How do you wash your scrubs?

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Hello All!

I was just wondering how you all wash your scrubs? I usually throw them in the laundry with my other clothes but was told by my charge nurse that I shouldn't do that. I have blue scrubs but I would like to find a way to disinfect them in the wash. Would using some bleach be okay with colored scrubs? I read that a half cup of bleach in the wash water with colored clothes should be okay but I just wanted to hear how you all wash your scrubs. Thank you.

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Specializes in Pediatric.

I just wash them in their own dedicated load. I use whatever detergent I have in the house. (I have those pod things right now.) I try to hang dry the tops that are more delicate or colored so they don't fade.

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At my facility we have to wear ceil blue scrubs. As Adele said, I also wash mine in a dedicated load. I wash them in hot water with liquid detergent and I put them all in the dryer. Never had any shrink yet.

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I wash my scrubs & jackets worn for work together but in a separate load from regular clothes. I use cold water & whatever detergent I have (usually Tide). Dry them on delicate & take them out for folding ASAP.

Hydrogen peroxide takes out blood. Pretty much everything else comes out ok. Those spots from the bleach wipes at work do not come out.

I only use hot water for washing when we preventively treat for scabies!

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Specializes in ER / Critical Care.

Separately. Scrubs and jacket come off in the garage and go into dedicated laundry hamper. Scrubs and jackets get washed together in warm water with regular detergent and fabric softeners. I've also used color safe bleach a few times in the loads following some pretty gruesome shifts :/

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

My regular clothing is washed in the same load as my work scrubs. I use plain laundry detergent and warm water. There's no need to add bleach, Pine-Sol or disinfectants to the load.

30 minutes in a clothes dryer machine on high heat will destroy virtually any microbe that ends up on our scrubs. Taking any additional steps is pointless.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Med-Surg, Psych, Geri, LTC, Tele,.

I used to hang dry my scrubs because I didn't want them to shrink.

Later on, I tried to shrink my kois and found that they don't shrink!! So I just started washing and drying them with my regular laundry.

I believe that hang drying them helped them not to fade. But koi scrubs barely faded anyways.

Since I wear a few sets of light pink scrubs, I washed them and dried them in their own load of super lights.

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I add 1/4 cup ammonia to my scrubs to disinfect then in addition to my laundry detergent

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Specializes in Pediatric.

I'm feeling like a slacker after reading some of these replies :) I do use those detergent pods and they make me feel bougie. Lol.

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Specializes in Cardiac ICU, ER, PICU, Corrections.

I put them in their own load as well. I wash on hot and either hang dry or hot dry. The heat will kill any little icky's off my scrubs ;) I also use Tide...always have..always will

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

With all my other clothes. I strip down as soon as I walk in the door and they go straight in the washer, then stay there until I have enough to make a load.

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