Your scrubs - how to avoid bringing bugs into the car & house?

Hey everyone,

Is there a good/safe way to get your scrubs off after you've been at work? I know there's a specific way to remove your PPE... since I've done my clinicals and am now looking forward to work, I am acutely aware of the germs that I can bring home with me on my scrubs and on my shoes. Infection control, IMO, shouldn't end when you clock off. In class, though, we haven't learned about infection control beyond the practical setting.

I am thinking about setting up a laundry bag at the front door and some hand sanitizer, and just take it all off the moment I come inside (I really don't want to track anything into my house). My scrub top is the non-button kind. How can you get it off without rubbing the front of your blouse all in your face and hair? My training tells me it must involve perhaps removing an arm and rolling that side of the shirt over the shoulder, then lifting it over your head to the side, then rolling it down the other arm, but I really have no idea.

As for my shoes, I can keep a small tray and a small bottle of bleach in the corner by the door, to kill whatever's hanging onto the soles, but maybe just a wipedown with a couple of Clorox wipes would do the trick?

As a sidenote, I am also wondering if anyone worries about periodically wiping down the inside of the car. We all learn to wipe down our personal equipment with alcohol prep pads, so again, while I'm still in my scrubs, infection control should be in play. Do you agree?

I would think that many pathogens would die while baking in the summer heat while the car's in the parking lot. But some bugs like A/H1N1 seem to thrive in heat, so that would not work. I may keep some Clorox wipes in the car as well. Only thing is, my seats and steering wheel are leather, but I'm thinking that a light solution of bleach/water wouldn't hurt it?

I'm not being paranoid am I?