In the last five months, businesses across the region have adapted to operate in the new reality created by the coronavirus pandemic. Count SoClean among them.
Since 2012, the Peterborough-based company has focused on perfecting its device for maintaining sleep equipment, the SoClean 2, a cleaner and sanitizer machine that automatically cleans and dries parts of sleep apnea equipment (CPAP machine) by using activated oxygen, also known as Ozone.
But given the current state of the world during COVID-19, SoClean has broadened its market to enter other areas of the household in an effort to provide consumers with two products aimed at disinfection and purification.
“We’re always looking to expand and add more products to our portfolio,” said SoClean CEO Bob Wilkins.
The SoClean Air Purifier eliminates up to 99.9999% of airborne viruses, bacteria and allergens, Wilkins said, providing air purification that far surpasses HEPA standards.
“It’s the best performer on the market in terms of what it can kill and trap,” Wilkins said.
Wilkins said the small design is ideal for individual rooms and a person’s space at a shared office, and produces cleanroom-quality air. It fits comfortably on a desk and will purify up to 300 square feet of space on the low setting “which covers any personal space,” he said.
The unit is portable and will run on battery power for up to 24 hours, so it can be brought for road trips or from home to the office.
Wilkins said the technology that is used in the purifier had already been developed, but the creators were looking for a home for it, which allowed for the product to be brought to the market faster. He said the purifier is currently being shipped and retails for $599.
The SoClean Device Disinfector kills up to 99.9% of bacteria and viruses on high-touch everyday items, such as smartphones, ear buds, remote controls, keys and wallets.
Wilkins said it uses the same technology as the SoClean 2 and is a spin off of another product they’ve been working on through research and development.
“It we had to do it from scratch, it would have been a year,” Wilkins said.
Wilkins said back in February and March, when everything was being feverishly disinfected with cleaning products, which were and still are hard to come by, the idea for the device disinfector was born.
“There’s a lot of things we want to take care of and clean,” Wilkins said.
Wilkins said this gives people an option to clean everything at once and avoid having to use wipes in an assembly line fashion. In fact because of constantly using disinfecting wipes, he had issues with his iPhone camera not working.
“Just hit the button and five minutes later its killed 99.9 percent,” he said. “So its really quick and efficient.” Wilkins said there is also a 20 minute cycle for “a really deep clean.”
The device disinfector has been available for pre-order sales ($299) and shipping for the product began last week.
“Our goal is to empower consumers to take charge of disinfecting their homes,” Wilkins said. “We are confident these new products can be a value-add to millions of people looking for efficient and simple ways to rid viruses and bacteria from their homes.”
With more people concerned with eliminating the threat of viruses and bacteria since the coronavirus pandemic began, it seemed like the right time to broaden SoClean’s product reach.
“We had looked at those markets a year ago and decided not to get into it. It was pretty crowded,” Wilkins said. “But we think people care now.”
Wilkins said SoClean has hired four new engineers in research and development over the last eight months and plan to launch one more product before the end of the year and have two more that should be ready through the first half of 2021.
“We’re really honing in on the disinfecting space and how to do it better,” Wilkins said. “And with COVID and what’s happening, we’re just laser focused on that area.”
While many areas of business have been forced to conduct layoffs or freeze hiring, Wilkins said they have continued to hire and currently have positions that need to be filled. He said about 90 percent of the company still currently works from home and recent months have opened SoClean to hiring people despite being geographically distanced from their Peterborough and Montana offices.
For more, visit https://www.soclean.com/.