MicrobeProof Launches Clean-a-Card to Address Need for Rapid and Effective Automated Hotel Key Card Disinfection
The recent pandemic has posed never-before-seen challenges for the hospitality industry, requiring owners, managers and brands to take new precautions to keep both guests and staff safe.
Despite tourists' enthusiasm to travel again, they are more conscious than ever before about sanitation, safety, and cleanliness.
Clean-a-Card addresses the need for rapid and effective automated hotel key card disinfection. The key card disinfection system achieves 99.9 percent microbe reduction using a combination of EPA-approved liquid sanitizer, dosage-controlled UV-C light and plasma disinfection. The streamlined cleaning process increases efficiency while reducing staff time and protecting guests and staff from pathogens on used cards.
Hotels that employ Clean-a-Card for key disinfection show they care enough to go the extra mile for their guests' health and safety. Clean-a-Card technology has been shown to eliminate 99.9 percent of microbes on key cards to help protect guests from pathogens and illnesses. That is why guests will feel relieved to know that their key cards were cleaned prior to use.
Those vital concerns led MicrobeProof, Inc. to introduce Clean-a-Card™, a proprietary countertop key card disinfection unit that effectively cleans and refreshes hotel key cards, regardless of the type of lock system. The unit is superior to manual cleaning methods for a number of reasons.
"Hotels that employ Clean-a-Card for guest key disinfection show that they care about the health and safety of their guests," said Dan Koziol, CEO of MicrobeProof. "Clean-a-Card technology has been shown to eliminate 99.9 percent of microbes on key cards to help protect guests from pathogens and illnesses."
"The Clean-a-Card surface disinfectant has been pre-approved by the US EPA for use against emerging enveloped viral pathogens including SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19)," according to Dr. Mark Brunvand, chair of MicrobeProof's advisory board and award-winning research physician and oncologist who has been key in identifying target deadly bacteria and microbes that populate in nursing homes, transplant centers and outpatient surgery centers.
Clean-a-Card uses a combination of EPA-approved liquid disinfectant, dosage-controlled UV-C light, and plasma disinfection to achieve an overall 99.9 percent microbe reduction. The machine tests were performed and results verified by an outside laboratory, Bureau Veritas, a leading testing, inspection and certification service.
"The Clean-a-Card cleaning process is quick and easy," added Koziol. "The equipment will clean about 20 cards per minute. The streamlined cleaning process increases efficiency and helps reduce staff time."
Protecting Hotel Guests is Vital
A study published in 2017 evaluated both used and new key cards and found that used key cards were considerably dirtier than new key cards (Park, et al., 2017). A key card is the first item that a guest touches during the check-in experience, and that same key card will accompany the guest on visits to the pool, the restaurant, the beach, and local attractions.
The more times that a card is touched, dropped, or set down on a contaminated surface, the more opportunities there are for the card to pick up dirt and germs. That is why guests will feel relieved to know that their key cards were cleaned prior to use.
How Clean-a-Card Works
The compact portable proprietary unit uses a disinfectant system and soft roller system to gently remove contaminants, bacteria and disease-causing germs from both sides of used key cards. Positive and negative ions neutralize surrounding bacterial structure or energy conversion, which kills the bacteria and achieves disinfection.
Clean-a-Card is electric powered and designed to run on a desk or small table. The loading and unloading hoppers at both ends of the unit allow the user to load a batch of cards and step away for a few minutes to get other work done as the system cleans and refreshes each individual card.
Showing Customer Care
Perhaps most important of all for hospitality businesses seeking to retain established customers and gain new ones: the system demonstrates to guests that the hotel, motel or casino cares enough to take extra precautions to keep them safe.
"The Clean-a-Card system helps you make that first impression a lasting impression by giving your guests a freshly cleaned key card," states CEO Koziol. "This lets them know that you care enough to go the extra mile for their health and safety."