Camira: For the new world order in sanitation and hygiene

Coronavirus has caused global turmoil and placed new emphasis on issues of hygiene and sanitation. While it’s impossible to apply social distancing to the furniture we sit on, Camira Fabrics are doing what they can to make our upholstery as safe and as easy to clean as possible when it comes to infection control.

To make this easier for designers and manufacturers to navigate and digest, Camira have compiled their collection of performance vinyls, which are all anti-microbial, bleach cleanable, waterproof, and flame retardant to the higher level Crib 5 Medium Hazard Standard. Find these collections below or view the booklet in full here.

To help de-mystify the ambiguity that surrounds COVID-19 and fabrics, Camira have pulled together answers to their most frequently asked questions right now, here:

Are these fabrics and vinyls effective against Coronavirus?
They protect against a wide range of bacteria which cause infection – such as MRSA, Salmonella and E.coli – and so can provide hygiene benefits in wide ranging commercial end-use areas, including healthcare, hospitality, education and contract office. No anti-microbial testing has yet been carried out against Coronavirus, as it is not yet clear what specific strain of virus to test against.

Some fabric companies are saying their products do prevent the spread of Coronavirus. What is your response?
Some claims by some companies may in fact be misleading for a number of reasons:
• They have tested fabrics against a feline Coronavirus strain, which is not the same as the human strain which causes Covid19.
• The contact time of the virus against the fabric is one hour in this test, while in practice it could be much longer.
• The reduction in viral activity is around 92% after one hour contact time, which is considered a medium performance rating, rather than “good” or “very good”.

What cleaning recommendations would you advise for these products?
They are all bleach cleanable with a 10% bleach chlorine solution. In addition, the same basic principles for care and maintenance continue to apply: vacuum upholstery regularly to remove dust, dirt and crumbs; attend to stains quickly with
a damp cloth; use branded upholstery shampoo on specific types of staining; and periodically consider specialist deep cleaning services such as dry cleaning. More information is available online in the Resources section of our website.