Gowning

The gateway to any cleanroom, the gowning room must include specific protocols that prevent contamination. Before entering the gowning room:

• Make sure you are wearing appropriate attire;

• Shoes should fully enclose the feet (no sandals, open toe or sling-back shoes);

• Remove outer clothing (i.e., jackets, fuzzy sweaters);

• Visit the washroom: Tie hair up, wash hands, and take a drink of water;

• Make sure you have everything you need with you to work in the lab and that it is all clean room-compatible; and

• Don blue shoe covers.

On entering the gowning room:

• Put on a paper “bouffant” cap. Make sure all your hair is covered (check in the mirror); and

• Put on latex (or vinyl) gloves. Try not to touch the outside of the gloves with your bare hands.

• Obtain a cover suit. Don it, working from your head down to your feet, in the following order:

• Hood: Snap under the neck; Suit: Hold the sleeves and body up to keep them from touching the floor, Booties;

• Tuck the hood into the neck of the suit;

• Fasten snaps at the neck and wrists;

• Tuck suit legs into the tops of the booties;

• Fasten bootie snaps and clips;

• Put on lab glasses;

• Check yourself in the mirror. Make sure everything is tucked in, zipped up, and snapped;

• Ensure that the materials you are bringing in to the lab are cleanroom-compatible;

• If you have brought in materials that have been previously bagged in the cleanroom, remove the bag in the gowning room. Dispose of the used bags in the trash;

• If you have brought in new materials (not been previously bagged in the cleanroom), take them to the wipe down station in the gowning room. Use an alcohol wipe and cleanroom wipes to wipe any dust or debris from all surfaces.

Use the cleanroom vacuum to remove dust from surfaces that cannot be easily wiped;

• Where possible, label your materials with your name and Coral login. Boxes containing wafers and tweezers boxes must be labeled; and

• Change your cleanroom suit every two  weeks or more often if needed.

Before working with wafers, put on vinyl gloves over the latex (or vinyl) gloves. Change vinyl gloves frequently: whenever getting ready to handle, transfer, or inspect wafers; whenever any contamination is suspected. Vinyl gloves should be available in the gowning room and throughout the lab.

• Drinking, eating and gum-chewing should not be allowed in any part of the lab.

• Full cleanroom attire must always be worn while in the cleanroom.

• Safety glasses must always be worn in the lab, although gowning room must include specific protocols that prevent contamination. Before entering the gowning room:

• Make sure you are wearing appropriate attire;

• Shoes should fully enclose the feet (no sandals, open toe or sling-back shoes);

• Remove outer clothing (i.e., jackets, fuzzy sweaters);

• Visit the washroom: Tie hair up, wash hands, and take a drink of water;

• Make sure you have everything you need with you to work in the lab and that it is all cleanroom-compatible; and

• Don blue shoe covers.

On entering the gowning room:

• Put on a paper “bouffant” cap. Make sure all your hair is covered (check in the mirror); and

• Put on latex (or vinyl) gloves. Try not to touch the outside of the gloves with your bare hands.

• Obtain a cover suit. Don it, working from your head down to your feet, in the following order:

• Hood: Snap under the neck; Suit: Hold the sleeves and body up to keep them from touching the floor, Booties;

• Tuck the hood into the neck of the suit;

• Fasten snaps at the neck and wrists;

• Tuck suit legs into the tops of the booties;

• Fasten bootie snaps and clips;

• Put on lab glasses;

• Check yourself in the mirror. Make sure everything is tucked in, zipped up, and snapped;

• Ensure that the materials you are bringing in to the lab are cleanroom-compatible;

• If you have brought in materials that have been previously bagged in the cleanroom, remove the bag in the gowning room. Dispose of the used bags in the trash;

• If you have brought in new materials (not been previously bagged in the cleanroom), take them to the wipe down station in the gowning room. Use an alcohol wipe and cleanroom wipes to wipe any dust or debris from all surfaces. Use the cleanroom vacuum to remove dust from surfaces that cannot be easily wiped;

• Where possible, label your materials with your name and Coral login. Boxes containing wafers and tweezers boxes must be labeled; and

• Change your cleanroom suit every two weeks or more often if needed.

Before working with wafers, put on vinyl gloves over the latex (or vinyl) gloves. Change vinyl gloves frequently: whenever getting ready to handle, transfer, or inspect wafers; whenever any contamination is suspected. Vinyl gloves should be available in the gowning room and throughout the lab.

• Drinking, eating and gum-chewing should not be allowed in any part of the lab.

• Full cleanroom attire must always be worn while in the cleanroom.

• Safety glasses must always be worn in the lab, although may be removed for microscope viewing.

Be discrete in coughing, sneezing, blowing your nose. If you can, go into the service area or gowning room. At the very least, turn away from the processing area and change your vinyl gloves before commencing processing.

Minimize the amount of materials stored in the lab. All personal items must be labeled. Storage inside the lab is limited to personal storage bins.

Clean up after yourself. Leave stations neat and ready for the next person to use. Remove personal items from general-use areas after you are done processing.

Any materials you plan on taking out of the lab with you should be bagged to prevent contamination. A vacuum sealer and sealer bags should be available at the wipedown station in the gowning room.

In the gowning room: remove your bunnysuit from the bottom, up, in the reverse order:

Booties. Snap booties to the wrist of the bunnysuit;

Suit. Keep the sleeves, main body, and as much of the suit as possible, off the floor; and

Hood. Snap hood to the neck of the bunnysuit.

Hang the suit in the gowning room area.

Acceptable Materials in the Cleanroom

Described here is a general list of criteria of cleanroom- and non-cleanroom compatible materials. The following materials are generally acceptable to bring into the cleanroom:

Cleanroom notebooks and cleanroom paper;

Wafers and tweezers, in labeled boxes.

Pens (preferably, ball-point); and Materials with smooth, hard surfaces, which can be cleaned with alcohol wipes.

The following materials are not considered cleanroom-compatible:

Wood pulp-based paper products, which includes regular paper, tissues, cardboard, books, and magazines;

Styrofoam products;

Any powders;

Erasers, pencils, felt-tipped pens (other than Sharpie markers); and

Anything that can easily shred or aerosolizes; i.e., anything that may serve as a source of particles. FSM