Ironing your Scrubs

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Okay, I just got a job as a CNA, I am a pre-nursing student waiting for my acceptance to the RN program in San Antonio Baptist, and this is my first time really wearing scrubs in a facility other than my CNA clinicals. As I was ironing my scrubs for my orientation next week, an episode of Grey's came to mind where George was talking about how his mother irons his scrubs. And I realized that I may be acting a bit old-fashioned (36, mother of 3) in ironing my scrubs. Are scrubs not supposed to be ironed? I realize we are not interns or whatever, but my scrubs came out of the wash very rumpled, and I hate looking sloppy!

What do y'all do, given that you have the time and wherewithall, iron or not?

-natasha

I throw my scrubs in the dryer before get in the shower. When get out of shower pull wrinkle free scrubs out & put them on. Don't have time to iron.

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Wow! I never knew about taking them out of the dryer and folding/hanging them immediately to prevent wrinkles. I've always had to iron them to make it look neat, but I hate ironing so I just go with the wrinkled clothes most times. That's good advice to take in. But how do you prevent them from coming out wrinkled? Mine still tends to come out wrinkly after I take it out. Is it because I'm not suppose to put so much in the dryer at the same time?

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

^^^^ Yes, you have too much in there.

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I starch and iron my clinical uniform & "quickly" iron my scrubs- takes 2-3 min. I don't have extra time in my day for ironing but If I can't find 2min in my day - then somethings wrong!

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I agree with everybody who said to 1) just hang them up right out of the dryer, 2) throw them back in the dryer with a damp washcloth if they're slightly wrinkled, or 3) use Downy Wrinkle Release (though I actually use a homemade [read: cheaper] version made from a recipe found online). While it's true that if I can't find an extra 2-3 minutes to iron, there's something "wrong"...I would rather spend that 2-3 minutes helping my kids with their homework, reading a story to them, or hanging out with my neglected husband ;)

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Specializes in CTICU.

Hell no. They come out of the scrub machine at work on hangers! Sometimes they do look like they were dragged out of a rubbish heap as they are so crumpled, and I can hear my mother's voice in my head saying "you can't go out like that!" (she's an ironing machine!). So I also have the Downy wrinkle releaser - it works pretty well.

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Specializes in CTICU.

Great idea Gobear - I just looked up wrinkle releaser recipes and will have to try making my own! thanks.

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Wow! I never knew about taking them out of the dryer and folding/hanging them immediately to prevent wrinkles. I've always had to iron them to make it look neat, but I hate ironing so I just go with the wrinkled clothes most times. That's good advice to take in. But how do you prevent them from coming out wrinkled? Mine still tends to come out wrinkly after I take it out. Is it because I'm not suppose to put so much in the dryer at the same time?

Yeah, your stuff will come out crumpled if you put too much in there. Another thing to watch for is having the heat too high. That will sometimes "set" wrinkles that are hard to get rid of. Use the permanent press setting. Or even the knit setting.

It's better to take the clothes out slightly damp (I said slightly!) than to cook them. They shake out better and don't burn your hands.

I long ago mastered the art of "dryer ironing" in self defense. With six kids, there was no way I was going to be a slave to the laundry. I made it a point to avoid buying anything prone to wrinkles and learned (and taught the rest of my family) to toss wrinkly stuff into the dryer after spritzing it with water or throwing in a wet dish towel.

As others have said, the trick is to take the stuff out right away. If you are dealing with a whole load, take out one or two pieces and keep the dryer running while you put them on hangers. Use the perm press setting and you can avoid scorching your hands when you deal with (and smooth) items that have zippers and snaps. They're still hot but not searingly so. I keep a water bottle handy for any collars or flaps that are crunched. Just spray and smooth once they're on a hanger.

Dryer ironing is such a way of life at my house that I can't tell you when I last used the old-fashioned iron. I'm not sure where it is. I'm not even sure I want to know.

The thing is that after you sit in your car with your seatbelt on, that "freshly ironed" look is pretty much toast anyway.

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Sweeeet! thnx Miranda. These r just the nice lil shortcuts to life some parents forget to tell their boys. And at 23 this tip is a life saver! And yea, sitting down on "freshly ironed" clothes is one of the reasons I hate to iron - it gets wrinkled the moment I tuck the shirt into my pants D:

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Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.

The higher-end dryers on the market tend to have "wrinkle protection" built-in, but if you have an older, cheaper model, you can make your own wrinkle protection.

When you put a load in the dryer, set a kitchen timer for about ten minutes before you think the clothes will be dry (or ten minutes less than what you set the dryer to run for). Then, when the kitchen timer goes off, set the dryer to "air dry" for another half hour or so.

This will allow the clothes to cool off completely before the dryer stops tumbling. A lot of the wrinkles from the dryer are caused by hot clothes just sitting there in a crumpled bunch when the cycle ends.... basically, it's like ironing the wrinkles INTO the clothes from the leftover heat. If you cool the clothes off before they stop tumbling, then the wrinkles aren't as likely to set. (Think of how hot rollers work on your hair... you put them in warm, then wait for them to cool and the curl is "stuck" in your hair... the same thing happens to the fibers in your clothes.)

And I'm right there with all the previous posters who never iron... a few years ago when I needed to iron patches onto my son's play clothes to cover the holes in the knees (what on earth DO little boys do to their clothes???), I had to buy an iron at the same time I bought the knee patches!

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I iron my scrubs, but thats from habit. I think it looks nice and professional. Plus it only takes a couple minutes to iron, its not that time consuming.

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Specializes in LTC.

I iron my scrubs daily. If I have time I will put them in the dryer to de-wrinkle before ironing them again. De-wrinkling doesn't get all the wrinkles out so I always have to end up ironing. When I get married I'll be doing double ironing because my hubby to be has no clue how to iron and don't ever iron his colthes. He can get away with it now but wait just wait !

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