Washing Scrubs: How To Prevent the Spread of Infection on Medical Scrubs
You wear scrubs every day at work. You basically live in them.
At least, that’s how it feels.
Your work scrubs come into contact with bacteria all throughout the day. You want to ensure you’re doing everything you can to stop the spread of infection.
Now, you’re looking for ways to ensure you are washing your work scrubs correctly.
What is the best way to wash your scrubs? How do you ensure that bacteria doesn’t spread?
In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to properly wash and disinfect your scrubs.
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Importance of Knowing How To Wash Scrubs
Your medical scrubs connect you to an organized team of professionals and keep you comfortable when you work long hours.
Aside from comfort and appearance, medical scrubs serve another critical purpose: to maintain hygiene.
This can seem challenging because, as medical professionals, you likely regularly come into contact with bacteria and bodily fluids. High-quality scrubs prevent patients’ bodily fluids from coming in contact with a wearer’s skin.
Although you aren’t coming in direct contact with the bacteria, germs, and bodily fluids, your scrubs do. That’s why it’s essential to know how to wash scrubs properly.
One study recommends washing your scrubs at work, with hospital-grade cleaners, but we know that isn’t the most realistic option for some healthcare workers
If this option is available to you, we recommend you disinfect your scrubs at work. If not, keep reading to learn how to properly wash your scrubs at home.
Should You Wash Your Scrubs Separately?
Yes, yes, and yes.
You should not wash your scrubs with your regular laundry. Studies show that in some instances, bacteria can be transmitted from your clothing to other surfaces.
Washing scrubs in a separate load from your regular clothes you can help stop the spread of infection in your household.
Keep Dirty Scrubs In A Separate Hamper
Start by designating a special “scrubs-only” hamper. This will keep them separated from the rest of your laundry.
Always keep bedding, towels, and street clothing away from your medical scrubs.
Make sure you place your medical scrubs in their assigned hamper as soon as possible after arriving home.
If you are lucky enough to have a doorway into or near the laundry room, keep a stash of lounge-wear there and change as soon as you walk through the door.
Wearing scrubs in public, or after work, is not something we recommend. When you are off the clock, remove your scrubs.
Although it’s inconvenient, changing out of dirty scrubs before hitting the grocery store or grabbing takeout, reduces the risk of spreading an infection to others.
Pretreating Scrubs — Cleaning Scrubs With Stains
Regularly coming into contact with bodily fluids, germs, foreign contaminants, not to mention the four pens you have in your pocket, can lead to all sorts of stains on your scrubs.
Stains on your precious scrubs can be a pain to deal with.
In this section, you’ll find different approaches to pre-treating scrubs with stains on them.
How to Get Blood Stains Out of Scrubs
Step 1: When there is blood on your white medical scrubs, use bleach on them. If your scrubs are not white, skip to the next step.
Step 2: Whether your scrubs are white, patterned, or colorful, this step will help:
Scrub any stained areas with dish soap or hand soap and cold water. This prevents the stains from setting. Never use hot water on bloodstains.
If you are in a pinch, hydrogen peroxide is another great substance to use to remove blood stains from your scrubs, especially on dried bloodstains.
When hydrogen peroxide, be sure to do a spot test to make sure it won’t discolor your scrubs.
How to Get Pen Stains Out of Scrubs
Step 1: If you’ve got an ink stain on your white scrubs, you can use bleach on them. If your scrubs are not white, continue to the next step.
Step 2: Place a towel or another type of cloth that you don’t mind getting dirty underneath the area that is stained.
Step 3: Rubbing alcohol can do wonders on fresh ink stains. Saturate the stain with rubbing alcohol and let sit for at least 30 minutes.
Step 4: Take a cotton ball or sponge soaked in cold water and dab the stain until most of it has come up. Wash as directed below.
If you do not have any rubbing alcohol on hand, other products you can use to get pen stains out of scrubs include:
Plain toothpaste — dab the toothpaste onto the stain and let it sit for 30 minutes.
Milk soak — let the stained area soak in milk overnight.
Mix baking soda with water — scrub the stain with the mixture until the stain is removed. Use this option as a last resort.
When pretreating any stains on your scrubs, be sure to wear gloves to prevent further contact of any bacteria and your skin.
If you wish to disinfect your scrubs at work, use regular hand soap or keep a bottle of dish soap where you store your belongings.
When your scrubs become stained, simply take a trip to the bathroom and wash the spot with cold water and soap, wearing gloves if possible.
Then follow the following steps when you arrive home.
How To Wash Scrubs: An 8 Step Process
Step 1: Now that you’ve pretreated any stains on your scrubs, you’re ready to properly disinfect them.
Step 2: Start by turning your scrubs inside out. This prevents pilling — pilling refers to the little lint like balls that appear on your clothes that you can’t get off easily.
Step 3: Always add ¼ cup or more of vinegar, along with your normal detergent to the washing machine when washing scrubs. This can help to minimize staining and disinfect them.
When washing scrubs for the first time, using vinegar also helps set the color of your scrubs.
Step 4: To help prevent shrinking, we recommend washing your scrubs in cold water on a delicate cycle. The cold water also helps stop stains from setting into your scrubs while in the wash.
Step 5: You’ve thrown your scrubs in the washer, now, it’s important to disinfect the area you may have pretreated your scrubs on — you don’t want to risk spreading any viruses on surfaces of your home.
Step 6: After you’ve removed your scrubs from the washer, be sure to check them for any stains before placing them in the dryer. If a stain is still present, repeat the stain removing processes mentioned above.
Step 7: Drying your scrubs on a high heat setting will ensure that any virus microbes are no longer living on your scrubs. Do not over dry, you’ll risk your scrubs color fading faster.
Step 8: Put away your uniforms.
Some people prefer to store their scrubs separately from their everyday clothing, even after they’ve been washed — but since they’ve been properly sanitized, we don’t feel this is absolutely necessary.
Easy to Clean Scrubs
Are you looking for a new set of scrubs or are tired of the brand you have? Is the quality poor and you just can’t seem to ever get them clean?
Finding the perfect pair of scrubs for your line of work can be frustrating.
With hundreds of different scrubs to choose from, which scrubs are the best option? You want something comfortable, durable, and professional looking.
That’s why we created Silver Lining Scrubs.
We know the importance of maintaining hygiene and staying comfortable at work. We believe in providing scrubs that are made to last.
At Silver Lining, we carry a selection of easy-to-clean medical scrubs, made of soft, high-quality fabric for your comfort and hygiene.