Cleanroom suits are essential supplies for most healthcare facilities, and they also exist in a range of other businesses.
Cleanrooms are environments designed to control the amount of contamination that can occur. Specifically, these rooms are intended to reduce the concentration of airborne particles that are introduced, generated, and retained within an enclosed environment. Examples of cleanrooms can include laboratories, medical testing facilities, and electronic manufacturing facilities.
There are four basic types of cleanrooms:
- Hardwall: A hardwall cleanroom contains a high-integrity wall construction, in which panels are mounted into steel frames that create rigid walls that keep the environment enclosed.
- Monobloc: These rooms contain panels that are placed onto the entirety of the inner surface area of the room to create a flush finish. Monobloc cleanrooms contain features to enhance the security of the enclosure, such as flush gazing and raceway trunking.
- Laminar flow cabinet: This cleanroom option contains laminar flow hoods and cabinets in which fluids flow in one direction with no interruptions caused by turbulence. This unidirectional air flow ensures that only very clean air circulates through the enclosure.
- Softwall: This softwall cleanroom is the most economical option. Softwall cleanrooms contain a tent wall construction with clear and flexible panels mounted onto a steel frame to enclose the area. These panels overlap the walls to ensure that an effective barrier is created and that positive airflow forces air through the room, so particles are flushed through the exhaust vents.
What Is a Cleanroom Suit?
A cleanroom suit serves a similar purpose as the cleanroom itself but at the individual human level. The suit is a full-body garment that covers the user to prevent contamination as well as to ensure that no bodily fluids or tissues (such as hair and skin) enter the clean room setting.
These work uniforms are commonly made of polypropylene and contain a polythene coating. Some cleanroom suits are made of Tyvek polyethylene. A hazmat suit, like those you see in movies involving disease outbreaks, are examples of cleanroom suits.
A cleanroom suit is just one piece of a complete cleanroom garment system, detailed below.
What is Cleanroom Clothing?
Cleanroom clothing is the full category of protective garments worn to limit the particles, hair and skin cells a person naturally sheds in a controlled environment. It includes coveralls, frocks, hoods, masks, gloves and shoe covers, each addressing a different contamination point. Facilities with strict sterility needs typically layer several garments together rather than one suit. Requirements vary by classification, industry and hazard, from ESD protection for electronics to sterile, gamma-irradiated garments for cGMP-regulated pharmaceutical work. For guidance on choosing the right full-body garment, see our guide to cleanroom coveralls.
Types of Cleanroom Garments
A complete cleanroom garment system typically draws from these categories:
- Coveralls and bunny suits for full-body coverage.
- Frocks and lab coats, also called cleanroom gowns, for less stringent classes.
- Hoods and hair covers for hair and scalp particles.
- Face masks for respiratory particles.
- Gloves to protect materials from skin contact.
- Shoe covers and cleanroom boots to block floor debris.
Why Is a Cleanroom Suit Used?
Cleanroom suits are used for two main purposes:
- To protect the integrity of the cleanroom: cleanroom suits are primarily intended to prevent contamination of the clean room via the shedding of any particles of human tissue or fluids or debris on a user´s clothes.
- To promote the safety of individuals in the cleanroom: Additionally, cleanroom suits help protect users in cleanrooms from coming into direct contact with hazardous materials, such as when handling laboratory specimens or engaging in medical testing.
How to Properly Wear a Cleanroom Suit
Putting on a cleanroom suit is one step in proper cleanroom gowning, which covers the full garment system. Removal follows the same logic in reverse: each piece, whether a cleanroom gown, hood or glove, should come off without its outer surface touching skin or clean areas.
To properly wear a cleanroom suit, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration recommends the following steps:
- Carefully pull the coveralls over the legs.
- Insert the arms into the sleeves.
- Keep the head cover tucked into the neck prior to zipping and closing the suit. Then enclose the suit by securing the zipper.
- Place cleanroom boots over the disposable shoe covers.
- Adjust for a snug fit.
When removing the cleanroom suit, execute each of the above steps in reverse order. In cleanrooms that contain air showers, ensure that workers walk through the air shower before and after entering the cleanroom.
Do not pull down the face mask or remove any part of the cleanroom suit while in the cleanroom.
How to Properly Care for a Cleanroom Suit
Cleanroom suits should be treated with care while being worn. Ensure that you or your workers avoid coming into contact with sharp edges or engage in any activities that might tear the suit.
When washing the cleanroom suit, use deionized water to ensure the garment is free of pollutants. Reverse osmosis water can also remove minerals and pollutants. Wash cleanroom suits after each use, and always inspect the suit for tears and holes. A uniform cleaning service can handle all the busywork, so your cleanroom suits are hygienically clean for every shift.
The same controlled-laundering standard applies to the rest of the garment system, so hoods, frocks, gloves and boots don't become a new source of particles.
Keeping Your Cleanroom Clothing Program Running Smoothly
A cleanroom is only as clean as the people and garments entering it. Choosing the right garments, following a consistent gowning routine, and laundering and inspecting every piece keep contamination controls working day after day, and forecasting quantities and replacement schedules for an entire team is often where that discipline slips.
Alsco Uniforms is a global leader in commercial laundry, uniform rental, linen services, and facility services, trusted by businesses in 12 countries. With over a century of experience, we deliver clean, professional, and reliable service that helps your team show up ready, day after day.
References
Cleanroom Gowning or How to Dress in the Cleanroom. (April 2021). National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Cleanroom Suit. (November 2022). Wikipedia.
Updated October 2026.