Scissor testing material

[decraig]

I am looking for any leads anyone has for getting a latex-free scissor test material. The material itself doesn't appear to be a big seller but the few that I have found are latex and I don't want to introduce this to our staff.

[Uprooted Scrub]

Decraig:

What about latex free glove material? Just a thought...

Blaine

[decraig]

A good idea, thanks. Would that be a suitable material for sharpness testing, do you know?

[SHIRLEEN VANOCKER]

Decraig, Spectrum surgical sells scissor testing material for 2 different lengths of scissor. I do not know if this is latex free or not. Phone # 1-800-444-5644 Hope this helps

[decraig]

Thank you. The products are latex, however. These are the ones I brought in originally. When I opened the sealed bag that the rolls were in, it was quite obvious that it was latex.

[Uprooted Scrub]

I'm not positive about that Decraig...I do know that the staff here has been using latex glove material to test scissors since long before I got here and we have few complaints about dull scissors.

There was a long thread in this forum once about latex allergies and the effect the sterilization process has on the latex proteins. I unfortunately can't remember the final outcome - can anyone else help?

Have a great day all!

Blaine

[AshlyMG]

There is now a non-latex available from Spectrum as well, in two sizes for the two different scissor lengths. I have a rep emailing me the information since it isn't in the catalog yet. Call 1-800-444-5644 and ask about it.

[decraig]

Great! I'm glad to know that. Thank you for passing the information along.

[AshlyMG]

You're welcome! I actually called them to find out if the latex allergen would be denatured during sterilization, which they assured me it would be, when she mentioned the new product. We just ordered the latex one a couple weeks ago so it must be REALLY new, or else the rep we have here didn't think to mention it (I have a feeling my department just ordered it without inquiring about it though).
The powder on the latex rolls is nasty; if someone in the department had a serious latex allergy they could have a reaction without going near the rolls, since the powder gets everywhere.
Since our hospital has a push to go latex-free everywhere possible, I'm sure getting latex free isn't going to be a problem for me. Yay!
Hope you have as much luck!