Several conventional approaches for sanitizing surfaces of personal hygiene articles and the like may be known. However, all known conventional apparatuses and methods have one or more disadvantages.
One conventional approach may be to soak the articles in a chemical disinfectant. Unfortunately, chemical disinfectants may not reach all of the surfaces of some articles, such as the surfaces between tightly compacted bristles found in many toothbrushes. This approach may be problematic especially if the exposure of the articles to the chemical disinfectant is brief. In addition, such chemical disinfectants may be relatively costly and may have to be frequently resupplied. Accordingly, use of chemical disinfectants may not be entirely effective.
Another approach may be to sanitize personal hygiene articles using microwave energy. So-called microwave disinfecting may be problematic because of the electrical arcing that may occur with metal used in the articles, such as the metal cleats sometimes used to anchor bristles in a toothbrush head. Additionally, most households may not be equipped with a microwave apparatus outside of the kitchen. Therefore, use of this approach may be inconvenient for many household users.
Still another approach to sanitize articles may be to expose the articles to ultraviolet light. However effective, ultraviolet light equipment may also be expensive and may require regular maintenance by a skilled technician. Also, ultraviolet light may not always reach all surfaces of the articles, such as between the tightly compacted bristles found in many toothbrushes. Further, ultraviolet light may degrade some thermoplastic materials. Moreover, repeated exposure of a user to ultraviolet light may present safety concerns, such as accidental vision damage, among others.
Some current systems may also allow contaminants to enter the system during and/or after the sanitization process. This may reverse the effects of the sanitization process, thereby making the sanitization process less effective.
As noted above, some apparatuses and methods have disadvantages that make their use unappealing and/or disadvantageous to most household users. Accordingly, there is a need for a compact, inexpensive, safe, easy, ready-to-use, and effective apparatus that sanitizes articles, including personal hygiene articles and other items such as toothbrushes, after each use by subjecting the articles to moist heat, dry heat, and/or filtered air. Furthermore, what is needed is a system and method that may keep items sanitized and/or reduce contaminants that contact the items before, during and/or after the sanitization takes place.