The Science Lab
The Five Forces of Cleaning
Cleaning is a common operation in all walks of life. We clean the bathroom in our house, we clean the dishes, and we also clean our face, our hair, and our clothes. Each of these cleaning “processes” is very different: some are manual, some are automatic, some use high pressure, and others soak.
So, cleaning is one of the things in life that everyone knows a great deal about. The funny thing is, most of that “knowing” is automatic. Chances are, you aren’t thinking about how long each task takes. Since you’re the one doing it, your internal “clock” can probably guide you close to the average time and effort.
What if you had to teach someone else, or you have a special process that needs a high level of precision to succeed, like a manufacturing process? You can’t rely on “muscle memory”; you need a detailed, precise process for cleaning and everything else. This is where the five forces of cleaning come from.
Force 1: Compatibility and Baseline Effectiveness Match
It starts with the part or assembly you plan to manufacture. You should be able to answer, “What is your product made of?” Knowing this information helps ensure your cleaning agent and product are compatible and prevents damage. These answers come from extensive testing. The second part, baseline effectiveness match, depends on whether the cleaning agent has an affinity for the soil.
Once you know which cleaning agent is compatible with your product and meets your baseline effectiveness needs, you can move on to the next force.
Force 2: Cleaning Product Concentration
Manufacturers have a wide range of cleaning materials to choose from. Depending on what you pick, the concentration can be 100%. For example, while traditional solvents are used at full strength, most aqueous products are diluted and have a range of suggested concentrations for a specific process.
Each material often has a recommended concentration for a particular task, much like you may need more soap to clean a football team’s muddy uniforms than a swim team’s towels (maybe); some cleaning challenges need a high concentration to get the job done.
Concentration is closely tied to cleaning time, temperature, and cost. Higher concentration requires more cleaning agent purchases, which impacts operating costs, though savings in process time or temperature can offset them. If you use hotter water, you often clean faster with lower concentrations.
Just like your day-to-day life, it depends on what you’re cleaning and how long you want to clean for. This takes us into Force 3.
Force 3: Cleaning time
Most users want to clean as fast as possible. Time is money, and less time usually means lower cost. This can be true, but shorter process times can also require higher temperatures (and energy costs, plus equipment wear and tear) and higher cleaning-agent concentration (and more frequent purchases).
High-speed equipment can be larger (with higher throughput capacity) and often higher cost. Getting the requirements right up front and balancing potential costs is important to designing and procuring an effective, economical cleaning process.
Force 4: Temperature
As noted in Force 3, temperature affects your time, money, and labor. Higher temperatures generally improve and speed up cleaning. Cleaning systems often operate above 140°F, and for difficult soils, temperatures approaching 200°F can be appropriate. Of course, returning to compatibility for a moment, high temperatures can negatively affect many substrates. Therefore, adding a temperature consideration to the compatibility evaluation can set a maximum allowable temperature for the substrate under evaluation.
Higher temperatures also increase energy use, leading to Force 5.
Force 5: Mechanical Energy
Cleaning efficiency and effectiveness are always enhanced by mechanical energy. Of course, the energy cannot be so robust that it damages the substrate, but this risk is rare and often an obvious risk when evaluating a particular substrate. Mechanical energy comes in many forms, and cleaning systems are often designed to use one or more types of mechanical energy. Common sources of energy include spray impingement, either in air or below the fluid level; ultrasonic energy; oscillation of the substrate within the cleaning fluid; and turbulence within the cleaning fluid, which provides cleaning-fluid flow across the substrate surface. Not every source of mechanical energy suits every substrate.
High-pressure sprays might not suit small, fragile substrates, but they can be ideal for large, flat surfaces with few hard-to-reach areas. Similar considerations apply to all types of mechanical energy, and a thoughtful review is always a good approach.
The 5 forces of cleaning break down higher-level cleaning into tasks as simple as cleaning your bathroom, washing dishes, or doing laundry. Together with your cleaning agent supplier, you can balance these forces and enjoy properly cleaned parts in your manufacturing operations!
KYZEN Brings Electronics Reliability to Forefront with “Ask Dr. Adam” Reliability Series
The “Ask Dr. Adam” YouTube series presented by KYZEN has seen host Adam Klett, Ph.D., cover cleaning topics ranging from the conditions leading to the formation of tin whiskers to tips on optimizing stencil cleaning processes. Recently, Klett has shifted the focus of the show to its first series-within-the-series covering a single topic…reliability in electronics.
“This series exists for one reason, because reliability is not something you assume, it’s something you prove,” says Klett in the episode introducing the Reliability Series, “We’re breaking down everything a manufacturer needs to know to confidently state that a product is reliable.”
The series also features a three-part interview with Dr. Mike Bixenman, Subject Matter Expert for Magnalytix, wherein Klett and Bixenman discuss the basic concepts of Surface Insulation Resistance (SIR) Testing, define objective evidence, and highlight its relevance in regard to electronics reliability within IPC J-STD-001.
“Today in building electronics, reliable electronics, it’s an ongoing process. It’s a moving process that we, as people who provide the test board or testing service, we have to understand where electronics go,” Bixenman explains to Klett in the third part of the interview, “We have to move with electronics to be able to meet the true meaning of what the (ICP J-STD-001) wording really has to say.”
