Keeping scrubs clean

[Abilene85]

Forgive me if this has been discussed - I didn't see any specifics in a quick forum search.

I'm wondering how people keep scrubs clean during anatomy lab. I hear that whatever you wear, you will want to throw it out at the end. I assume people do not wash scrubs daily, so do they tend to wear one or two pairs all week and wash them over the weekend? Or have a different pair for every day that they wash over the weekend? It seems a pair for each day would be excessive, since no one will really care if you smell fresh at the beginning of lab. Then again, you could just wear those daily scrubs home and not put fresh street clothes back on your stinky body.

Also, when you do wash them, is it okay to just do it in your regular washer/dryer? I know white coats in my lab were sent out for special cleaning, but I'm not sure if this is necessary for scrubs worn while working with cadavers.

Thanks!

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[Law2Doc]

Also, when you do wash them, is it okay to just do it in your regular washer/dryer? I know white coats in my lab were sent out for special cleaning,

I wouldn't be very worried about microbes with anatomy scrubs (as you might with white coats that have seen actual sick people), but would be worried that anything else ever put into that washer/dryer is going to pick up the stink. The mix of cadaver and fomalyn doesn't come off easy and taints everything it comes in contact with. Your skin and hair will smell for months and they weren't even on the front line like your scrubs.

 

[Ashers]

Forgive me if this has been discussed - I didn't see any specifics in a quick forum search.

I'm wondering how people keep scrubs clean during anatomy lab. I hear that whatever you wear, you will want to throw it out at the end. I assume people do not wash scrubs daily, so do they tend to wear one or two pairs all week and wash them over the weekend? Or have a different pair for every day that they wash over the weekend? It seems a pair for each day would be excessive, since no one will really care if you smell fresh at the beginning of lab. Then again, you could just wear those daily scrubs home and not put fresh street clothes back on your stinky body.

Also, when you do wash them, is it okay to just do it in your regular washer/dryer? I know white coats in my lab were sent out for special cleaning, but I'm not sure if this is necessary for scrubs worn while working with cadavers.

Thanks!

I had 8 pairs of scrubs (I worked as a phlebotomist before med school). I only wore a pair once then it was washed; however, it might sit in my locker, in a garbage bag until I took it home (~2 weeks because we had 3-4 lab sessions/week). I used Downy fabric softener, and none of my scrubs smell now. I think the key is wearing them only once.

 

[Gimlet]

I think I only washed my lone pair of scrubs once all that semester. They were pretty grimy by the end, but no one could ever tell that they smelled bad once I was in the anatomy lab, and my wife never complained about my body smelling (despite having a super-sensitive nose).

 

[Blanket]

Never washed'em. I had put aside a t-shirt for the lab (for bottoms..it was whatever i wore to school that day).

To my surprise...they didn't really smell that bad (not just to me but to others as well).

 

[RxnMan]

Step 1) Don't get corpse juice on scrubs.

If you can't avoid 1), then

Step 2) turn in your dirty scrubs for a new pair through the hospital laundry.

 

[Law2Doc]

Step 2) turn in your dirty scrubs for a new pair through the hospital laundry.

At most schools you don't have this option.

 

[Rogue Synapse]

At my school, we're required to wear "consultation coats" (3/4 length white coats; longer than student coats but shorter than attendings') over our scrubs. This actually worked out pretty well since the white coats took the brunt of the spooge, and our scrubs stayed fairly clean, though they still wound up smelling pretty strongly. Nothing short of a full biohazard suit can stop that, though.

These coats are pretty cheap; I'd suggest looking into getting one from your local uniform store or med school bookstore.

 

[RxnMan]

At most schools you don't have this option.

🙄

3) Wash them (along with the shoes you've set aside for Anatomy lab) separately from everything else.

Taking a shower and changing back into street clothes right after lab goes a long way to reducing the smell.

 

[-Goose-]

At my school, we're required to wear "consultation coats" (3/4 length white coats; longer than student coats but shorter than attendings') over our scrubs. This actually worked out pretty well since the white coats took the brunt of the spooge, and our scrubs stayed fairly clean, though they still wound up smelling pretty strongly. Nothing short of a full biohazard suit can stop that, though.

