Healthcare workers across the world face the struggle of having to properly take care of their scrubs, especially with the deadly pandemic going on.

The most dangerous aspect for these heroes is to ensure that they don’t bring the virus home from their workplace. This not only includes their scrubs but everything they’ve brought to their workplace.

Check out these tips to learn how to decontaminate your scrubs

1. Bringing Essentials

Brining non-essentials to your workplace only increase the probability of taking home the deadly virus. The best practice for one essential item is to wrap clean clothes tightly in a bag. Why? Keep reading to find out.

2. Bringing Separate Clothes and Shoes

After working hard, there is a good chance some of the patients are positive for COVID-19. Additionally, your current work clothes might have sweat or other bodily fluids.

The best thing to do is to switch from your used scrubs to the clean clothes your wrapped tightly in a bag. There is more information on how to best wash your scrubs in the next tip below.

3. No Clean Clothes? Read Below.

Can’t get clean clothes before you go home? No problem. There is another thing you can do. To better keep your house safe from the virus, set up a plan to take your scrubs and shoes off before you enter your home. Consider leaving a bag near the door every morning if it is convenient for you to do so.

Dedicate some time to strategizing a way to make a convenient plan for you and share with your loved ones so they aren’t surprised by what you do.

4. Scrubbing Your Scrubs

Once you create the perfect plan, it’s important to properly clean your scrubs to keep your household safe. Below are some points to help you do this:

  1. Have a disposable bag to bring your scrubs or uniform to make sure the virus does not stay at your house.
  2. Keep your non-work clothes and work clothes separate when washing!
  3. Move your work clothes into a washing machine as quickly as you can to minimize exposure time to anything else.
  4. Add high-quality soap to your washes.
  5. The World Health Organization recommends washing clothes in water that measures at 140-190 degrees Fahrenheit (60-88 degrees Celsius)
  6. Keep your work clothes somewhere away from everything else, including other items.
  7. Thoroughly wash your hands even if you wear gloves.
  8. Thoroughly wipe down any surfaces you touch.
  9. Dry any washed clothes with “medium” to “high” temperature settings. The higher the setting, the better the chance of cleaning your clothes. Disclaimer: Make sure to review your scrub’s drying directions.
  10. Place dry clothes into a clean bag.

Final Note

Follow these same guidelines even if you wash and dry your clothes outside of your home. Please be considerate of social distancing by following the 6 feet apart suggestion.

Cleaning your clothes can only help with half of the battle to stay clean. None of these tips will work if you keep contracting the virus by skipping the 6 feet apart idea.

Practicing this consistently will not guarantee you to not have the virus, but is a great step in the right direction!