In the fourth installment of the series, Klett puts special emphasis on latent currents and how they are both important and misunderstood in regard to electronic reliability. He explains how they can be identified with advanced testing methods like SIR, which better simulate the environments where finished assemblies will function.
To drive the series home, in the fifth installment, Klett reiterates the true meaning of Object Evidence and the necessity for methods like SIR testing in the ever-evolving landscape of electronics reliability.
“Ultimately, Object Evidence is not just a testing strategy. It’s a mindset, it’s the willingness to challenge assumptions. It’s asking ‘how do we know the data supports that conclusion? Can we demonstrate it? Can we defend it?’” concludes Klett, “Great engineers build systems that generate evidence before problems occur.”
To watch the full series, click here, and be sure to subscribe to KYZEN on YouTube for more video-based cleaning insights.
Care Corner
Get Back Up to Speed with the New and Improved Tech2Tech
Did summer break leave you feeling like you have a lot to catch up on? No worries. The new and improved version of KYZEN’s Tech2Tech (T2T) is here to help!
Tech2Tech is an educational resource that provides practical solutions to your questions about electronics, metal finishing, advanced packaging, and universal chemistry.
Our new Tech2Tech videos will be shorter and more focused. We are also investing more time in research and investigation to ensure all videos are both entertaining and educational. Whether you need to solve a technical challenge or simply want to expand your knowledge, these videos will offer useful information in an easy-to-watch format.
Tech2Tech videos are also great resources to share with your colleagues and customers, helping them find answers and stay up to date on important industry topics.
Click here to watch the latest Tech2Tech videos from KYZEN!
KYZEN’s Path to the Future is Clean and Clear
Technology, material substrates, and the challenges presented in cleaning them are evolving at a record pace and likely will well into the future. Thankfully, while leading in the production of effective cleaning chemistries across multiple industries, KYZEN maintains an eye to the cleaning challenges to come and continues to “Build for the Future.”
How?
By ensuring the leadership, science, and commitment to continuous improvement are in place for KYZEN to continue doing what it does best…caring for manufacturing customers around the world and providing innovative cleaning solutions for their unique needs.
The future of KYZEN’s leadership is set after the announcement in August 2026 naming R. Erik Miller as KYZEN President and Chief Operating Officer while the men who founded and built KYZEN, Kyle Doyel and Mike Bixenman remain in leadership roles for the company and its board of directors.
“KYZEN has spent nearly three decades building me, and I’ve spent that time building it alongside a team I’m proud of every day,” said Miller of his new role, “My focus hasn’t changed: deliver value to our customers, invest in our people, and build for the future. KYZEN was built to outlast me. That was always the design. My job is to make sure we keep building, with expanded facilities, deeper capabilities, leading technically, and the same commitment to doing the right thing.”
In terms of KYZEN’s sciences and continuous improvement, Director of Science Adam Klett spoke to SMT Today in September for a Q & A article about building for the future.
When asked about KYZEN’s long-term thinking and preparing manufacturers for the future, Klett said, “The future isn’t simply about cleaning better. It’s about making cleaning more predictable, more sustainable, and easier to integrate into modern manufacturing operations. At KYZEN, we’re preparing manufacturers for what’s next by investing heavily in science, application engineering, and customer collaboration to meet the growing needs of the future.”
While KYZEN continues to build for the future, with leadership in place and science ready to serve, the path to many more years of combining innovation and care is clean and clear.
Click here to read more about the changes in KYZEN’s leadership and look out for the full SMT Today interview with Adam Klett.
Meet KYZEN’s Own: Gary Liu and KJ Lee
Gary Liu joined KYZEN in 2017 as Regional Manager – Taiwan, with previous stops including serving as a Sales Manager for UCT and in a regional sales executive role with Materion Corporation. He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering and system services from National Tsing Hua University in Hsinchu City, Taiwan and master’s degree in Material Science and Engineering from National Cheng Kung University. Gary was recently promoted to the role new role as Sales Leader – North Asia, where he will carry on his previous success providing guidance and cleaning knowledge to KYZEN customers and distributors in the advanced packaging, electronics, and automotive industries.
“Gary has been an incredibly valuable and knowledgeable member of our sales team in Asia and we’re thrilled to see his growth along with the market as the Sales Leader for North Asia,” said Michael McCutchen, KYZEN’s Global Sales Director, “While he has led significant strides in our growth across industries in Taiwan, with Gary’s expertise and guidance, we’re confident we’ll see even greater growth across the North Asia market.”
In his new role, Gary continues to serve KYZEN customers, partners, and distributors using his more than a decade of experience and precision cleaning expertise.
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KJ Lee joined KYZEN in 2011 in the role of North Asia Sales Leader and oversaw business development and customer relations across Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. He was recently named to the role of General Manager – Asia where he continues to guide KYZEN’s expanding presence in the Asia market. KJ holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Dankook University in Seoul and utilizes more than 20 years of experience in the semiconductor, electronics, and precision cleaning industries to serving KYZEN customers and partners.
Said KYZEN President and COO Erik Miller, “KYZEN is pleased and excited to continue our growth while also having the opportunity to recognize the leaders of our global teams like KJ. He has been a key figure in our expanded impact in bringing KYZEN’s dedication to care and innovation to customers in Asia and we look forward to many more years of success with his leadership in the general manager role.”
KJ is known for his strong technical insight, which helps him bridge the gap between technology and business to deliver sustainable growth for KYZEN in the Asian market while providing innovative solutions to customers.
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