AS THE COVID-19 pandemic rolls on, AutoKlene, part of the MotorOne group, is having to ramp up production as the demand for hand sanitisers and surface disinfectants for both domestic and commercial use rapidly expands across Australia.

AutoKlene’s hand sanitiser, Klene Touch, is in such demand from car retailers, car- and truck-makers, spare parts chains like Repco, public transport operators, service stations and even airports that the raw materials have been in short supply.

Klene Touch is produced with a medical grade ethanol in either gel or spray formulations that kills 99.9 per cent of bacteria and some viruses.

The CEO of MotorOne, Greg Lewis, told GoAutoNews Premium: “The enquiry is coming from far and wide. We’re automotive based, but over this month we’re getting enquiries from a variety of commercial sectors right across the country.

“Dealers are our primary source of sales and they’re diligently sanitising vehicles in the service department and throughout the dealerships for both people coming into the showrooms and service departments and for their own staff.

“And for added convenience, we’re now making the hand sanitising gel in 250ml containers so it can be placed in the vehicle’s cupholders to encourage people to use it whenever they get ‘in’ as well as ‘out’ of their cars.

“Dealers are able to return service cars already sanitised and leave the hand dispenser in the car as well,” Mr Lewis said.

He said there was a significant challenge in sourcing the raw materials to keep up with the demand.

“The biggest problem in making hand sanitiser is securing ethanol which is now in short supply around Australia” Mr Lewis said.

“A lot of the ethanol was coming from various bio refineries in Australia and since the onset of COVID-19 the government has taken distribution control of most of the ethanol coming out of those plants.

“Ethanol is also a by-product of the sugarcane industry, which is where we’ve been getting it from. It’s extremely pure and denatured so has little odour. AutoKlene mix that with lanolin and other skin emollients to soften the hands along with adding tea-tree oil as a fragrance which adds to the sanitation efficacy.”

Mr Lewis said that the company had just secured a supply of ethanol for its interior sanitisation and air-conditioning treatments. Germinator is released inside motor vehicles to kill bacteria and other microbes and viruses that reside in vehicle air-conditioning systems and on interior surfaces.

Studies have shown that the interior of motor vehicles is one of the unhealthiest environments to be in, with drivers and passengers being exposed to broad spectrum strains of bacteria and viruses daily that are introduced due to the ‘shared occupancy’ of the vehicle, including from friends, your kids, their friends, pets and so on.

Germinator’s total release aerosol eradicates 99.9 per cent with a quick and easy solution.

He said demand for the Germinator was strong and that the company had been approached by a number of OEMs for distribution to their dealers for sanitising cars after servicing.

“We’re working flat out to produce these products at the present time, so it is 100 per cent accurate to say that sanitisation products are booming,” Mr Lewis said.

By John Mellor