Cleaning Nylon 6 Medical Devices

Q. Can Nylon 6 medical devices be successfully cleaned with high alkaline cleaners?

A. Nylon 6 is generally labile to acids and oxidizing agents. Nylon 6 would be fine with an alkaline cleaner like Solujet™ Low-Foaming Phosphate-Free Liquid. Nylon 6 is labile to strong oxidizing agents. Alcojet® Low Foaming Powdered Detergent and Detojet™ Low Foaming Liquid Detergent contain small amounts of active chlorine oxidizing agents. At the high pH of these cleaners, the oxidizing agent is pretty stable and is not that strong an oxidizer, so we do not expect rapid attack on Nylon 6.  However, given sufficient time and temperature, it can be expected to eventually see some effect from Alcojet and Detojet detergents.

For additional technical information on cleaning validation, please Download our Medical Device Cleaning Validation References PDF  or our Medical Device Whitepaper and Guidebook.  To test an Alconox, Inc. detergent for free, please complete the questionnaire at Get Sample.