Reusable Surgical Drapes are significantly superior according to new report

MIP have been manufacturing reusable drapes for a number of years. These are bespoke products made to specification for key laundry customers who process and sterilise them for use in Operating Theatres in the NHS.

Cromptons Healthcare (by MIP) Reusable Surgical Drapes are made from high performance fabrics, engineered to last multiple washes and re sterilisation processes whilst providing optimal performance for the operating theatre.

The Chainge Consortium, a group of international leaders in surgical textiles and laundry chemicals, commissioned an independent life-cycle analysis of drape and tape systems, both reusable and disposable.They found that reusable surgical drapes and tapes are significantly superior to their disposable counterparts in terms of environmental impact and sustainability.

Here are they key findings:

“Reusables were found to perform significantly better than disposables in terms of resource efficiency in 10 out of 11 impact categories (the odd one out being ozone layer depletion). In particular, reusable drape and tape systems:

• Used 38% overall less energy than disposables
• Produced 80% less solid waste than disposables
• Provided 62% water savings compared to disposables.

In addition, their carbon footprint was 38% lower than disposable systems, had 98% less impact on human toxicity and 38% less on overall global warming across the whole life-cycle.”

The details of this report can be found here on the TSA’s (Textile Services Association) website.

“So”, I hear you say. “Reusable drapes are better than disposables when considering sustainability and the environment. Great, but they’re so much more expensive?”

Please read on…

A previous study by Prof. Dr. Wilfried von Eiff, Hospital Management in Münster from 2007 concluded that “Disposables are perceived to be cheap and have reasonable quality. Reusables are seen as more expensive and of good quality. Neither view is completely accurate:

• Reusable operating theatre textiles achieve a level of utility, manageability and standby costs which only very few high-performance disposables can match
• Those high-performance disposables which can match the performance of reusables are usually more expensive than reusables
• Reusables are preferable in terms of tensile strength, liquid absorption and bacterial barrier protection
• Lower grade disposables are preferred by hospitals whose purchasing policy is based on price alone. They cannot be compared with reusables as far as quality is concerned
• The market for sets will continue to grow” This report can be found here: (you will then need to click to open the PDF)

In conclusion, experts recommend reusable drapes over disposables.

Contact MIP today or talk to your NHS laundry supplier and ask about MIP reusable drapes and gowns.

See below for links to the product pages on the MIP website:

- Drapes

- Wrappers