Disinfecting the ETC Plastic Material. Guarding against COVID-19

A message from the CEO - Aki Margaritis

Dear Fellow Montessori Teachers and Parents,

I begin by thanking you all for your support of ETC Montessori products and services, and would like to update you on a topic that continues to dominate and concern many of you. The question that we keep getting is whether our materials that are printed on our thick plastic may be disinfected and what is the best process to follow when doing so. These questions seem to be of particular importance to those of you who are working with children in toddler and early childhood environments. Although young children seem to be immune to COVID-19 there is the possibility of them being carriers.

We recommend spraying the bleach solution on the plastic cards and letting it dry.

To begin with, all the materials in those two levels are printed on our thick 15 mil plastic, and we do not offer any of these items in paper format for lamination.The tests we conducted are based on the CDC disinfection and sterilization recommendations. The first test consisted of using household bleach diluted to 600 ppm (CDC recommends a dilution of >100 ppm), while the second test was conducted using 100% undiluted bleach. Based on these tests all items printed on thick plastic showed no discoloration or alteration. We recommend spraying the bleach solution on the plastic cards and letting it dry. The final test was done using disinfectant wipes, where the cards were gently wiped for a period of 15 seconds. Again, there was no loss of color or alteration observed.

Based on the guidelines of various national and international health organizations, and our desire to provide you with the ability to keep your classrooms and homes safe and healthy we will continue to offer you the very best tools and information possible.

If you have any questions or concerns please don't hesitate to reach out to us, either by phone or by emailing us at information@edutc.com.

Team members will also be available at the AMS Montessori Event in Dallas to answer any other questions.

Best Regards

Aki Margaritis

CEO and Co-Founder of ETC