Patent ID: 7594971

Claim:
A method of cleaning and disinfecting organically contaminated articles, comprising the steps of: a) placing the articles into a cleaning compartment of a program-controlled cleaning machine; b) adding the first cleaning liquid to the cleaning compartment; c) heating the first cleaning liquid to a temperature of between 40° C. and 60° C.; d) raising the pH-value of the first cleaning liquid in the cleaning compartment to between 8.5 and 12 by adding a first alkaline cleaning agent to the first cleaning liquid; e) removing the first cleaning liquid and the first alkaline cleaning agent after a first predetermined time; f) adding a second cleaning liquid to the cleaning compartment; g) heating the second cleaning liquid to a temperature of between 40° C. and 60° C.; h) raising the pH-value of the second cleaning liquid in the cleaning compartment to between 8.5 and 12 by adding a second alkaline cleaning agent to the second cleaning liquid; i) adding a peroxide compound to the second cleaning liquid after step h) so as to release active oxygen from the peroxide compound, the peroxide compound being added only after the adding of the second alkaline cleaning agent to the second cleaning liquid; and j) removing the second cleaning liquid, the second alkaline cleaning agent and the peroxide compound after a second predetermined time, wherein steps c) through e) are performed sequentially and steps g) through j) are performed sequentially.