Surgical Instrument Sterilization and Instrument Disinfection

Wrapping of surgical instruments is essential in the sterilization process. If your practice uses re-usable towels and drapes, please be certain to use as little laundry detergent as possible. Towels and drapes can retain soap particles. During the autoclave cycle, steam passes through the fabric, picking up these soap particles and depositing them on the surface of the instruments. One suggestion for preventing this is to run an extra rinse cycle to remove excess soap particles. Also, if your instrument packs are coming out wet, we suggest a towel be placed inside the pack to absorb moisture and that you increase the dry time of the autoclave cycle.