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How to Wash and Disinfect Your Medical Scrubs?

16 July
2019

How to Wash and Disinfect Your Medical Scrubs?

With medical field advancing and fashion savvy individuals becoming an integral part of the dynamics, gone are the days where scrubs meant a monotonous shade of green. Today, medical professionals get a variety of scrub options in a variety of sizes, design, pattern, texture and colors. However, regardless of the color or design, a scrub gets exposed to different bacteria and stains. If you are looking for the right way to disinfect your scrubs and wash them safely then continue reading further.

How to Wash Medical Scrubs

If you plan to wash your 100 percent cotton scrubs, make sure to use cold water. Turn the scrubs inside out which will help you to protect the finish and minimize the chances of fading caused by abrasion with other fabric blend. Ensure that the pieces are tumble dried on the lowest setting or line dried to prevent shading and fading.

You can also add half cup of distilled white vinegar to rinse the water. This will also help in softening the fabric without the need to use chemical based commercial softeners.

Similarly, those scrubs that are 65 percent cotton and 35 percent polyester need to be washed using warm water and dried on regular heat cycle.

As a thumb rule, avoid hot water as it can set stains and decrease the lifespan of your scrubs in general.

Things to Consider While Disinfecting Your Scrubs

Considering the rigorous and demanding nature of medical care, there is a high probability that your medical scrubs are likely to be exposed to bacterial and viral infections. This makes the need for bacteria disinfection greater than ever.

Generally, the probability of people handling the infected scrubs catching the disease are quite low, but it is advised to keep soiled scrubs separate from other clothing articles till they are washed. After the washing, the scrubs become safe for use due to the cleaning processes.

If you have someone within your household with a compromised immune system, make sure they wear disposable gloves while performing laundry chores. Moreover, advise them to keep the soiled scrubs away from their face.

You can disinfect white scrubs by adding chlorine bleach during the wash cycle. Add the chlorine bleaching agent to the washer's bleach dispenser. You can also dilute the bleaching agent with water before it is added to the drum. As a rule, do not directly add the bleach on the clothing article.

It needs to be noted that all oxygen based bleaching agent are not useful for disinfecting scrubs while doing laundry at home. For other colored or textured scrubs, make use of pine oil as a disinfectant. Pine oil is extremely effective in warm and hot water. Make sure to add them during the beginning of the wash cycle. It needs to be noted that effective disinfestation requires at least 80 percent pure pine oil. You can also use phenolic disinfectant on your colored scrubs.