Hard surface cleaning products that employ steam comprise a new and growing segment of the vacuum cleaner market, although there are currently no agreed-upon industry-wide standards for such products. A new ASTM subcommittee, F11.40 on Steam Products, part of ASTM International Committee F11 on Vacuum Cleaners, will be developing test methods to measure the performance and durability of steam cleaning products.

“It is our hope that we will be able to draw manufacturers and general interest groups together under the ASTM consensus forum to develop fair and unbiased standards for evaluating steam cleaning products,” says Kenneth M. Lee, director of product integrity, Bissell Homecare Inc., and chairman of F11.40.

“In the absence of ASTM standards, manufacturers are left to evaluate the performance of their steam-cleaning products using in-house developed methodologies,” Lee notes. “Currently, there are many product claims relative to cleaning performance and sanitation capabilities being made in the market that are based on nonstandard test methodologies. This is causing confusion to the buyers of these products, rendering it impossible to verify claims and to compare performance of the offered products.”

Primary users of standards developed by F11.40 will be manufacturers, independent laboratories and consumer interest groups. While Committee F11 currently has many members, Lee hopes to attract new members to the new subcommittee.

ASTM International welcomes and encourages participation in the development of its standards. For more information on becoming an ASTM member, visit www.astm.org/JOIN.

ASTM Committee F11 Next Meeting: May 16-18, 2011, May Committee Week, Anaheim, Calif.
Technical Contact: Kenneth M. Lee, Bissell Homecare Inc., Grand Rapids, Mich., Phone: 616-791-0608; ken.lee@bissell.com
ASTM Staff Contact: Brynn Murphy, Phone: 610-832-9640; bmurphy@astm.org
ASTM PR Contact: Barbara Schindler, Phone: 610-832-9603; bschindl@astm.org

Release #8727