STD 209E Cleanroom Standards | Cleanroom Classifications

III. How to Maintain Cleanroom Cleanliness?

Regularly use cleanroom wipers throughout the manufacturing process to remove impurities, dust, and residue from surfaces and equipment, ensuring the highest possible yield and quality of sensitive components

Prohibit non-cleanroom items and personnel from entering (e.g., cardboard boxes, wooden boards, workers without cleanroom garments)

Prevent particles from entering with personnel and materials (must pass through air shower, material transfer chamber, pass-through window, etc.)

During operation, some equipment or consumables may generate particles (e.g., machine equipment friction, low-grade wiping materials, low-grade cleanroom protective equipment)

IV. Types of Cleanroom Wipers

By Material:

• Polyester

• Sub-microfiber (polyester)

• Microfiber (polyester/nylon)

• Woven fabric

• Specialty fabric (composite, high-density, anti-static)

By Texture:

• Straight weave

• Mesh weave

• Twill weave

• Random weave

By Form:

• Single sheets

• Perforated roll (Jumbo roll)

• Centerfeed roll

• 1/4 fold

• Brag box

By Function:

• Standard cleanroom

• Cleanroom with anti-static properties

By Size (commonly square):

• 4" x 4" (10.16cm x 10.16cm)

• 6" x 6" (15.24cm x 15.24cm)

• 9" x 9" (22.86cm x 22.86cm)

• 12" x 12" (30.48cm x 30.48cm)

V. Main Performance Testing Items for Cleanroom Wipers

APC (Airborne Particle Count): Tests the number of particles released into the air when handling or using the wiper 

LPC (Liquid Particle Count): Measures the number of particles released when the wiper is immersed in liquid 

NVR (Non-Volatile Residue): Measures the amount of residual material that remains after evaporation 

FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy): A spectroscopic analysis technique that identifies organic compounds like silicone oil, amino degradation products, and plasticizers 

IC (Ion Chromatography): Measures the content and concentration of inorganic anions and cations 

GSM: Weight of wipers in g/m² 

Thickness: Thickness of wipers in mm 

Absorbency Capacity: The maximum amount of liquid a wiper can hold (test method: IEST-RP-CC004.4:2019)

Absorbency Rate: Measures how quickly the wiper can absorb liquid (test method: IEST-RP-CC004.4:2019)

VI. Cleanroom Wiper Cutting and Edge Sealing Processes

Cold cutting: Can cut multiple layers but edges are uneven and cannot be sealed 

Laser cutting: High efficiency but edges may yellow; hard edges may occur with thick materials and can scratch products 

Heat cutting: Good edge sealing, no yellowing, but cannot be used with high weight/thick materials 

Narrow ultrasonic sealed edge: Best edge sealing, no particle release from edges; drawbacks include low efficiency, high cost, edges may split Wide ultrasonic sealed edge: Adds wide edge treatment to ultrasonic cutting, provides excellent protection against edge fraying during wiping; highest grade edge sealing method; however, has lowest efficiency and highest cost

VII. Wipestar Cleanroom Wiper Series

Polyester Cleanroom Wipers:

Material: Standard 100% polyester fiber knitting

Advantages:

• High inherent cleanliness, low risk of reverse contamination

• Good solvent resistance

• High strength and durability

• High cleanliness

• Low cost Applications: PCB, ink, digital printing, equipment and machinery, mobile phone casings, initial product wiping

Sub-microfiber Cleanroom Wipers:

Material: Finer 100% polyester fiber knitting

Advantages:

• High inherent cleanliness, low risk of reverse contamination

• Good solvent resistance

• High strength, softer than polyester

• Relatively low cost Applications: Initial glass touchscreen, mobile phone cameras, LCD panels, displays, standard camera lenses, surveillance cameras, clean coating, spray painting and screen printing, precision metal plating parts, precision plastic casings, mobile phone casings, PU/PVC panels, metalworking, mold industry, digital printing

Microfiber Cleanroom Wipers:

Material: 80% polyester + 20% nylon fiber knitting

Advantages:

• Finer fibers provide larger contact area

• Polyester and nylon dual-component composite fiber structure more effectively removes small particles and film-like contamination

• Small composite fibers create better capillary action, better at removing oil stains and fingerprints, with faster solvent drying

