Washing your scrubs???

[SeebachRN]

hey everyone,

i was wondering about scrubs and how you wash them. i will post my questions, then answer them as well.

1. does everyone separates their scrubs by colors just like you do with normal clothing??

i did separate everything by color, maybe not anymore though.

a. ever use those color catcher sheets?

just bought my first box, just haven't tried them yet.

2. do you wash your scrubs with your regular clothing?

never, one i didn't want to wear out my scrubs by washing with jeans or heavier clothing. and two, i just think its weird to wash work clothes with normal clothes.

3. do you always use bleach or color safe bleach?

always, on everything!! if its white it gets the clorox gentle care, and if its colored it gets the clorox2. love that stuff, just in case i want to be able to always make sure i am germ free.

4. do you use special soap or just your regular standard soap?

regular he soap for my machine. i believe its tide active w/ fabreeze love the smell.

5. what do you use to get rid of our normal stains? (ie. blood, vomit, urine, stool, or anything else you may get on you)

i spot treat before i wash them right after i take them off with spray & wash or oxyclean, but am looking for something that might work better, as it doesn't always work well. any ideas????

the reason i bring up this topic is because the other day at work we were discussing this. i was complaining about how long i did laundry on my days off, it was basically all i did. one of my co-workers asked me why it takes so long. i explained that i have myself, my husband, and my father-in-law to do laundry for. she was still very puzzled by the time it took to complete. she explained she can do laundry from one week of her, her husband, and three kids in one afternoon. i was astonished and asked how she did that along with the two other employees sitting at the station. she explained she throws as much in the machine as will fit and walks away. still not understanding as i do the same thing she explained she doesn't take the time to sort through the clothes they just go in. she does all hers first, then her husbands, then each of her kids, so she does five loads total. that is it!!! she said each person folds/hangs/and puts away their own cloths so she doesn't waste time there either. i asked her how her scrubs/clothes always come out so clean with no fading she told me about a color catcher sheet she uses. she says she throws them all in and a sheet and she never has strange colored clothes. she even throws reds in with whites!!! so after work i went and bought a box at target, but haven't tried them yet. cannot wait to though!!!!

[MissJulie]

Sounds pretty standard to me! But, as for the stains, I'd recommend to you my favorite "pretreat-er," it's called Spray Power and it's made by Crown (I think). Anyway, it's sold by WalMart, and is generally found around the bathroom cleaners or laundary products. It's great for all kinds of situations, and works really well on blood. I've even used it to clean stains off of my white shoes.

[systoly]

'best thing I know for blood is a cold water rinse before the blood dries, Peroxide after it's dried. I wash scrubs on warm/cold or cold/cold. I do not separate by color. Scrubs in the same load with other clothes? yuk. I don't even know what I use for spot treating - it works. ...gotta use bleach (I've ruined too many clothes so I use splashless bleach), Tide HE regular flavor. A weeks worth of laundry for just me and my wife takes all day (about 8 hours)

[lbuben]

We just did a blog about washing scrubs on our website. Definitely wash separately and with cold water as it also prevents shrinking. Keep to small loads too as it will clean them better. Soap would not be evently deposited throughout the cycle.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I wash my scrubs in cold water with regular detergent, and my regular clothing is mixed in with my uniforms. Since 30 minutes of high heat in a clothes dryer will destroy most microbes, there's really no reason to use special soaps or hot water, except to perhaps maintain the aesthetic appearance of the clothing.