How to Wash Scrubs in The Washing Machine

Last Updated on 12 months ago by Nicky Johnson

Taking care of the patients in hospitals without scrubs is likely to introduce unwanted pathogens that may harm you and the patients around you. These are the protective clothing that the medical staff, doctors, and nurses wear in hospitals.

A hospital is a place where tons of sick people come with a lot of dangerous diseases, and doctors and nurses must take care of them. The health of the professional is also as important as a patient. Wearing scrubs protect them and others from pathogens.

Now the tremendous problem the professional face is how to wash the scrubs in the washing machines so that they may look neat and apical during work. Proper disinfection of scrubs will keep the wearer and patients around him/her safe as dirty scrubs are a hotbed for nasty bugs. Moreover, the scrub will survive for a long time.

Washing the scrub in the washing machine is more reliable and comfortable to remove stains than rubbing. Just by applying some simple techniques, you will get a tiptop scrub.

How To Properly Disinfect Scrubs In The Washing Machine?

Scrubs are available in different colors and sizes. Washing the colored scrubs is a little bit different from white cotton fabrics.

Wash Separately

Always wash your scrub separately, whether it is colored or not. It will save the clothes from getting infectious. Moreover, before washing turns inside out, it will fade the abrasion and piling. When you come back home, seal the scrub in a plastic bag, and if the scrub spoils from blood or any other contaminated particles, keep the scrub separate in the laundry.

Add A Cup Of Vinegar To Retain The Color:

In most cases, when you wash the colored scrubs, fading of color due to heavy detergents is a prodigious trouble. So to avoid it, treat it with a cup of vinegar before wear. Soak the scrub in the water having a cup of vinegar added to it for 10 minutes, then wash it with running water.

Wash In Cold Water

Wash 100 % cotton medical scrub in cold water as warm water will stick the stains on the fabric permanently. Before putting it in the washing machine, pass the spoils or particles by steady water flow and then wash it through a proper washing cycle.

Do Not Crowd The Washer:

Many people think to wash their scrubs at the end of the week due to heavy work and tiredness. It is a fact to some extent as they work from shift to shift and daily washing is not possible for them, but keep in mind that when you wash the scrubs, your machine must not be overcrowded.

There must be someplace for the proper working of detergent and water to remove dust, dirt, and stains from scrubs. So put just a pair of scrubs in the machine.

Use gloves for washing the dirty scrub for self-protection.

How To Deal With Hard Stains?

1. Some specific stains cannot be removed by the general method as stains of blood, vomit, feces, urine, liquid medication, and ointments. Some of them are oil-based, and some are protein-based, while spoils of iodine are sticky and have dyes in them. So before putting scrubs in the washer, deal with these spots separately.
2. For stains of blood, wash the affected area with running tap water to remove particles, then soak it in detergent water for 10 minutes and rub it by hand. After cleaning the spots, put the scrub in the washing machine.
3. Ointment stains are fat-based, so use warm water to remove them but only at the affected place.
4. For stains of vomit, urine, and feces, soak the scrub in cold water with heavy detergent for 10 minutes.
5. It is tough to treat the iodine stain as it contains dyes, so for an iodic spoil, use warm water with heavy detergent.
6. After passing through the proper water cycle, dry it in the dryer and set it from low to medium heat to prevent shrinkage. Remember that the dryer will not diminish the germ and pathogens, so after dying in the dryer machine, press it at a high temperature that can kill the microorganisms.
7. For disinfection of the white scrubs, use oxygen-based bleach and chlorine bleach that will turn it white. Always pour a small amount of bleach after diluting it with water in the washing dispenser, but keep in mind that too much quantity of pure chlorinated and oxygenated bleach will turn scrubs yellow.
8. To disinfect the colored scrubs, use pine oil as it saves the color of the scrub along with disinfecting it. It works effectively in warm and hot water. Further, add it during the beginning of the water cycle.
9. After proper treatment and pressing, pack your scrub in a polythene bag. Moreover, always wear a scrub at the hospital and change it out immediately after you have done work.

Best Way To Disinfect The Scrubs

Although these techniques are perfect for proper disinfection, some professionals feel discomfort with the home laundry process. For appropriate and germ-free treatment, you can go for laundry as there the scrubs are washed and dried with high standards.

Moreover, they provide the facility for picking out the scrubs with packed labeled bags. You can easily use the clean and well-pressed scrub for the next shift. It also saves you from the tension of sanitizing your machine again and again after every wash.