• Soft material less likely to damage precision surfaces Applications: Initial glass touchscreen, mobile phone cameras, LCD panels, displays, standard camera lenses, surveillance cameras, clean coating, spray painting and screen printing, precision metal plating parts, precision plastic casings, mobile phone casings, PU/PVC panels, metalworking, mold industry, digital printing

Multi-layer Quilted Cleanroom Wipers:

Material: 100% polyester fiber knitting

Advantages:

• 2 or 4 layer ultrasonic bonding, thicker and more durable

• High inherent cleanliness, low risk of reverse contamination

• Good solvent compatibility Applications: PCB, ink, digital printing, equipment and machinery, mobile phone casings, initial product wiping

Woven Cleanroom Wipers:

Material: 80% polyester + 20% nylon fiber woven

Advantages:

• High longitudinal and transverse tensile strength, resistant to deformation

• Strong ability to remove residual adhesive contamination Applications: LCD industry COG process, touchscreen bonding adhesive removal

ESD Cleanroom Wipers:

Material: 99% polyester fiber + 1% conductive fiber knitting

Advantages:

• Abrasion resistant

• Solvent resistant

• High cleanliness

• Anti-static properties Applications: Semiconductor chips, LED displays, precision instruments

Roll Cleanroom Wipers:

Material: 80% polyester + 20% nylon fiber woven

Advantages:

• Roll format compatible with automatic cleaning machines

• High longitudinal and transverse tensile strength, resistant to deformation

• Strong ability to remove residual adhesive contamination Applications: LCD module terminal cleaning, LED industry, LCM liquid crystal display modules, micro-motor cleaning belts, optoelectronics industry, wafers, lithium battery industry

VIII. Other Wipestar Cleanroom Wiping Products

Cleanroom Paper (Hydroentangled Nonwoven Wipers):

Material: Cellulose + polyester fiber 

Advantages:

• Nonwoven material with good absorption properties

• Can be used with solvents

• Strong macro-contamination removal capability

• Suitable for removing large amounts of contaminants

Mesh Cleanroom Wipers (M-3 Viscose/Polyester Nonwoven Wipers):

Material: Varying combinations of viscose and polyester fiber

Advantages:

• Soft, low-linting material designed for sensitive electronic equipment in cleanroom environments.

• Heat-resistant properties make it ideal for cleaning high-temperature processing equipment

• Widely used in compact disk and magnetic tape manufacturing industries

SMT Stencil and Printing Machine Cleaning Wiper Rolls:

Material: Cellulose + polyester fiber 

Suitable for: SMT stencils by machine type (MPM, DEK, EKRA, SONY, Hitachi, Panasonic, YAMAHA, KME, MINAMI, Desen, JUKI, FUJI); printing machines (Heidelberg, Komori, Sakurai)

IX. How to Quickly Choose the Appropriate Cleanroom Wiper

• For removing oil and fingerprints: High-density wiper > Microfiber wiper > Sub-microfiber wiper (higher fiber density provides more surface contact, resulting in better wiping performance than standard fiber wiping materials)

• For removing surface adhesive residue: Woven wiper > Polyester wiper (mesh weave) (adhesive removal requires good abrasion resistance and tensile strength, material must not deform during adhesive removal)

• For precision instruments: High-density wiper > Microfiber wiper (precision instruments are expensive and easily scratched, requiring very fine fibers)

• For high (wet) wiping cleanliness requirements: Polyester wiper > Sub-microfiber wiper > Microfiber wiper (polyester wipers without fiber splitting are easier to clean of particles and ions during washing)

• For high (dry) wiping cleanliness requirements: Ultramicrofiber wiper > Sub-microfiber wiper > Polyester wiper (split microfibers provide higher density and finer texture, effectively removing micro-particles)

• For silicone requirements (e.g., semiconductor industry): Wiping materials must not contain organic silicone (silicone-free)

• For wiping high-temperature surfaces: Use hydroentangled nonwoven with wood pulp and polyester

• For non-critical environments requiring large-area wiping: Use hydroentangled nonwoven with wood pulp and polyester

X. Industries Using Cleanroom Wipers:

1. Optoelectronics 

2. PCB/SMT 

3. Semiconductor 

4. Biopharmaceutical 

5. Medical device 

6. Nanotechnology 

7. Laboratories/Operating rooms

8. Aerospace 

9. Precision machinery

10. Precision coating 

11. High-purity materials

12. Nuclear

13. Food processing

Tags：Cleanroom Wipers