In the days of white nursing scrubs, liquid bleach was used while laundering them. The liquid bleach would effectively kill germs and bacteria, and maintain the whiteness of the scrubs. Using bleach with colored and printed scrubs will only ruin the colors and prints. So how do you care for your nursing scrubs while ensuring that they retain their appearance and making them last long?
Separate Your Scrubs To Prevent Color Leaks
Separate your whites, dark colored scrubs tops, and printed scrubs tops. Make sure you wash white scrubs separately with bleach. Pile your dark colored scrubs such as navies, browns and blacks into the washer in one lot. You can put red colored scrubs along with pink ones, if you have them. Very light pastel colors can be clubbed with your whites. If you have a collection of other colors such as bright blues, purples, and turquoise, make sure that the fabrics are colorfast and wash them together.
Prevent Color Bleeding
Sort out piles of scrubs as explained in the above section. Soak the clothes separately in cold water to which you can add a tablespoon of white vinegar. Vinegar prevents color bleeding and is a natural disinfectant.
Always use cold water to pre-Soak your medical scrubs. If there’s any danger of your color scrubs running dye, cold water will trap the dye within the fabric so that it stays in the fabric. Never soak dark or bright colored scrubs in warm water. It’s safe to pre-soak white scrubs in hot water though.
Use A Mild Anti-bacterial Detergent
Use a mild anti-bacterial liquid detergent when you wash your scrubs. Since most scrubs are of the wash and wear type, you could just allow your scrubs to soak in cold water with white vinegar and the mild disinfectant detergent and rinse them out.
Don’t add liquid fabric softener to your scrubs. Medical scrubs are made of wash and wear fabric and liquid fabric softener changes the fabric’s feel causing wrinkles.
Sun Dry Your Scrubs
Bright sunlight is the best killer of bacteria. If live in a sunny place, take advantage of the sun and line dry your scrubs. You can also flat dry your scrubs on white sheets so that you don’t have to iron them later. It’s best to avoid throwing your scrubs into the dryer, unless you don’t have a choice. If you must throw them in the dryer, use the lowest possible setting to ensure your scrubs don’t shrink. Good quality scrubs won’t shrink after the first two washes.
