Technical cleanliness: the test turns into continuous process monitoring
The third edition of the VDA 19.1 guideline appeared in October 2025. Cleanliness control stops being a final test and becomes continuous process monitoring.
- More than forty companies worked on the third edition of the guideline for close to two years.
- Until now a cleanliness test was a single measurement on a sample: rinse the part, filter the liquid, count and size the particles.
- It is now described as part of production control — with regular checkpoints and a reaction when a result drifts from the norm.
- Alongside classic liquid rinsing there are now dry methods, useful for a quick check on the line and where solvent contact is undesirable.
- Newer analysis techniques identify not only the size but also the type of particle — metal, fibre, plastic.
- Methods outside the guideline may be used for ongoing monitoring if the results can be related to the reference method — hence more short, repeatable jobs.
Source: CleanControlling