Wet wipes from Citrus limon sanitizer and banana fiber nonwovens

Whereas sanitizing wipes are among the strategies for combatting COVID-19, there are growing concerns concerning their disposal, due to majority of them being made of non-biodegradable fibres. Additionally, majority of the sanitizing solutions used are associated with irritations and some are carcinogenic. In this study, banana wipes, impregnated with an organic antimicrobial formulation were developed to counter the unbiodegradable wipes made of synthetic fibres and impregnated with toxic antimicrobial formulations. A spunlaced non-woven fabric made from 100% banana fibres was impregnated with a commercial formulation containing essential oils from lemon, eucalyptus, cedar and orange. The impregnated banana fabric wipe exhibited antimicrobial activity against all tested bacterial strains, including Escherichia coli (both ATCC 25,922 and the wild strain), Staphylococcus aureus (both ATCC 25,923 and the wild strain), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (both ATCC 27,853 and the wild strain), with inhibition zones ranging from 10.00 ± 1.00 mm to 13.67 ± 1.16 mm, compared to the standard 14.00 mm. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of the fabric showed that the tensile strength in the wet state increased by 4.29% and 20.41% in both the machine and cross directions respectively. Given that synthetic fibres are used in wipes to achieve a high wet tensile strength since most cellulosic fibres become weaker and disintegrate when wet, it can be concluded that banana fibres can be effectively used in wipes application given that they are biodegradable and are stronger when wet.