Getting the SMELL out of scrubs

[nightowl]

I'm an M1 who just started gross lab and am mortified that the smell of gross lab is in my scrubs after washing and hanging them to dry outside. + febreeze. Even after febreeze and a few hours of fresh air, they still REEK. Does anyone have tips on what gets the smell out?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[crazy_cavalier]

Bleach purifies all. Bow before the power of bleach.

 

[Random]

Yes but bleach will make everything wonderfully white. I used Tide during anatomy without ever noticing that my scrubs smelled like dead people after I washed them. Also, a friend of mine said borax worked really well.

 

[crazy_cavalier]

Yes but bleach will make everything wonderfully white. I used Tide during anatomy without ever noticing that my scrubs smelled like dead people after I washed them. Also, a friend of mine said borax worked really well.

Use Tide with that color-safe bleach technology crap that they add to it. Best of both worlds.

 

[JonnyG]

im surprised you washed them........................i just threw them out when i couldnt stand them anymore.

 

[Rockhouse]

Cheer with colorsafe bleech does the trick. And after a week of smelling phenol and formalin on them, it is so nice to smell some fresh scrubs... ahhh.

 

[78222]

Why bother? As soon as you go back to lab they will stink again. There is no getting rid of that smell. Get used to it.

 

[psipsina]

Yeah, I only wash mine if they are so greasy with fat that they feel gross against my skin, the lab smells far worse than my scrubs do, and I only put the scrubs on when I am going to walk into lab next thing. Then I take them back off as soon as I walk out and throw them back in my locker. As soon as this semester is over they will be thrown away.

 

[Bad-Obsession]

Yah, I washed mine once a week with Tide. Also, wash the scrubs by themselves otherwise everything you wash with them will smell like the lab. On Fridays I would take them home in a plastic grocery bag, wash them by themselves, put them back in the plastic bag, and bring them back to lab on Monday. Then at the end of the semester I threw them away with a little dance to celerbrate. It makes it easier if you realize that you are throwing those damn things away when it is over. 😱

 

[Pontifex Maximus]

There's a reason most schools have some sort of scrub burning event! Don't buy designer scrubs for anatomy lab, kids.

 

[mister]

Add baking soda to the wash water - it will help a lot! Gets lots of gross smells out!

 

[Stillwater45]

I spent way too much time in the anatomy lab as both a student and TA and faced the exact same problem so here is my revolutionary answer...

Go to walmart and buy 10-15 colored t'shirts (each 3.99) and wear a shirt a week and then throw them away. You can get away with the same scrub bottoms but the shirt is what gets so stank. At 3.99 a piece its about the same price as one t-shirt from a designer store or maybe two scrub tops. Worked for me! Good luck

 

[socal1015]

I'm an M1 who just started gross lab and am mortified that the smell of gross lab is in my scrubs after washing and hanging them to dry outside. + febreeze. Even after febreeze and a few hours of fresh air, they still REEK. Does anyone have tips on what gets the smell out?

I'm surprised, doesn't your school provide you with scrubs from the hospital? My school does. Whenever my scrubs stink, I just go back to the hospital and get a new pair. I used to change my scrubs everyday but now, I really could care less.

 

[boulux]

I'm an M1 who just started gross lab and am mortified that the smell of gross lab is in my scrubs after washing and hanging them to dry outside. + febreeze. Even after febreeze and a few hours of fresh air, they still REEK. Does anyone have tips on what gets the smell out?

get rid of them...

 

[SugarDaddy]

Embrace the smell my friend. Soon everything you own will smell like that(clothes, apartment, yourself), and there is no getting rid of it except by waiting until next year. So sit back and enjoy your stink!

 

[tacrum43]

Yeah, I only wash mine if they are so greasy with fat that they feel gross against my skin

😱 How could your scrubs possibly get that much fat on them? You don't roll on top of your cadaver, do you?

 

[MossPoh]

Makes me think of football where we'd have competitions to see who could go the longest into the season without washing their practice gear or pads....the entire season was the longest. In rain and all. I'm not even a med student yet and I have probably 10 sets of scrubs..I just steal them from the hospital I shadow in at home every now and then. (note I'm not actually stealing...I ask the guys before hand)

 

[ShyRem]

tacrum, some cadavers are.. um.. greasier.. than others. I actually was "sponging" fat off my cadaver like blotting the grease off a slice of pizza. Very fatty.

As for the scrubs thing - we had to buy a new washer. So we bought one of those ultra-expensive ones that have a sanitize cycle and "silver care". It uses silver ions to get rid of crap in the wash. My scrubs look and smell like new each week. 🙂 I love my husband - he does the laundry!

 

[tacrum43]

tacrum, some cadavers are.. um.. greasier.. than others. I actually was "sponging" fat off my cadaver like blotting the grease off a slice of pizza. Very fatty.

As for the scrubs thing - we had to buy a new washer. So we bought one of those ultra-expensive ones that have a sanitize cycle and "silver care". It uses silver ions to get rid of crap in the wash. My scrubs look and smell like new each week. 🙂 I love my husband - he does the laundry!

