News and Views from Knitwire

The most common uses for copper are electrical, motors, jewellery and has even been known as a pest repellent for slugs and snails. Copper is great for conducting heat and electricity, but did you know that it is also good at killing germs and bacteria?

Copper in The Medical Industry

There have been a number of studies done on copper and its alloys to determine its ability to prevent the spread of bacteria within a hospital setting. There have been other previous claims of antimicrobial materials from flooring and ceiling tiles to paint, however these have now all been banned due to lack of evidence to support their claims. Copper, however, still holds a place within many different hospital surfaces as evidence strongly supports the antimicrobial claims.

The use of copper within the medical industry is not at all a new concept, in fact it actually dates as far back as 2600 B.C, found in a piece of Egyptian medical text. According to this ancient book, copper was used to sterilise drinking water and chest wounds.

With thanks to scientific research, copper is now widely used across hospitals as an antimicrobial surface, and even infused into certain PPE and medical clothing. According to the article ‘Metallic Copper as an Antimicrobial Surface‘ written by Gregor Grass, Christopher Rensing and Marc Solioz; “Hosptial trials have shown a reduction in bacertial counts, indicating that copper surfaces are a promising additional tool”.

Although the popularity of copper surfaces within hospitals is growing, there are still many hospitals that are using stainless steel because of its clean appearance, however stainless steel does not contain any antimicrobial properties. We believe that our copper knitted wire mesh can be a quick fix for stainless steel surfaces, being draped or wrapped over non-copper surfaces and offering a protective barrier against germs and bacteria.

You can find more studies regarding copper surfaces in hospitals here.

Copper in Hospital Curtains

We believe that our copper would be beneficial when used on hospital privacy curtains. After a long internet search, we have struggled to find a hospital curtain manufacturer that offers copper infused curtains. This is a gap in the market that we believe has not yet been filled and, with the use of our copper mesh, can be fairly easy to create.

Due to the knitted pattern of our mesh, it is easy to attach and incorporate into other materials, the flexibility of the mesh means that it is able to move easily with the material it has been attached to. The knitted wire copper mesh is also extremely lightweight. Copper hospital curtains could offer an extra protective barrier between different patients and hospital workers and help to prevent the spread of bacteria within hospitals.

If you would like to know more about the potential for knitted wire mesh within hospital curtains, please get in touch with us today via the details on the contact us page. Be sure to ask for Declan Horn, who is currently pioneering this product with our Managing Director.

Copper against Covid

With the continued spread of Covid-19, hospitals are making every effort to prevent the spread of the virus. Copper could be an extremely useful tool to slow down the spread of Covid in hospitals according to a recent article by Aaron A. Cortes and Jorge M. Zuñiga: “copper is capable to inhibit, inactivate, reduce, and irreversibly destroy coronavirus, influenza virus, and other pathogenic agents in a matter of minutes.”

Copper is relatively inexpensive, but completely replacing all surfaces within a hospital with copper would be costly in both time and money. Our copper knitted wire mesh could be used as a quick and easy fix by covering surfaces and creating a protective barrier.

Contact us today for a quote!