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What are the perceived benefits with resin-set brushes when compared to the traditional method of manufacture? Why would audit inspectors or customers request this feature?
Putting it simply, there are two main reasons resin-set is specified:
Bristle retention – resin flows into and around bristle clumps filling cavities whilst providing additional security against loose bristles.
Hygiene - sealing around bristles reduces opportunities for bacteria to accumulate and penetrate below daily sanitisation levels.Essentially, resin-set was never designed as a method of
enhancing bristle anchorage or retention, but rather as a way to seal the
bristle holes from potential penetration by bacteria and other harmful
microorganisms. Once the bristles have been inserted into the brush head,
the resin is simply floated over the bristles, and as such, is only in contact
with the outer bristles in each clump of bristles. In reality, this makes
little difference to the strength of the bristle retention itself, as the
majority of the inner bristles are still relying on the strength of their anchorage
within the brush head. In addition, none of the resin used in any
resin-set brushware on the market is directly food-contact approved, and as it
can be prone to wear/flake off when in use, this presents a risk of flaking
material that is clear in colour, and hence very difficult to identify in any
quality check.
As you are aware, at Klipspringer our sole focus is on the food industry, and by far the majority of our customers across food production facilities are using our standard hygiene brushware for both non-food contact and food-contact applications. This is reflected in the range we have available - the choice of brushware products is larger in standard hygiene design than in resin-set. As well as being completely food grade/food-contact approved, our standard hygiene brushware is designed specifically to have the strongest possible bristle retention, using high-density brush bodies which are moulded under the highest possible pressure so as to eliminate weak spots or bubbles in the brush heads.
In addition
to this, the bristles are inserted into the bodies at high speed and heat,
securing the bristles into the brush heads in such a strong way that any
bristle loss that does ever occur is almost exclusively always due to bristles
being snapped and snagged by machinery, rather than bristles falling out or
coming loose; neither resin-set or any other bristle retention methods are able
to prevent snapping or snagging.
Resin set brushes are supplied where customers specifically request them, this is normally to give an added level of assurance that the bristles won’t come loose from the body of the brush itself. We have not known them to have been specifically requested for stopping debris penetrating into the filament holes, since the resin only surrounds the edge bristles of each bristle clump, and with appropriate sanitisation/cleaning processes in place for hygiene equipment this should not be necessary.
Whilst some sites specifically request resin-set (and we do have these in our range), our heat-set hygiene sweepers are used in many BRC and retail audited production sites and no non-conformances have been brought to our attention. The advantage of a heat set sweeper is that it does not pose any risk of the clear resin flaking off and becoming a foreign body hazard, whilst the heat-set element still provides equally as strong bristle retention.
Resin set brushes are supplied where customers specifically request them, this is normally to give an added level of assurance that the bristles won’t come loose from the body of the brush itself. We have not known them to have been specifically requested for stopping debris penetrating into the filament holes, since the resin only surrounds the edge bristles of each bristle clump, and with appropriate sanitisation/cleaning processes in place for hygiene equipment this should not be necessary.
Whilst some sites specifically request resin-set (and we do have these in our range), our heat-set hygiene sweepers are used in many BRC and retail audited production sites and no non-conformances have been brought to our attention. The advantage of a heat set sweeper is that it does not pose any risk of the clear resin flaking off and becoming a foreign body hazard, whilst the heat-set element still provides equally as strong bristle retention.
For more information on the history and science of resin-set brushware please call the Klipspringer product support team on 01473 461 800.
