How to Keep Your Scrubs in Mint Condition
Scrubs are the one work uniform that dirties easily but also needs to be kept in tip-top shape. Keeping your scrubs in mint condition takes a little extra care than the average wardrobe, but with a few tips, your business scrubs will more easily endure hospital life.
Whether you are in nursing or medical school or are a practicing nurse or doctor, clean and tidy scrubs are essential. Having clean scrubs is not just important for a professional appearance, but it is also imperative for the safety and the health of your patients. Today’s professional medical wear is as varied as high fashion and is more interesting than the traditional green. Regardless of color or design, medical scrubs get exposed to lots of stains and bacteria. Learning how to wash and disinfect medical scrubs safely at home will ensure they look better, last longer, and protect you and your patients from bacteria and viruses that may carry on the fabric. Read on for our tips on how to keep your scrubs in mint condition.
Prewash With Vinegar
Scrubs can fade and become discolored. This makes sense considering how often you wash them, but it’s also unfortunate when your cheerful colored or patterned scrubs start to look lackluster. Vinegar is known as an old school household trick that does just about everything, including prepping your scrubs for wear. Before wearing your scrubs for the first time be sure to prewash your new pair of scrubs in a mixture of cold water and half a cup of plain white household vinegar. This essential step will help to set the color of the scrubs and prevent them from fading. It will also help to preserve the appearance and extend the life of your scrubs, as the constant disinfectant and cleaning is a harsh process that will strip the color and integrity of the fabric of your scrubs. Pretreating them with a vinegar bath is a sure way to help the color set and also protect the fabric. Vinegar itself is a natural disinfectant, so feel free to use this “prewash” method in future washes.
Double Washes
Your scrubs need the VIP treatment for laundering. Don’t treat them like a regular pair of jeans and T-shirt, but instead keep your scrubs tops and bottoms separate from all other laundry. As you should wear a clean and pristine pair of scrubs to work every day, it is best to have a few sets on-hand while washing the others. When washing your scrubs, a double wash is the best method for thorough disinfecting. Turn your scrubs inside out to prevent pilling and color fade and put them in the washing machine by themselves on a cold wash cycle with regular detergent. This first wash is the wash for removing stains from your scrubs. The second wash is for disinfecting. Wash in hot water with color-safe bleach to disinfect the scrubs. Be sure to check that all the stains came out during the first wash before beginning to second wash because stains set with hot water!
Drying and Ironing
You can either dry your scrubs in the dryer or hang them to dry. While using the dryer adds heat to the scrubs to help with disinfecting, it can also wear down or shrink your scrubs. Perhaps compromise with medium-level heat. When your scrubs come out of the dryer fresh and clean, we recommend using a hot iron to press your scrubs. This is important for keeping your scrubs looking neat and tidy while maintaining a professional appearance in the workplace. Ironing is also great as it kills extra germs. After pressing your scrubs, place them in a clean, dry plastic bag to avoid contamination before you wear them to work.
Carrying Your Scrubs
Transporting your scrubs is a super important way to maintain their professional look and essential cleanliness. Scrubs should only be worn while at work, so it is best to wear street clothes while commuting and carry your scrubs in your company backpack. You can easily change into your scrubs when arriving at work. Similarly, when commuting home, change back into your street clothes. We recommend two separate plastic bags to keep your clean scrubs and your soiled scrubs. This is the best way to contain any germs or contaminants so they don’t spread. While it is unlikely that dirty scrubs will infect you or your family, it is better to be safe and prevent the spread of germs.
These are some of the pro tips on how to best maintain your scrubs so you can preserve a clean and healthy work uniform while ensuring a professional and tidy appearance.