Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Steven Hochman]

During this time of cleaning, sanitizing, and being cautious about equipment... I'm curious as to what everyone is doing for sanitizing/cleaning their windscreens for microphones. Any thoughts?? Procedures? Ideas?

Thank you!!

Steven

[Mac Kerr]

Any thoughts?? Procedures? Ideas?

Thank you!!

Steven

Please go to your profile and change the "Name" field to your real first and last name as required by the posting rules displayed in the header at the top of the section, and in the Site Rules and Suggestions in the Forum Announcements section, and on the registration page when you registered.

Mac
admin

[Mike Monte]

During this time of cleaning, sanitizing, and being cautious about equipment... I'm curious as to what everyone is doing for sanitizing/cleaning their windscreens for microphones. Any thoughts?? Procedures? Ideas?

Thank you!!

Steven

I am very-late to the game (just saw this post) but this is what I have done:
I called my local school's nurse and was told to: wash the windscreens with very warm water with anti-bacterial soap and hang-dry.
I keep the windscreens individually wrapped in "fold-to-close" plastic sandwich bags.
When providing sound for gigs I let the performers/speakers "pick a bag".
Zero issues thus far..

[Tim McCulloch]

During this time of cleaning, sanitizing, and being cautious about equipment... I'm curious as to what everyone is doing for sanitizing/cleaning their windscreens for microphones. Any thoughts?? Procedures? Ideas?

Thank you!!

Steven

Hi Steven, sorry I missed your name correction...

With a couple other fine folks from the LAB forums, a friend from San Francisco IATSE Local 16, 2 senior staff from Eighth Day, and incredible video and scripting assistance from Jon at Carlson Audio in Seattle, I helped present an AES "paper" session on "Coping With Covid" for the 2020 convention.

For foam windscreens you can use soap and warm water.  The idea is to disrupt/dissolve the lipid layers of the virus and render it non-infectious (down the drain with you!).  Clean water rinse, air dry.

For wire mesh windscreens, see online advice from the manufacturers (esp for miniature mics like DPA and Countryman).  In general - Clorox Disinfecting Wipes (or any other product with the same active ingredients and same concentrations) with a 30 second wet contact time (air dry), or 70% isopropyl alcohol with a 30 second wet contact time (air dry).  Some markings and legends may be affected by different disinfectants; some may cloud clear plastics, cause discoloration, or strip the plasticizers out of tiny mic cables (DPA).

[Brian Jojade]

I am very-late to the game (just saw this post) but this is what I have done:
I called my local school's nurse and was told to: wash the windscreens with very warm water with anti-bacterial soap and hang-dry.
I keep the windscreens individually wrapped in "fold-to-close" plastic sandwich bags.
When providing sound for gigs I let the performers/speakers "pick a bag".
Zero issues thus far..

I don't understand the putting in separate plastic bags after cleaning.  If people are sticking their hands into the bag of bags, what's the difference?

What I've done is buy a whole slew of super cheap windscreens. They come in vacuum sealed bags so you can fit a WHOLE lot of them in not a lot of space.  Open up the bag, and in a few minutes, you've got a windscreen that you can simply toss at the end of the show. Costs more to clean than it would just to replace.

[Tim McCulloch]

I don't understand the putting in separate plastic bags after cleaning.  If people are sticking their hands into the bag of bags, what's the difference?

What I've done is buy a whole slew of super cheap windscreens. They come in vacuum sealed bags so you can fit a WHOLE lot of them in not a lot of space.  Open up the bag, and in a few minutes, you've got a windscreen that you can simply toss at the end of the show. Costs more to clean than it would just to replace.

Mike's packaging suggestion applies if the windscreens are not treated as disposable items.

Foregoing foam windscreens (if practical, from an audio standpoint) and using disinfectant wipes is cheaper, faster, and easier.

If the Talent could keep from licking the mics, sticking the mics in their noses, etc, we wouldn't need to worry about cleaning so much... just sayin!

Do a search for "fomite transmission" and Covid.  Considering the number of people who've caught the virus, world-wide, the relative hand full of documented cases says that good hand hygiene and not touching your face, rubbing your eyes, or putting your appendages in your nostrils will go a long way to preventing fomite transmission.

[Erik Jerde]

During this time of cleaning, sanitizing, and being cautious about equipment... I'm curious as to what everyone is doing for sanitizing/cleaning their windscreens for microphones. Any thoughts?? Procedures? Ideas?

Thank you!!

Steven

CDC research suggests that there's a very small (1 in 10,000) chance of Covid infection via foamites (surface droplets). 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/science-and-research/surface-transmission.html

If you're running shows with shared vocal mics just swap the mics out between acts and wipe them down like you would (should) have done in the old days.  By the next time you pull them out any possible infectious agent should be dead.

[Paul Johnson]

I destroyed the foam in two SM58s using anti-bac hand wash - All seemed fine, but the next day, after being in the airing cupboard, the foam had disintegrated. It looked fine, but had gone 'sugary' - as soon as I prodded it, it crumbled away. It had gone quite hard and stiff and the foam just turned to powder. I'm assuming something in the cleaner reacted with the foam - like solvents do. I'm very unsure now how to test - I can't wreck a windshield each time.

[Tim McCulloch]

I destroyed the foam in two SM58s using anti-bac hand wash - All seemed fine, but the next day, after being in the airing cupboard, the foam had disintegrated. It looked fine, but had gone 'sugary' - as soon as I prodded it, it crumbled away. It had gone quite hard and stiff and the foam just turned to powder. I'm assuming something in the cleaner reacted with the foam - like solvents do. I'm very unsure now how to test - I can't wreck a windshield each time.

Soap and water or the Clorox Disinfecting Wipes (or their equivalent). 

If you use anything other than soapy water and a rinse, be advised that a number of chemicals will affect foam to varying degrees.  As I mentioned up-thread, consult the *mic manufacturer* for approved cleaners and methods (Hint: the advice is on their web sites).  Hand sanitizers may use ethyl or methyl alcohols (not friendly to foam) and include other substances that may attack surface finishes, legends or markings, plastics and foams.  Hand sanitizers that contain non-IP alcohols are also bad for your skin, but that's why they add other stuff to them...

You do not want liquids of any kind penetrating into a device or sound-thingy.

edit ps:  Dan Mortensen - we were a year ahead of our time for this part of the industry...

[ProSoundWeb Community]