Cleaning Best Practices for the Arcade Industry

Preparing You & Your Business for Reopening Practices Post Quarantine

CLEANING PROCEDURES FOR GAMES:

To ensure customer and employee safety, it is recommended that machines are cleaned and sanitized regularly, especially components that are touched frequently, like buttons and knobs.

The CDC has provided the following guidance on cleaning and sanitizing equipment:

• Wear disposable gloves and face masks to clean and disinfect machines.

• Disposable gloves should be discarded after each cleaning.

• If reusable gloves are used, those gloves should be dedicated to cleaning and disinfection of surfaces for COVID-19 and should not be used for other purposes.

• Clean hands immediately after gloves are removed. Cleaning refers to removing germs, dirt, and impurities from surfaces. It does not kill germs, but removing them, lowers their numbers and the risk of spreading infection.

• Disinfecting refers to using chemicals, such as EPA-registered disinfectants, to kill surface germs. This process does not necessarily clean dirty surfaces or remove germs, but killing germs on a surface after cleaning, can further lower the risk of spreading infection.

• Consider a monthly spray disinfectant and an antimicrobial surface coating service.

CDC GUIDELINES ON ELECTRONICS:

For electronics such as tablets, touchscreens, keyboards, remote controls, and ATM machines:

• Consider putting a wipeable cover on electronics.

• Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for cleaning and disinfecting. If there is no guidance, use alcohol-based wipes or sprays containing at least 70% alcohol. Dry the surface thoroughly.

HIGH TOUCH POINT SURFACES:

Below are recommended high touch point surfaces that operators should be cleaning on a daily, even hourly basis.

• Buttons

• Control Panels

• Dart Boards

• Joysticks

• Keypads

• Touchscreens

• Trackballs

• Other surfaces include game balls, gameplay devices, tokens, etc.

Are there certain cleaning solutions you recommend that are safe to use on games?

Many products are on the market, but some can damage games on the application because they are not designed for monitors, decals, or the various levels of plastic used on arcade equipment. In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Betson made sure to have the correct items for our customers. After vetting multiple companies and their products, we currently offer Biocide in individual spray bottles or by the gallon and Wipex 70% isopropyl wipes in buckets of 1000.

These are two distinct products: Biocide 100 - A powerful disinfectant used incorrectly can erode certain surfaces. This is where Betson is more than a provider of products; we educate our customers on these best practices. Biocide 100 should be used once in the morning and once at night on all gaming surfaces, focusing on high touchpoints like buttons, guns, and steering wheels.  We also recommend intermittent cleaning with wipes in between patron usage.  Once again, we’ve identified for our customers using a 70% isopropyl alcohol wipe is the best ratio when cleaning electronic and gaming equipment. - (BioCide 100 is an EPA-registered disinfectant, germ, and virus killer. It kills 99.9% of germs, viruses, bacteria, spores, fungi, mildew, and microbes that cause diseases and infections. BioCide – 100 (EPA Reg #1839-83-86117) has demonstrated effectiveness against viruses similar to the 2019 novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) on hard non-porous surfaces. Therefore, this product can be used against the 2019 novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) when used in accordance with the directions for use against the Hepatitis A virus on hard, non-porous surfaces. Refer to the CDC website for additional information. Additional Information: (https://www.cdc.gov)