How to Wash Scrubs: The Complete Guide for Healthcare Workers

If you work a clinical shift, your scrubs see things your washing machine's manual never accounts for. Blood, IV fluid, or whatever a patient's toddler just sneezed on your shoulder—it all ends up in the same load as your favorite pair of joggers, unless you know better. And most people don't, because nobody actually teaches you this in nursing school. You just figure it out, usually after ruining a good set of scrubs with hot water and bleach you didn't need. 

We put together this guide with an RN because "throw it in the wash" isn't really an answer when you're dealing with pathogens, not just sweat stains. Below is exactly how to wash scrubs so they come out clean, disinfected, and not falling apart after eight washes.

To wash scrubs: turn them inside out, wash cold on a gentle cycle with a fragrance-free detergent, add oxygen bleach for whites, and skip fabric softener (it coats moisture-wicking fabric). Tumble dry on low. After a high-exposure shift, run a separate hot wash with a laundry disinfectant.

Before You Wash — Sorting & Pre-Treatment

Always wash scrubs separately from household laundry

This one's non-negotiable, and it's not just about hygiene theater. Scrubs pick up whatever's floating around a clinical environment, and tossing them in with your regular laundry gives that stuff a chance to hitch a ride onto your towels or your kid's soccer uniform. It also works the other way — your household laundry can shed lint and dye onto your scrubs. Keep a separate hamper for scrubs, wash them as their own load, and don't make exceptions because the machine's half-empty.

Treat the stain before it becomes permanent

The single biggest mistake people make is waiting until laundry day to deal with a stain. By then, it's set. Deal with it the same day, ideally the same hour:

One thing worth repeating because people get it backwards constantly: never use hot water on a fresh stain. Heat cooks protein-based stains like blood directly into the fibers instead of lifting them out. Cold water first, always.

How to Wash Scrubs

Nothing complicated here — just a routine worth actually sticking to:

1. Turn them inside out. Keeps the outward-facing side from fading as fast.

2. Pre-treat anything visible using the table above.

3. Wash on their own, separate from other laundry.

4. Cold water, gentle or normal cycle. Skip the high-agitation settings — they're harder on fabric than people realize.

5. Fragrance-free, dye-free detergent. A lot of clinical environments are scent-restricted anyway, and it's gentler on any wicking fabric.

6. No fabric softener. It sounds harmless, but it leaves a film that kills moisture-wicking and antimicrobial finishes over time.

7. Oxygen bleach for whites or heavier soil. It disinfects without the color damage chlorine bleach causes.

8. White vinegar rinse, if odor is an issue. Cuts smell without leaving residue behind the way a softener does.

How to Wash Scrubs to Actually Kill Bacteria

This is the part most "how to wash scrubs" articles skip completely, and it's arguably the only part that matters if you're doing this for infection control rather than just looking presentable.

Does hot water actually kill bacteria, or does it just feel like it should?

Hot water — around 140°F / 60°C — paired with a laundry disinfectant is the combination that actually reduces bacterial load in fabric. Detergent by itself, hot or cold, mostly just washes organisms away rather than killing them outright. Real disinfection needs heat, time, and a disinfecting agent working together, not just one of the three.

So should you always wash hot?

No — and this is the trade-off nobody explains well. Cold water with a solid detergent and oxygen bleach is enough for everyday wear. Save the hot wash for after a genuinely high-exposure shift: bodily fluid contact, an infectious patient, a visibly soiled garment. Hot water disinfects better, but it also fades color and breaks down fabric faster, which is exactly why you shouldn't default to it every single time.

Oxygen bleach vs. chlorine bleach—pick one on purpose

• Oxygen bleach is color-safe and plays nicely with most fabric blends. It's the right default for both whites and colors.

• Chlorine bleach disinfects hard, but it eats through synthetic fibers and strips color fast. Save it for plain white cotton you don't care about keeping long-term or specific situations your facility's protocol actually calls for.

How long do germs actually survive on fabric?

It depends a lot on the organism; some bacteria and viruses die off within hours on textiles; others can hang around for days depending on fabric, humidity, and temperature. This alone is a good enough reason to wash after every shift instead of stretching a set across two.

Putting it to the test

Most "how to wash scrubs" articles repeat generic advice without checking whether it holds up on an actual garment. We're running a side-by-side wash test on two identical scrubs, one washed cold, one washed hot, everything else the same, tracked at washes 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, and 50, measuring fade, pilling, shrinkage, and weight change at each checkpoint.

