The Technical Vault
By SOSCleanroom
High-end general-purpose swab
100% polyurethane foam head
Thermal-bonded (no adhesive)
Non-sterile
Orange handle lane control
Texwipe TX803 Small Foam Swab: Compact, controlled pickup and application for flux, grease, adhesives, inks, and tight-space cleanup
Product image from SOSCleanroom listing.
1) Practical solutions in a critical environment
TX803 is a high-end general-purpose foam swab designed for controlled work in less critical lanes — the steps where residues are thick, tacky, or particulate-heavy, and the goal is repeatable cleanup without drifting into commodity swab variability. Its compact foam head helps technicians manage wetness and contact area in corners, pockets, and small features where larger swabs can smear or flood a recess.
Customer SOP note (disclaimer)
This entry is practical guidance for customers and does not replace your facility SOPs. Validate chemical compatibility, residue acceptance criteria, and technique in your environment. If you operate under regulated programs (FDA cGMP, USP <797>/<800>, ISO-class cleanrooms, EU GMP Annex 1), document training, qualification, and change control for swabbing steps, solvents, and materials.
2) What this product is used for
- Removing and applying solders and fluxes during rework and process-support steps.
- Applying and removing lubricants, adhesives, and solutions in less critical areas.
- Cleaning confined spaces containing thick solutions (such as paints or inks) where control matters more than coverage.
- Picking up powders and dust during bench work, fixture maintenance, and line-side cleanup.
- Controlled spot cleaning when paired with an approved 70% alcohol solution (IPA or denatured ethanol) and disciplined stroke technique.
3) Why should customers consider this swab
- Compact foam control: a small head supports defined wet contact in corners, pockets, and transitions without over-wetting a feature.
- Thermal bond construction: eliminates adhesive-variable risk at the head/handle interface during solvent work and aggressive residues.
- Foam performance in “messy” work: polyurethane foam is engineered for applying and absorbing adhesives, greases, and liquids in less critical areas.
- Orange handle identification: supports lane control so general-purpose tools do not drift into finishing/critical steps.
- Low-linting reality check: no swab is truly lint-free. Technique, surface energy, and residue type determine what transfers.
4) Materials and construction
TX803 uses a 100% polyurethane foam head on a polypropylene handle. The head is thermally bonded (no adhesive) to help reduce the risk of adhesive contribution during solvent use and residue-lift steps. Packaging is designed for line-side dispensing with reclosure discipline (close the bag between pulls).
Practical note: foam swabs reward controlled pressure. If your work includes burrs or sharp edges, avoid “digging” the foam into a corner; use short, one-direction pulls and replace early to prevent edge abrasion and smear transfer.
5) Specifications in context
TX803 is intentionally compact. Use the small head to control wetness and contact in pockets and corners, but avoid forcing the foam into features that are narrower than the head width. When geometry is tighter than the swab, pressure concentrates at edges and the process can drift into smearing and abrasion. If the residue is viscous (flux/grease/adhesive), standardize a two-pass approach: first pass lifts bulk; second pass uses a fresh, lightly damp swab to reduce boundary films.
6) Specifications
| Attribute |
Value |
| Product | Texwipe TX803 General-Purpose Small Foam Cleanroom Swab (non-sterile) |
| Head material | Foam (polyurethane) |
| Handle material | Polypropylene |
| Head width / thickness / length | 3.6 mm / 3.5 mm / 12.0 mm |
| Handle width / thickness / length | 3.0 mm / 3.0 mm / 59.0 mm |
| Total swab length | 71.0 mm (2.795") |
| Head bond | Thermal (no adhesive) |
| Handle color | Orange |
| Packaging | 500 swabs/reclosable bag; 3 bags/case; 1,500 swabs/case; reclosable, silicone-free bag; lot coded |
| Storage conditions (manufacturer guidance) | Ambient storage: 59°F (15°C) to 86°F (30°C) |
| Shelf life (non-sterile) | 5 years from date of manufacture |
| Country of origin (manufacturer statement) | Made in The Philippines |
7) Cleanliness metrics (typical)
TX803 is positioned as a general-purpose swab, but it carries published “typical” cleanliness data for baseline risk assessment and lane definition. Treat these as typical values from manufacturer testing rather than a substitute for your internal qualification.
Typical ion extractables (µg/swab)
| Ion |
TX803 (typical) |
| Chloride | 0.06 |
| Potassium | 0.25 |
| Sodium | 0.30 |
Typical non-volatile residue (NVR, mg/swab)
Consider NVR as “what can be left behind” after your solvent system flashes off. Match the swab to the residue acceptance window of the step, and qualify using your solvent, surfaces, and stroke count.
| Extractant |
TX803 (typical) |
| DI water (DIW) | 0.15 |
| IPA | 0.25 |
Operator reality check: the biggest driver of “swab background” is usually technique drift — over-wetting, reworking with a loaded face, and “finishing” a corner with a scrub. Keep the head damp, rotate early, and switch swabs for the final pass.
8) Packaging, sterility, and traceability
- Non-sterile swab for controlled work where sterility is not the controlling requirement.
- Reclosable, silicone-free bag supports line-side handling discipline (close the bag between pulls).
- Lot-coded packaging supports traceability for deviations, investigations, and change control.
- Identity cue: manufacturer documentation notes “TEXWIPE” is embossed on the swab handle as an identity/traceability cue.
