The challenge
X-Tinguisher, a Canadian decontamination and cleaning products company, wanted to provide its premium laundry detergent customers with the reassurance offered by testing this product using the NFPA 1851 standard for biological decontamination and advanced cleaning characteristics. However, this standard currently does not include verification for this particular product type, which is used for cleaning and decontaminating clothing and equipment for first responders.
“By helping people who risk their lives to support us stay healthy and clean, we are doing our part,” said Lara C. Miller, founder and CEO, X-Tinguisher. “Verification was important to us because our mission as a company is to responsibly provide the absolute best and most highly trusted products available to keep the health of our first responders our number one priority.”
The solution
Working with UL Solutions to thoroughly test the X-Tinguisher Premium Laundry Detergent using the NFPA 1851 standard as a baseline was “the obvious choice,” according to Miller.
She said the company is “one of the world’s most trusted and recognized brands when it comes to testing” and described the experience of working with UL Solutions as “excellent.”
“The UL Solutions testing process is detailed, timely and in-depth,” Miller explained. “You are never sure of the final outcome until the products are properly tested.”
The process
The process undertaken by UL Solutions involved assessing the detergent as per the relevant sections of NFPA 1851 selection, care and maintenance of protective ensembles for structural firefighting and proximity firefighting. This included laundering items in a 50-pound front-load extractor loaded at 70% dry-weight capacity using warm water and a 60- to 75-minute cycle for items contaminated with ten different volatile organic compounds (VOCs), six different heavy metals and two types of bacteria.
Once the detergent was evaluated using the stringent tests and the results were analyzed by UL Solutions showing positive results, X-Tinguisher’s product could then be UL Verified and included in the UL Solutions Marketing Claim Verification library, verify.UL.com.
The result
The UL Solutions Verification process demonstrated that X-Tinguisher’s marketing and advertising claims are accurate, truthful and credible.
Our customers’ feedback speaks to the benefits of Verification. Miller said, “UL Solutions is highly respected and trusted in the industry — our customers feel at ease when the choice is clear. Having a well-recognized, trusted brand in the Testing, Inspection and Certification industry test our products allows our business to continue to grow and become the brand of choice.”
Achieving this UL Mark is an industry first. X-Tinguisher Premium Laundry Detergent is the only product of its kind to receive the UL Verified Mark for NFPA 1851 biological decontamination and advanced cleaning characteristics. Miller said it was “not a simple process” to create this product and the company is “proud to be the first in making this positive change, which will directly impact our first responders.”
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