These coats are pretty cheap; I'd suggest looking into getting one from your local uniform store or med school bookstore.

Look for the cuffed sleeves.

 

[Abilene85]

Another question...for the ladies:

Does the smell even penetrate undergarments? Should I buy a cheap sports bra for lab so I don't ruin a $60 Victoria's Secret bra?

 

[Hurricane95]

The smell penetrated to my white undershirt/wifebeater, so I imagine it will taint your bra too. It goes EVERYWHERE.

My suggestion: wash your scrubs at a public laundromat, not in the same washing machine you wash everything else. I had two sets of scrubs for anatomy and alternated them, washing the one I didn't wear that day every time. And throw some bleach in there too. Even at the end of the course mine never really smelled bad after washing.

If you need to stay in the scrubs after lab to do anything at school still, then hose yourself down generously with Axe. That does the trick pretty well (I refused to wear anything else until I could shower to not contaminate good clothes).

 

[Moniker]

just buy one or two sets of scrubs and wash them once a week or every two weeks or every month or something. do NOT wear your anatomy scrubs outside of anatomy lab, it's disgusting and totally unnecessary. regardless of whether you think you're "clean enough", no one wants to be the next guy to sit in an anatomy scrub sat-in chair, you never know what slice of fat found its way onto your scrubs or shoes, and I'd rather just not think about it. And anyone who has more than 1-2 pairs of generic anatomy scrubs is suspect - what's the deal with the person who had 8? you wasted 8 pairs of scrubs on anatomy lab? why? and yes, you definitely SHOULD throw them away at the end of the year unless you can satisfy two conditions: 1) your school does not make students dissect and 2) you washed them regularly.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I think I washed mine once the whole semester, which was probably a huge waste of time. I stored them at school and only wore them in the lab. Also, I had a lab coat, which I also didn't wash. The lab stinks bad enough that no one is going to notice if your scrubs don't smell good.

Big tip for those with longer hair -- pull your hair back!!

 

[Sondra]

We had lab 4 times a week, so I used 4 pairs of old worn out scrubs and cheap white undershirts that I had from my previous employment. After realizing that my bras even smelled like the gross lab, I stopped wearing my good ones to the lab and had two dedicated gross lab bras from Wal-Mart. I washed once weekly. Although they don't smell great, they do smell better after you wash them. After washing, I could tolerate wearing them through class and pre-lab and then to lab in the afternoon. I used my own washer, but I hung them to dry. I found the heat only brought out the smell. After drying them, I could smell the lab all over my yard from the dryer vent pushing the smell outside. I just hung them to dry in the bathroom.

There was a rule in our lab that your lab coat had to be washed twice a week. Our lab group was made up of 4 people, so we rotated who would wash coats. We kept a box of cheap trash bags with our lab stuff and every Tuesday and Friday one person would take home all of the coats and return them the next morning. It worked out wonderfully, so we each washed coats once every two weeks instead of twice a week. At the end of gross, we had a bonfire for all gross related items (books, scrubs, coats).

 

[LifetimeDoc]

Another way to keep your scrubs clean is to...

• Let others pick and clean the fat from the cadaver.
• Stand back and just observe while others do the actual cutting.
• Only goto class during reviews and get those that go to lab review for you.

 

[nabs86]

I hardly ever washed my scrubs since I wore a lab coat over them. They reeked but weren't soiled. I think after a while you and your classmates don't notice the smell because it becomes so familiar. By the way, Febreeze is useless and you just end up smelling like Febreeze mixed with cadaver.

 

[Moniker]

Another way to keep your scrubs clean is to...

• Let others pick and clean the fat from the cadaver.
• Stand back and just observe while others do the actual cutting.
• Only goto class during reviews and get those that go to lab review for you.

wow your classmates are going to love you.

 

[LifetimeDoc]

Nahh, that's just what I observed other people doing when I took undergrad gross anatomy. lol I tended to get my scrubs and lab coat pretty soiled.