- Lane control: store general-purpose swabs separate from finishing/sampling swabs to prevent step-mixing.
9) Best-practice use (operator-level)
- Wetness control: wet the foam, then reduce to damp — not dripping. In corners, over-wetting floods the feature, spreads dissolved soils, and leaves drying marks.
- One-direction strokes: use short, controlled pulls that bring contamination out of the recess. Avoid circular scrubbing unless the procedure explicitly requires it.
- Rotation and discard logic: treat each contact face as short-use. Rotate early. Discard when drag increases, the face shows visible loading, or smear/streak begins.
- Two-pass logic for viscous residues: first pass removes bulk; second pass uses a fresh swab with tighter damp control to reduce boundary films and redeposition.
- No re-dip discipline: do not re-dip a used swab into a shared solvent reservoir. Decant into a small working vessel and replace it frequently.
- Handle hygiene: keep the handle off the work surface. If the handle contacts the surface, replace the swab — handles are contamination vectors.
- Lane control: use the orange handle as a line-level control: restrict TX803 to less critical steps to prevent accidental migration into final-clean or validation-sensitive work.
Recommended cleaning solutions (customer pairing)
Technique tip: apply solution to the swab (or a controlled spray to the surface) and wipe with a defined stroke pattern. Avoid “spray-only” habits that leave residues to air-dry without controlled pickup.
10) Common failure modes
- Over-wetting and flooding a recess: leads to pooling, drying marks, and redeposition.
- Reworking the same area with a loaded face: causes streaks and smear transfer.
- Abrading foam on burrs/sharp edges: can create fragments or increase particle load; adjust pressure and stroke direction.
- Wrong lane: using a general-purpose swab for a finishing step with tighter residue acceptance can trigger rework/QA holds.
- Cross-contamination: re-dipping into shared solvent, staging swabs on benches, or dragging handles across the work surface.
11) Closest competitors
The closest alternatives are small-format foam swabs intended for tight-space cleaning. Selection typically hinges on foam absorb/release behavior, bond method (thermal vs. adhesive), availability of published contamination data, and packaging/traceability controls that support consistent issuance.
- Contec CONSTIX® small foam swab classes (compare geometry fit, edge behavior near burrs, and documentation depth).
- Berkshire small-tip foam swab families (compare bonding approach, wetting behavior, and published cleanliness data availability).
- Puritan foam swab formats in similar size classes (confirm bonding method, lot coding, and substitution documentation support).
12) Program fit (how customers standardize TX803)
- Best fit: less critical steps where the cleaning risk is tight-space residue behavior (smear, film, redeposition) rather than ultra-low background requirements.
- Lane control strategy: define where TX803 is allowed (general-purpose station) vs. where a finishing/sampling swab is required; train operators on damp control, rotation frequency, and discard timing.
- Regulated environment alignment: use risk-based contamination control thinking: document technique, train, and qualify the swab/solution pairing for the step, then keep traceability records aligned with deviation workflows.
Associated glove pairing (customer convenience)
Practical note: glove choice affects swab performance — oils and residues from handling can overwhelm a swab step. Standardize glove change triggers around “swab work” when residues are sticky (flux/grease/adhesives) to reduce cross-transfer.
Texwipe relationship note: For over 35 years, SOS and Texwipe have been close partners, and SOSCleanroom is the authorized Master Distributor of ITW Texwipe for the United States market.
13) Source basis
SOSCleanroom product page (TX803):
https://www.soscleanroom.com/product/swabs/texwipe-tx803-general-purpose-small-foam-cleanroom-swab/
SOS-hosted manufacturer technical data sheet copy (TX803/TX804/TX805):
https://www.soscleanroom.com/content/texwipe_pdf/803%20804%20805.pdf
Manufacturer product page (TX803):
https://www.texwipe.com/foam-tx803
Manufacturer Technical Data Sheet (General-Purpose Swab Series):
Texwipe “General-Purpose Swab Series” Technical Data Sheet — US-TDS-065 Rev.10/21
https://www.texwipe.com/images/uploaded/documents/Swabs/Texwipe-GeneralPurpose-Swabs-TDS.pdf
Associated solutions (customer pairing):
https://www.soscleanroom.com/product/clearance-sale/texwipe-tx167-non-sterile-70-isopropyl-alcohol-solution-16-oz/
https://www.soscleanroom.com/product/solutions/cidehol-8416-non-sterile-70-isopropyl-alcohol-solution-16-oz/
https://www.soscleanroom.com/product/solutions/sanihol-8616-non-sterile-70-denatured-ethanol-solution-16-oz/
Associated glove pairing (customer convenience):
https://www.soscleanroom.com/product/brands/ansell-mk-296-microflex-midknight-nitrile-gloves/
https://www.soscleanroom.com/product/kimtech/kimtech-polaris-nitrile-exam-gloves/
Standards and regulatory reference hubs (customer education):
ISO: https://www.iso.org/standard/53394.html
FDA: https://www.fda.gov
ASTM: https://www.astm.org
IEST: https://www.iest.org
SOSCleanroom is the source for this Technical Vault entry.
Briefed and approved by the SOSCleanroom (SOS) staff.
If you have any questions please email us at Sales@SOSsupply.com or give us a call at (214)340-8574.
If you need additional information please try our SOSCleanroom specific AI ChatBot which draws from our extensive cleanroom specific libraries.
Last reviewed: January 27, 2026
© 2026 SOSCleanroom
