A clean room is a work area with controlled temperature and humidity to protect sensitive equipment from contamination. It contains plastic walls and ceilings, external lighting, and there is a continuous influx of clean, dust-free air. The room should be cleaned daily to prevent contamination.
Many different industries require the use of a clean room.
Medical facilities, integrated circuit manufacturers, and dairy farms are just a few. Most data recovery labs at least have a class 100 or better clean room to perform even the most basic recovery procedures. Any physically damaged hard disk, for instance, must be recovered in a clean room. Without a clean room, contaminants can settle on the platters. After a hard disk platter has become contaminated, the heads can catch on these particles, more or less sanding the platter surface.