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?

The water that comes out of your hot water tank at home is NOT hot enough to kill bacteria - you'd need boiling temperature (212 degrees F) to kill the little buggers! Most hot water tanks only keep water between 120 to 140 degrees at most. This level is not enough to kill a bacterium, virus, protozoa and certainly not an endospore!

You might as well preserve the longevity of your fabric and wash them in tepid water. Get some non-chlorine bleach to use in the water with your scrubs. It makes the colors look bright and kills a little stuff in the process.

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Specializes in being a Credible Source.
Get some non-chlorine bleach to use in the water with your scrubs. It... kills a little stuff in the process.
No it doesn't. Non-chlorine bleach is not microbicidal.
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Specializes in psychiatry, addictions.
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?

I doubt that hot or cold washing with detergent would kill germs on scrubs. Hot water at home is not THAT hot. Using a small amount of chlorine bleach or an H2O2 based additive (put into the wash water, agitate for a few seconds, and only then put in your things) should not harm your clothing and should probably kill most common hospital germs.

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Specializes in being a Credible Source.

Here's a perfect topic for a rigorous study (rather than so much of the fluff that the PhDs put out).

Evidence-based practice, anyone?

Since there is no data, I take the conservative approach. I know that our isolation and infection-control procedures are not 100% effective. If they were, we wouldn't be seeing such high rates of nosocomial infections. Gloves and gowns help, of course, but they aren't perfectly effective anymore than are condoms.

The strains of resistant bacteria in the hospitals are both more virulent and more prevalent than they are in the community.

Tossing in a quarter-cup of bleach with my scrubs seems only prudent. Of course, I don't wear designer scrubs and I'll continue to wear mine even when they do get faded.

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I tend to wash them in hot water and I also like to add a little pinesol to the water or some other desinfectant. I do not like to take any chances.

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I washed my scrubs in cold water since I dont work in the hospital, I worked in a long term care facility and I only give medications.So I'm not really concerned about the germs in my scrubs. And I wanna preserve the color of my scrubs, so I washed it in cold water.

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Specializes in mother/care taker/student.

Good points! This might make a good nursing research paper!

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Specializes in Hospice, Palliative Care, Public Health.

There was a group project presentation on this when I was in nursing school. They showed that actually, its not washing, or drying on hot that makes the biggest difference in killing microbes, it was actually ironing the scrubs that killed the most beasties. How many of you actually iron your scrubs? Some of their data (which of course i dont remember exact numbers now) was enough to convince me that would be a good way to go. Maybe some line dry time to get some UV, and then put 'em under the hot iron.

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There was a group project presentation on this when I was in nursing school. They showed that actually, its not washing, or drying on hot that makes the biggest difference in killing microbes, it was actually ironing the scrubs that killed the most beasties. How many of you actually iron your scrubs? Some of their data (which of course i dont remember exact numbers now) was enough to convince me that would be a good way to go. Maybe some line dry time to get some UV, and then put 'em under the hot iron.

Well my immune system better step up to the job, because it's been over a decade since I owned an iron.....and I don't anticipate that changing any time soon :D

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Well, thats good news. I'm one of those nutty people who iron scrubs. Nothing drives me more insane that seeing wrinkles in my clothes.

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Hot water and what was used "back in the day" to wash cotton diapers,its called Hexal,works great.A few people i know use Pine-sol in lieu of detergent and it works well aslo!

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I wash mine in hot water on the sanitize setting. Then dry on high/ sanitize. I bought machines specifically for the sanitize cycles/ prewash and extra rinse options.

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