By Anthony Chien
President, American Cleanroom Systems ®
40+ years of cleanroom design and engineering experience
Last reviewed: June 2026
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Choosing the right cleanroom door depends on the purpose of the door. Door can be used for cleanroom personnel entry and exit, bringing material into or out of the cleanroom, or bringing equipment into or out of cleanroom. You must choose from swing doors, automatic sliding doors, motorized roll up doors or dedicated pass thru doors. Another decision is whether you need to interlock the doors.
Cleanroom personnel entry and exit: Cleanroom Gown Room Door
These cleanroom gown room doors will be the most used doors in the cleanroom. They are typically kept as small as possible (3 ft wide) to limit the amount of contaminated air that can enter the cleanroom. Swing doors should have door closers to make sure the doors close when not in use. The cleanroom gown room doors can be interlocked to electronically make sure that only one door can be open at a time. For high traffic cleanrooms motorized sliding doors are often used to provide hands free operation. However, the high cost of motorized sliding doors ($20k-$30k each) limit their usage.
Figure 1: Cleanroom swing door 
Figure 2: Cleanroom aluminum store front door Bringing product material in and out of cleanrooms: Cleanroom Material transfer rooms doors
Material transfer rooms are airlocks where incoming material can be wiped down prior to bringing into cleanroom. These rooms typically have either large cleanroom double doors or motorized roll up doors to allow palleted material to be either forklifted or manually pallet jacked into the room. The motorized rollup doors are sometimes equipped with sensors so they will open automatically for forklifts. When automatic door openers are used then the doors must be equipment with interlocks to ensure that both doors are not open at same time.
Figure 3. cleanroom motorized roll up door 
Figure 4: Custom extra large double door Bringing large equipment in and out of cleanrooms: Cleanroom Equipment Transfer Doors
Cleanroom equipment transfer doors are typically large double doors that open directly to outside to allow large equipment to be brought directly into cleanrooms from the outside. Options for modular cleanrooms include manual cleanroom double swing doors varying from standard 6’x7’ to custom 8’x8’. For larger equipment motorized roll up doors as large as 16’x16’ can be installed in cleanrooms albeit at high cost.
Figure 5: Cleanroom manual sliding door 
Figure 6: Cleanroom motorized sliding door High personnel count cleanrooms: Cleanroom Sliding Doors
Manual Sliding doors are sometimes used in cleanrooms due to space restrictions. By installing a sliding door, we avoid using up space for the door swing. Disadvantages of manual sliding doors is they leak significantly more air than cleanroom swing doors and they do not last as long. There also needs to be space for the door to slide into when in open position. Motorized sliding doors are more durable but are very expensive. Advantages of cleanroom motorized sliding doors are: they are hands free, they allow personnel to quickly enter or exit the cleanroom, their speed reduce the amount of particles that enter the cleanroom each time somebody enters or exist the cleanroom.
Cleanroom Pass Thru
Rather than carrying material in and out thru gown rooms, pass thru’s are often installed in cleanrooms. They are typically 2’x2’x2’, though any size is possible with 2 doors. The doors are mechanically interlocked so only one can be opened at a time, thus limiting the amount of contaminants that can enter the cleanroom. The doors are typically clear acrylic or glass so personnel can see if there is something in the pass thru. Pass thru’s are most commonly made from plastic laminate but can also be made from stainless steel (very expensive). Sometimes a HEPA fan filter unit is part of the pass thru to further reduce contaminants entering the cleanroom thru the pass thru. Another type of pass thru is a cart pass thru that sits on the floor and is designed to allow carts of material to be brought into cleanroom.
Figure 7: Cleanroom pass thru w/ interlock 
Figure 8: Cleanroom cart pass thru w interlocks American Cleanroom Systems door offerings:
American Cleanroom Systems design-build modular cleanrooms offer cleanroom swing doors, cleanroom aluminum storefront doors, cleanroom double doors with and without windows, motorized cleanroom sliding doors, motorized cleanroom swing doors, motorized cleanroom roll up doors, air showers, cleanroom pass thrus, cleanroom cart pass thrus, and interlocked cleanroom door systems.
FAQS:
What is a cleanroom door interlock?
A cleanroom door interlock prevents a pair of doors from being opened simultaneously. In the case of a gown room it prevents dirt from having a free path from outside into the actual cleanroom by using the gown room as an airlock. The cleanroom door interlock uses door position sensors, status LEDs. PLC logic and magnetic door locks. They also have emergency release buttons.
Why do people choose cleanroom motorized sliding doors?
Easy hands free entry, fast opening and closing, less contamination entering the cleanroom.
Why do people choose cleanroom motorized vinyl roll up doors?
Motorized vinyl cleanroom doors can be as big as 20’x20’. This allows very large equipment to be brought into the cleanroom after the cleanroom has been built.
Do modular cleanrooms offer an alternative to large equipment transfer doors?
Yes – modular cleanroom walls can be removed after the cleanroom is constructed to be bring equipment in or out. Ideally the cleanroom is designed so there is a non load bearing modular wall that can be temporarily removed. Sometimes the modular cleanroom is built with just three walls so equipment can be brought in and the fourth wall is installed afterward.
Why is important to have HEPA filtration on cleanroom gown rooms and cleanroom material transfer rooms?
Putting HEPA filtration on gown rooms and material transfer rooms significantly reduces the amount of particles in the room. That way when the door is opened between the gown room and the cleanroom less particles flow into the cleanroom.
Why American Cleanroom Systems
American Cleanroom Systems has been building quality modular cleanrooms since 1976. We specialize in Design Build Cleanrooms. Our staff has more than 150 years combined cleanroom experience. Our blue-chip customer list includes Allergan, Baxter, Johnson & Johnson, Regeneron, NASA, Los Alamos National Labs, Oak Ridge National Lab, Apple, Boeing, Intel, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. From ISO4-ISO8, class 10-100k, with temperature, humidity and ESD control, American Cleanroom Systems is your Design Build cleanroom expert. Made in USA : we manufacture our modular cleanrooms in Rancho Santa Margarita CA and install them nationally. Quotes in 48 hours. 949-589-5656.
www.americancleanrooms.com
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