How do you sanitize clothes in stores? The problems and risks that retailers face

Now that the reopening is gradually beginning, it will be necessary to learn to live with the virus by implementing new health standards that minimize the risk of contagion in public places. What the new rules provide for, declined according to the various contexts, is in essence a continuous sanitization of environments and surfaces that are in addition to the rule of contiguous inputs and social space. In particular, clothing stores are critical as exposed clothes and dressing rooms can become a dangerous vehicle for infections and sanitization techniques are more difficult to apply than elsewhere. The use of chemical or alcohol-based disinfectants is excluded as it would ruin the clothes and would take a very long time for the dressing rooms. Two alternatives exist, but they are no less problematic than the others: ozone and UV rays.

Both solutions are potentially effective, but they still require expensive equipment and procedures for shopkeepers, especially the smaller ones, who have therefore found themselves in difficulty. With regard to ozone specifically, then, the Ministry of Health stresses that it is not exactly a disinfectant (more than killing viruses "disables" them temporarily) and must be subjected to efficacy and safety tests against potential side effects from improper use or inappropriate concentration. Both ozone and UV techniques also require the use of specially trained and properly protected personnel – making their daily deployment even more complicated and expensive. It remains to be seen, therefore, which method will assert itself more and allow the many retailers in crisis in Italy to reopen their business.