NATIONAL REPORT—Invisible coatings available through several vendors and applied by trained technicians are making it easier for hoteliers to clean and maintain guestrooms and other areas while also creating more healthy spaces. These coatings, some of which are created using nanotechnology, can eliminate odors, viruses, bacteria and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) while preventing the formation of mold and mildew. The coatings can also help extend the life of hotel assets. Each company’s product and application process is somewhat different and so are the benefits but the end result, vendors say, is something that can be marketed by a hotel owner to those who are health-conscious, with allergies, or chemical-sensitive.
Active Safeguard, offered by New Air Technologies, is a micro-thin layer applied to interior surfaces that continuously kills the microbes that cause odors, bacteria, viruses and VOCs while preventing the formation of mold and mildew. A photocatalytic oxidation process occurs when cells, spores, and biomolecules contact a surface coated with titanium dioxide (TiO2) in the presence of UV light and air. The process destroys the cells, spores, and biomolecules on contact, leaving only the byproducts water and carbon dioxide.
John Carlson, founder and CEO of New Air Technologies, says Active Safeguard need only be applied once. “It has an indefinite lifespan,” he says. “The coating will not come off.” Almost everything within a hotel room can be covered. The only thing his company does not touch is a TV screen.
More Effective than Chlorine, Ozone
According to New Air Technologies, the cell destroying process of Active Safeguard is three times stronger than chlorine, and 150 percent stronger than ozone or peroxide.
Carlson says he has trained 26 companies to apply Active Safeguard. It is applied with an electrostatic gun in a very fine mist. “It is true nanotechnology,” he says. “The first coat encapsulizes. No protective gear is required. It will take just 25 minutes to treat a guestroom.”
The application can reduce the need for cleaning products. In fact, if water is used on a surface treated with Active Safeguard, the water in effect becomes a cleaning fluid that is 2 percent hydrogen peroxide.
Almost 100 Percent Water
Cleancoating LLC’s XTI-360 Active-Shield Nanocoating also utilizes titanium dioxide. Michael Holbert, owner of Cleancoating LLC, says XTI-360 Active-Shield is 99 percent water and 1 percent titanium dioxide nanoparticles. “It is highly effective at eliminating odors,” he says. “It can be applied to most surfaces. The coated space is completely hypoallergenic.”
Like Active Safeguard, XTI-360 Active-Shield requires light to be effective. “It works the fastest with ultraviolet light but it works well with all light sources,” Holbert says. Also like Active Safeguard, XTI-360 Active-Shield can be used to remove the odor left behind by cigarette smoke.
Holbert says his company’s treatments take about 60 minutes in a hotel guestroom. During a time of renovation, he says treatment is especially ideal. “It provides increased value,” he says. “It is protecting the building materials themselves.” One example, he says, is guestroom curtains. With a coating of XTI-360 Active-Shield they would require less dry cleaning and actually be cleaning themselves. Holbert recommends that high-touch areas in a hotel be coated quarterly.
PURE Solutions’ PURE Shield
As part of its seven-step PURE Room process, PURE Solutions has treated thousands of hotel rooms with what it calls its PURE Shield. It is not titanium dioxide but a combination of ingredients too long to mention here.
“When we apply the shield, we apply it with an electrostatic sprayer,” says Jeff Brault, director of operations for PURE Solutions. “We pretty much spray everything other than glass, TVs, mirrors. It cures within an hour. It looks like barbed wire under a microscope.”
According to PURE Solutions, PURE Shield is a bacteriostatic barrier that is applied to all room surfaces to repel microorganisms that cause illness and discomfort, and prevent their growth. “Our advanced shield process makes it nearly impossible for bacteria viruses to survive in a PURE environment,” the company’s website says.
Brault says the membranes of microorganisms that land on a surface treated with PURE Shield are punctured. “It is called a mechanical kill as opposed to a chemical kill,” he says.
Surfaces sprayed with PURE Shield are retreated every two years. “It prevents mold and mildew from growing in the bathroom,” Brault says.
Glenn Hasek can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.
