Keeping the white coat clean?

[PsychStudent]

This may be a silly question, but how do you clean/wash yours? And how often? I'm nervous about throwing my husband's in the dryer because it has colored patches on it that could bleed, but going to the dry-cleaner weekly or whatever seems annoying.

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[MonkeyRalph]

I wash it alone or with whites in alot of bleach. Not so much to damage the fabric, but enough to kill all the germies and get rid of those pesky stray ink stains. Then I pull it out of the dryer ASAP and hang it so it doesn't get wrinkly. Rarely does it ever get too many wrinkles, but if it does, a quick pass of the steamer gets them out easily.

 

[71263]

Anyone ever try dry-cleaning? Thats what I usually do, particularly since there is a dry cleaner's in my apt building. I have 2 white coats, and when I start a new rotation, Ill throw my old one for dry cleaning and wear the new one.

Yeah, its more expensive, but on the plus side, you dont have to iron it out either.

 

[UCLAstudent]

I throw it in the washing machine and hang it to dry. Very few wrinkles that way! I actually have two white coats, so I can go for two weeks before I need to do laundry.

 

[PsychStudent]

Those who are washing it in the washing machine, are you doing it on cold or warm?

 

[Ambs]

Those who are washing it in the washing machine, are you doing it on cold or warm?

Cold with the other whites and bleach.

 

[AF_PedsBoy]

When I was a med stud I tossed it in with the rest of my clothes on warm - the dye doesn't run, but the patch changed to a very cool bronze with red lettering (from black)

 

[Blade28]

Just throw it in with the rest of your whites, use warm water. If you want to use bleach, you run the risk of changing the coloring of your embroidered name (if one exists).

I've heard of people hand washing it in bleach, thereby being able to keep the embroidered name out of the bleach liquid.

But again, I just throw mine in with the rest of my whites and use warm water.

 

[jdh71]

OXYCLEAN . . . let me repeat OXYCLEAN - gets out whatever ails you

 

[DrMom]

color safe bleach will protect the patches/embroidery.
I wash & dry mine then hang it up immediately. Cuts down on the ironing.

 

[subtle1epiphany]

Any recommendations on where to get a student coat (short coat) with 5 pockets of decent size? I don't see an option at allheart.com

I've got a great longer white coat (given to me by a friend for anatomy) with tons of pocket-space, but I don't want to be ridiculed for wearing it as a 3rd year.
I don't have enough space for the books and papers I need plus my phone, etc...also, the one my school provided doesn't seem to breathe well and leads to me overheating.

 

[MadameLULU]

I throw it in the washing machine and hang it to dry. Very few wrinkles that way! I actually have two white coats, so I can go for two weeks before I need to do laundry.

Yup. This is exactly what I do. I think every two weeks is key.

 

[DOctorJay]

Any recommendations on where to get a student coat (short coat) with 5 pockets of decent size? I don't see an option at allheart.com

I've got a great longer white coat (given to me by a friend for anatomy) with tons of pocket-space, but I don't want to be ridiculed for wearing it as a 3rd year.
I don't have enough space for the books and papers I need plus my phone, etc...also, the one my school provided doesn't seem to breathe well and leads to me overheating.

http://aetnashirt.com/medicalcoats/medical_short_coats.html

 

[kat82]

i have (had) 3 white coats (a good investment) becuase i hate doing laundry but i also hate having a narsty white coat. one of mine got destroyed by a pen last year so watch out!

i use one of those clorox bleach pens, which is the best way to get out that nastiness around the collar and on the cuffs. then i throw it in with all my whites and use regular detergent. i put mine in the dryer and never iron it, and no one can tell!

 

[njbmd]

This may be a silly question, but how do you clean/wash yours? And how often? I'm nervous about throwing my husband's in the dryer because it has colored patches on it that could bleed, but going to the dry-cleaner weekly or whatever seems annoying.

If you are not willing to have the coat professionally cleaned, get some Scotchgard and start spraying now. Wash in warm (not hot)water with a detergent that doesn't have chlorine bleach. Also, don't use chlorine bleach in the wash or you will see the colors running over the coat and eventual yellowing of the fabric.

If you start out with a good spraying of Scotchgard, the coat will be more resistant to stains. Your husband needs to be anal about using cold water and peroxide for any blood stains as they happen and keeping ballpoint pen tips inside pocket protectors (cut them in half so they don't look so nerdy).

The coat should be washed every two to three days in something like OxyClean (or Chlorox 2) to keep it white but your best bet is a professional cleaner who can do a good job with keeping the coat pressed too.

 

[Richie Truxillo]

When I was a med stud I tossed it in with the rest of my clothes on warm - the dye doesn't run, but the patch changed to a very cool bronze with red lettering (from black)

This is totally me right now...well at least until I got engaged. Now the fiance has taught me how to wash it "properly" hehe

 

[docjolly]

i use oxyclean on my white coat, but it still is not as white as if it would be if i had used good old fashioned bleach...

i'm definitely thinking of getting my coat professionally cleaned, but i don't think that is a good idea (financially speaking) to have it dry-cleaned every week...

maybe i'll go with njbmd's suggestion about the scotchguard?

 

[Wednesday]

Having more than one coat is key.

I didn't have patches,but I used to wash my coats in warm water with bleach. As for the coats yellowing with time and the bleach destroying the fabric (which it will do eventually), you are only going to use these short coats for two years tops. Not really enough time to destroy them. I would hang them out to dry wet and they really didn't get very wrinkly. Mine were completely synthetic though.

 

[ForbiddenComma]

My school gave us these el cheapo short white coats without any embroidery at all at the beginning of med school, so I just throw it in with the whites on hot water and Tide Bleach. No visible damage yet now that I'm into third year.

I wash it every 2-3 weeks, and a lot of other students in my class do it even less, which makes me wonder... just how much infection are we carrying around from room to room on our coats?

 

[t33sg1rl]

I like to wash mine in hot water with two scoops of detergent and a cup of bleach. I hate germs. My patches and embroidered name are both doing just fine. It doesn't need to be ironed as long as I don't leave it in the dryer overnight.

caveat: Before I started this plan, I bought a second coat as a backup in case I ruined mine.

 

[Doctor Bob]

We hired a New Orleans designer to create a white coat

So are they also flood resistant?


(edit 12 June: See, this post only makes sense if the shameless advertisement post that necrobumped this thread is still in place. Sadly it got modhammered out of existence)