ISO 18184 — antiviral textiles

ISO 18184 (current version ISO 18184:2019) is the internationally harmonised test standard for determining the antiviral activity of textile products. It defines a reproducible laboratory procedure in which a defined virus suspension is applied to the textile sample, re-extracted after a set contact time (usually 2 h), and the still-infectious virus titre is measured by TCID₅₀ or plaque assay. The result is reported as antiviral activity in log steps versus an untreated reference.

Rating scheme: an antiviral activity of ≥ 2 log (99 %) counts as effective, ≥ 3 log (99.9 %) as highly effective. Standard challenge viruses are the enveloped Influenza A H3N2 and the non-enveloped feline calicivirus (FCV) as surrogate models. Only ISO 18184 allows serious substantiation of claims such as "antivirally effective against enveloped/non-enveloped viruses". The standard is a key reference for medical protective clothing, hospital textiles, public-transport uniforms, hospitality and food-service textiles, and everyday masks, and became a marketing benchmark during the COVID-19 era. Important: ISO 18184 assesses only virucidal activity on the textile itself and does not replace testing to EN 14683 (medical face masks).

• Classic contact time: 2 h
• Challenge viruses: Influenza A H3N2, feline calicivirus
• Rating: log reduction (≥ 2 log = effective)
• Not a replacement for EN 14683