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CIP/Cleaning of equipment post-production
We’ve been manufacturing toothpaste for about 30 years and from what I understand, in all that time we have been using mechanical cleaning methods combined with residual surfactants to clean the equipment; followed by rinsing with DI water and finally sanitising using 70% ethanol. This method has apparently worked well for all this time - but is slow and cumbersome.
New production manager wants to introduce CIP (Clean in Place - just in case terminology is different elsewhere in the world) but talking to the operators they are still using a lot of mechanical cleaning because they are unable to find suitable cleaning chemicals; though this could be lack of knowledge from the production manager (previously involved with food manufacture) or asking the cleaning chemical suppliers the wrong questions.
Are you able to advise the type of cleaning chemicals your have used in cosmetic manufacturing plants to clean equipment - particularly to clean calcium carbonate based toothpastes though we are now manufacturing hydrated silica gel-based toothpastes too. Any recommendations would be gratefully received.
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6 Replies
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I don’t know about toothpaste but we are sanitizing with 100 ppm hypochlorite solution.
Much cheaper than alcohol. -
Abdullah said:I don’t know about toothpaste but we are sanitizing with 100 ppm hypochlorite solution.
Much cheaper than alcohol.It would make a lot of sense - I would run that past QA and the production manager.
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@Herbnerd The usual material to use is an alkaline cleaner such as Alkonox. You can build your own too. However, with all that CaCO3 scale buildup you will need to use an acid cleaner or wash. You might try the passivation method if 304 or 316 stainless is involved: wash out with strong alkaline detergent, rinse, then fill up with dilute acid (nitric or citric), allow to stand 4 hours-plus, then rinse with deionized water.
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@chemicalmatt Thank you - very helpful. I will discuss with the team here regarding your comments
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@Herbnerd
you’re neither passivated nor pickled? Are you in stainless? -
@PhilGeis Definitely stainless (I would have to find the technical specs of the equipment to find out what type of stainless). But cleaning is neither pickled or passivated - literally mechanical scrubbing.
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