Well, mine is very moist, and so my group uses paper towels. I didn't realize some bodies actually had liquid fat though. Ew. But still, it doesn't seem like you come into much contact with the cadaver except when rolling it over.

And Shy, your washer sounds pretty awesome. I am stuck with a communal laundry room, but I use lots of soap and that seems to work okay (but they do still smell a little afterwards).

 

[Shredder]

I think the smell's overrated. I wear normal clothes all the time and they're fine. But I guess I am very hands off too. More reason to let partners do everything!

 

[MarzMD]

You guys have to wash your own scrubs? My school gives us 2 pair at a time and we can trade them out whenever we want.

 

[LostTommyGuns]

Don't buy designer scrubs.
Don't wear them out of Anatomy lab, except to perhaps to your locker.
Trash, burn or leave them in an irritating neighbors house when you're done.

Friendly advice from a fourth year 😀

 

[Bad-Obsession]

I think the smell's overrated. I wear normal clothes all the time and they're fine. But I guess I am very hands off too. More reason to let partners do everything!

I don't know. Even when it was a day that I didn't do that much the smell just got in everything. My scrubs, skin, hair. I hated it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But my therapist says I'm better now. Good times. 😎

 

[BoredRlyin]

tacrum, some cadavers are.. um.. greasier.. than others. I actually was "sponging" fat off my cadaver like blotting the grease off a slice of pizza. Very fatty.

As for the scrubs thing - we had to buy a new washer. So we bought one of those ultra-expensive ones that have a sanitize cycle and "silver care". It uses silver ions to get rid of crap in the wash. My scrubs look and smell like new each week. 🙂 I love my husband - he does the laundry!

Not to derail the thread, but I've always wondered. Why would you donate your body to an anatomy lab if you were tragically obese? I'm not asking to dissect a model or anything (we learn more in the long run when everything isn't structurally ideal). I just wonder what goes through these people's heads when they decide to donate knowing that they're obese.

 

[Orthonut]

Try this (not guaranteed to work, but sometimes it does)

Wash in H O T water with liquid Tide and a full amt of Downy fabric softener (scented)

Then run through another complete wash cycle on HOT/HOT with just the TIDE.

Always wash the scubs by themselves (not with your good clothes) but put a couple of old towels in with them-like ones you use to dry off your car with after you wash it, or your household cleaning rags.

Also, if you google search med vet international, you can get really cheap scrubs there (and you don't have to be vet to purchase from them) like $3 for tops, $4 or $5 for pants so you don't feel bad for tossing them out when the smell gets too bad.

 

[Sondra]

The clothes that I salvaged from my house after hurricane Katrina smelled horrible! Someone gave me the advice to put a cap full of the Lysol (in the small brown bottle) in with my detergent. It worked! None of my clothes smelled. It left them smelling like an antiseptic. The antiseptic smell didn't bother me, but it did go away the next time I washed my clothes without the Lysol (of course).

It took me a while to find the Lysol in the brown bottle because I didn't know what I was looking for, but Wal-Mart carried it with their laundry supplies and with their cleaning supplies.

 

[ShyRem]

i didn't actually *pay* for my scrubs either - my mommy made 'em for me. So I have these super-cute scrubs (today's were dinosaurs) that were free. Totally free. And I can keep cleaning 'em. So why bother burning 'em if they can be cleaned? (but I THOROUGHLY plan on burning a ceremonial pair.) 🙂

 

[evade]

Yah, I washed mine once a week with Tide. Also, wash the scrubs by themselves otherwise everything you wash with them will smell like the lab. On Fridays I would take them home in a plastic grocery bag, wash them by themselves, put them back in the plastic bag, and bring them back to lab on Monday. Then at the end of the semester I threw them away with a little dance to celerbrate. It makes it easier if you realize that you are throwing those damn things away when it is over. 😱

That's what I did. Always keep 'em in a bag, always wash 'em by themselves, and when you put them back in a bag after washing them, toss a couple dryer sheets in with them. That will keep them smelling a bit fresher.

 

[BaylorGuy]

im surprised you washed them........................i just threw them out when i couldnt stand them anymore.

Yeah, i'm pretty sure burning them also takes the smell out. If you are that attached to the scrubs then you may have issues...but i can defeinitely understand the horrid smell of stench constantly following you around.

 

[Rendar5]

I gave up, just aired em out the window and stuffed em in a plastic bag after each lab. Then after it was all over I washed em w/ tide 3 or 4 times.

 

[Orthonut]

Yeah, i'm pretty sure burning them also takes the smell out. If you are that attached to the scrubs then you may have issues...but i can defeinitely understand the horrid smell of stench constantly following you around.

lol BaylorGuy, spoken like a true firefighter (were you on the ODF engine crew with me?)

I have the scrubs I wear to lab (safely ensconced in their layers of plastic bags) and the Scrubs I Wear To Work, washed and hung in the closet (daisy fresh) when I can't stand the smell anymore I toss them. But I also don't pay $30 for a top and $40 for bottoms-knock off the last digit is more like it, so I don't feel guilty for throwing away something that looks perfectly fine.