How do you wash your scrubs?

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I start nursing school in August and just bought my scrubs. This is probably silly, but I noticed on the tags that they are machine wash cold. Is this the standard for scrubs or is it the particular brand that I bought? Washing in hot water would kill any bacteria brought home from the hospital, but I don't want to ruin my scrubs by washing in hot. My scrubs are navy, so I can't add bleach, either. How do you wash your scrubs?

In most instances, it is unnecessary to launder scrubs in hot water and bleach. I wash mine in cold water with regular detergent, then place them in the clothes dryer on high heat for at least 30 minutes.

My microbiology professor stated that 30 minutes in a dryer on high heat is enough to kill microbes, even bacteria and viruses that are resistant. A corporate RN consultant for a chain of group homes also told me this.

This is what I do as well. My scrubs are a dark color and I don't want them to fade. So I wash in cold with detergent and then dry on high.

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This is what I do as well. My scrubs are a dark color and I don't want them to fade. So I wash in cold with detergent and then dry on high.

Good to know! Thanks for this info!

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This is what I do as well. My scrubs are a dark color and I don't want them to fade. So I wash in cold with detergent and then dry on high.

They don't shrink in the high heat?

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They don't shrink in the high heat?

They haven't after 2+ years.

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They haven't after 2+ years.

Good to know. I'm tall and I HATE when my pants shrink in length.

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Good to know. I'm tall and I HATE when my pants shrink in length.

I'm tall as well, and my scrubs haven't turned into floods yet :-)

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I'm tall as well, and my scrubs haven't turned into floods yet :-)

Lol, good to hear! Flood pants suck! :D

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
They don't shrink in the high heat?
As long as your scrubs are made of a cotton/polyester blend, they will not shrink. If you insist on getting 100% cotton scrubs, be prepared for shrinkage and wrinkling.
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In most instances, it is unnecessary to launder scrubs in hot water and bleach. I wash mine in cold water with regular detergent, then place them in the clothes dryer on high heat for at least 30 minutes.

My microbiology professor stated that 30 minutes in a dryer on high heat is enough to kill microbes, even bacteria and viruses that are resistant. A corporate RN consultant for a chain of group homes also told me this.

I put almost none of my personal clothes in the dryer; a dryer will DESTROY your clothes - they break fibers, melt synthetics (like Lycra) and fade colors - in many cases worse than your washing machine will. I also don't wash clothes in hot water - I lived in Saudi Arabia for several years where the only water we HAD was hot, and you wouldn't believe how it tore the clothes up (you didn't notice everyone was all faded and washed out until your stuff got back to the States and you looked at it next to your Stateside clothes - eeewww).

However, scrubs were the only thing of mine that ever went in the dryer - and no one in my house ever caught anything, including my ferrets. (Actually, washing stuff in hot water can cause some microbes to INCREASE in number, since the water is not boiling and is therefore not hot to actually kill most bugs).

I'm active duty military now, so scrubs are provided for me - and guess what? The pants give me a rash from whatever they disinfect them with!

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Specializes in psych, general, emerg, mash.

cold water wash...dont get your panties in a note and go all obsessive over bacterial! just wash them, hang outside in the sun (best bug killer)

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Specializes in Emergency Room, Specialty Infusions.

Common sense here.

If I know a particular patient is "contagious" (vomiting, diarrhea, fever and cough)......I gown up, thus protecting my clothes.

Sure, one patient might have something I don't know and I might touch the bed with my leg or leave over and touch my scrub top to a sheet. But then again.....I go to public places, the movies, the grocery store, sit in waiting rooms, touch books at the library, etc, etc, and I don't come home and bleach and boil my clothes.

I wash my scrubs with the rest of the laundry in medium water temp with detergent and fabric softner and then into the dryer. If I have been in a room that has droplet/contact precautions....the shoes are taken off in the garage where there is a spray bottle with bleach water and they are sprayed and left to dry.

I am still alive and healthy after 34 years.....so is the family.

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For the germophobes--dump in the bleach and hot hot water and ease your mind. You can always add clothing dye to the wash if your scrubs are starting to fade a bit. :)

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