We'll publish the real numbers and side-by-side photos here as soon as the test reaches its first full checkpoints. In the meantime, the direction is well established even without our own numbers attached yet: hot water is consistently linked to faster fading, more shrinkage, and more fiber wear than cold water across fabric care research, cold water is the safer default; and hot water is a deliberate trade-off you make only when disinfection is the priority.

For the official word on laundering healthcare attire and handling contaminated clothing, the CDC and OSHA/AORN both have guidance worth linking to directly.

Fabric-Specific Washing Guide

Scrub fabric isn't one-size-fits-all, and your wash settings shouldn't be either.

Cotton blends are the most forgiving — normal cycle, full dryer run, no drama. Anything with stretch or a wicking finish is more delicate than it looks; keep it on gentle and low heat or just air-dry it if you want it to keep performing the way it's supposed to. If you're not sure what your scrubs are made of, take a look at our fabrics to see how each one is built to handle this exact routine. 

Drying and Ironing Without Wrecking Them

Dryer or air-dry? Cotton-blend scrubs handle a low tumble-dry fine. But performance fabric holds up noticeably longer with air-drying or a short, low-heat cycle. High heat is the single biggest reason scrubs shrink or lose their wicking ability over time.

Ironing: Most scrub fabric is made to resist wrinkling in the first place, so you probably don't need to bother. If something does come out of the dryer looking rough, a quick steam does the job without the fabric stress a hot iron adds.

One more thing worth mentioning here: scrubs that fit properly tend to hold their shape better through repeated washing than ones that are stretched too tight or bunching up in the wash. If you're between sizes or unsure, our size guide can help you land on the right fit before you buy.

How Often Should You Actually Wash Scrubs?

After every shift. Not every other shift, not "if they don't smell yet" — every single one. Between wears, keep worn scrubs in a sealed bag or hamper of their own, away from clean laundry and street clothes.

When It's Time to Replace Your Scrubs

Time to retire a set when you notice: pilling that won't smooth out, fabric thinning at the knees or seat, stains pre-treatment can't touch anymore, or waistbands that have lost their stretch.

Washed daily, most scrubs make it 6 to 12 months before hitting that point — though fabric quality makes a bigger difference here than most people expect. That's really the whole argument for better fabric in the first place: a scrub built to hold its color and shape through repeated, sometimes-hot washing just outlasts a cheaper blend by a wide margin — worth thinking about before your next order. If you're due for a replacement, our best scrubs for long shifts are built specifically to hold up to this kind of routine.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, washing scrubs right isn't complicated; it's just different from washing everything else in your closet. Cold water, gentle cycle, no softener, and a hot disinfecting wash reserved for the shifts that actually call for it. That's really the whole system.

What trips people up isn't the routine itself; it's the shortcuts: tossing scrubs in with regular laundry because the load's already started, defaulting to hot water because it "feels" cleaner, or skipping pre-treatment because the stain can wait until later. None of those save real time, and all of them shorten how long a set lasts.

Get the basics right and consistent, and your scrubs will do their job: staying clean, staying disinfected, and staying wearable for a lot longer than a set that gets thrown in on whatever setting is fastest.

FAQs:

1. Can you wash scrubs with regular clothes?

No, wash scrubs in their own load. Scrubs can carry contaminants from a shift that transfer to other clothes, and household items can shed lint or dye onto scrub fabrics. Keep them in a separate hamper and wash them apart every time.

2. What temperature kills bacteria in scrubs?

Hot water (140°F/60°C+) with a laundry disinfectant is most effective; temperature alone doesn't disinfect; it needs heat, time, and a disinfecting agent together. Cold water with a disinfecting additive works too and is easier on color and fabric, so save hot washes for high-exposure shifts rather than everyday use.

3. Is it okay to use fabric softener on scrubs?

No, it coats fibers and gradually breaks down moisture-wicking, stretch, and antimicrobial finishes. You'll notice scrubs feeling stiffer or less breathable over time. Use a white-vinegar rinse instead; it handles odor without leaving residue.

4. How do you get blood out of scrubs?

Rinse in cold water immediately, then treat with hydrogen peroxide before washing. Never use hot water — heat sets the protein in blood into the fabric instead of lifting it out. For dried stains, soak in cold water first, then treat.

5. Should you wash new scrubs before wearing them?

Yes, wash once in cold water before the first wear. This removes manufacturing residue and sizing and helps set the dye before regular wear begins. Skip fabric softener on this wash too.

Shop Scrubs Built for Daily Washing

If you're washing scrubs after every single shift, they need to be made for that. Shop the Long Shift collection →