How do YOU DE-GERM your scrubs?

Nurses General Nursing

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As we all know, there are many nasty bugs in the hospitals we work in. I am always concerned with

1. Disinfecting scrubs

2. Not passing bugs to family through washing machine/drying machines.

I usually wash the scrubs in laundry soap with 2 measuring cups of pine-sol, then double rinse. Dry on hot. I figure the pinesol should kill most everything, and the high heat will take care of the rest... What do you think?

What are you guys/gals doing to keep scrubs clean and family washing facility safe from hospital bugs?

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Specializes in Neonatal ICU (Cardiothoracic).

Wash them on hot with regular laundry soap. Bacteria and viruses are very fragile on fabrics, as opposed to hard surfaces.

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Specializes in LTC, Nursing Management, WCC.
As we all know, there are many nasty bugs in the hospitals we work in. I am always concerned with

1. Disinfecting scrubs

2. Not passing bugs to family through washing machine/drying machines.

I usually wash the scrubs in laundry soap with 2 measuring cups of pine-sol, then double rinse. Dry on hot. I figure the pinesol should kill most everything, and the high heat will take care of the rest... What do you think?

What are you guys/gals doing to keep scrubs clean and family washing facility safe from hospital bugs?

Kinda think the pine-sol thing is a bit over kill. I just wash in warm and dry on high heat. I keep my scrubs seperate from other clothing and if I am doing multiple loads then my scrubs get washed last.

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I honestly don't do anything special.

I certainly wouldn't wash my scrubs in Pine-Sol. Of course, everyone has their own comfort level.

I just wash mine with regular laundry detergent and dry them. Then they go in my closet with everything else. I don't think there's much left germ-wise after being in the hot dryer and I don't consider them contaminated at all at this point (and honestly, I don't consider them especially hazardous even before they're washed.) I think we probably pick up a certain amount of bacteria in the community too.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Nursing Education.

thats overkill!

i agree, wash them on hot with soap - run then with a prewash if you want - and dry on hot.

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Two CUPS of Pine-Sol? :uhoh3: That's enough for about four loads.

Warm wash water and high dryer heat should take care of bugs. Think about it--this is what hospitals use on their linens.

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I wonder if the life expectancy of your scrubs is about a month? ;)

I wash them like I do everything else, nothing special. Warm wash, not hot. Don't even put the cotton ones in the dryer--air dry so they don't shrink. Have done this for years, no one has ever picked up anything in my house. Seriously. Kids rarely even get a stuffy nose.

Only thing I do differently is my shoes: they stay outside!

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As we all know, there are many nasty bugs in the hospitals we work in. I am always concerned with

1. Disinfecting scrubs

2. Not passing bugs to family through washing machine/drying machines.

I usually wash the scrubs in laundry soap with 2 measuring cups of pine-sol, then double rinse. Dry on hot. I figure the pinesol should kill most everything, and the high heat will take care of the rest... What do you think?

What are you guys/gals doing to keep scrubs clean and family washing facility safe from hospital bugs?

Honestly? That's probably overkill.

Look at it this way...if bacteria will wash off your hands, they will wash off your clothes. Hot water, regular detergent, a single rinse, that is all that is needed....remember that it's also a prolonged washing...not a 15 second wash like you do with your hands.

I do wash my scrubs separately from other laundry and have a separate laundry basket for them.

Shoes...I have a plastic bucket that I keep outside. When I come home, I put my shoes inside the bucket, carry the bucket and put it on top of the washing machine. When I leave, I carry my bucket outside and put my shoes on. When I clean them I put pure bleach on a paper towel and then wipe them down before I polish them.

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Specializes in L&D,Wound Care, SNC.

The hospital's linen department takes care of it! :lol2: We have to wear hospital scrubs. My shoes stay at work in the locker room.

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Specializes in ICU/ER.

opps somehow I posted twice??

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Specializes in ICU/ER.

How do KDG teachers wash thier clothes?? Probably same way I wash mine, with Tide. I dont wash them seperate I just toss them in the hamper and when the hamper is full into the wash they go...

Then off to my closet with the rest of my clothes.

If I am going to be dealing with the known germy folks and cleaning thier poo Mrsa/C-diff/ We had a TB pt in last week. I wear a gown--I follow std precautions. Those same pts come through admiting and sit on the cloth chairs in ER waiting room and use the public restrooms before getting admited.

Germs are EVERYWHERE!!!

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

I wash my scrubs in cold water with regular detergent and dry in a hot dryer. I figure that kills most anything. I do have a separate laundry basket for dirty scrubs and have a plastic tub to store clean scrubs. My shoes don't get past the entryway of my apt. To those of you that clean your shoes with bleach. Are you using bleach on Klogs or Crocs? Does it harm the material?

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