Scrubs should be washed after every single shift. There is no safe number of wears between washes. Healthcare environments expose your clothing to bacteria, bodily fluids, and other contaminants that accumulate throughout the day, and wearing the same pair twice without laundering creates an infection risk for you, your patients, and anyone you come home to.
Why Every Shift Matters
Bacteria can survive on scrub fabric far longer than most people expect. A systematic review of pathogen survival on textiles found that bacteria can persist on polyester for up to 206 days at room temperature, and up to 90 days on cotton and cotton-blend fabrics. Viruses lose infectivity faster, typically within two to four weeks, but that still means yesterday’s unwashed scrubs are carrying live organisms today.
Even low levels of contamination build up. While small amounts of bacteria (around 100 colony-forming units) tend to die off within three days on fabric, a full clinical shift deposits far more than that. Scrubs pick up microorganisms from direct patient contact, splashes, surfaces, and airborne droplets. The longer those organisms sit on unworn scrubs in your hamper or draped over a chair, the more opportunity they have to transfer to other surfaces in your home.
What the Guidelines Actually Say
The CDC does not specify an exact number of wears between washes. Instead, it places the responsibility on healthcare facilities: employers that require uniforms should either launder them on-site or provide employees with infection control guidance, including how often to wash. In practice, every major healthcare system interprets this as “after each use.”
OSHA adds a harder rule for visibly contaminated scrubs. If your scrubs have been soiled with blood or other potentially infectious materials, your employer is legally required to provide for the cleaning of that clothing. You should not take contaminated scrubs home to wash yourself. This applies to scrubs classified as protective work clothing under federal standards.
For routine, non-visibly-soiled scrubs that you’re allowed to launder at home, the standard expectation is still one wear, one wash. Most healthcare workers keep a rotation of five to seven sets so they always have a clean pair ready.
How to Wash Scrubs Effectively
Temperature is the most important variable. The CDC recommends hot-water washing at a minimum of 160°F (71°C) for at least 25 minutes to achieve thermal disinfection. Most home water heaters are set to 120°F, which falls short of that threshold. If your machine can’t reach the recommended temperature, you can still get effective results at lower temperatures by adding a chlorine or oxygen-based bleach to the cycle. Lower-temperature washes rely heavily on these chemical additives to reduce microbial contamination.
Warm water in the 90 to 110°F range is a reasonable middle ground for colored scrubs if you’re pairing it with bleach or a disinfecting laundry additive. Plain detergent alone at low temperatures is the least effective option.
Separating Scrubs From Other Laundry
Wash your scrubs in a separate load from household clothing. A systematic review of laundering practices recommended keeping contaminated scrubs apart from other garments and running them as the last load of laundry. This minimizes the chance of transferring any residual organisms to your everyday clothes, towels, or bedding.
Drying for Extra Disinfection
The dryer provides a second round of heat exposure. High heat drying helps kill remaining bacteria, though it can cause shrinkage and fabric breakdown over time. Tumble drying on low heat is gentler on the fabric while still offering some sanitization benefit. If you air dry instead, make sure your scrubs are completely dry before wearing them, because damp fabric encourages bacterial growth.
Home Washing vs. Hospital Laundering
If you’ve worried that your home washer isn’t doing as good a job as a hospital laundry service, the evidence is reassuring. A pilot study comparing home-laundered scrubs to hospital-laundered scrubs found no pathogenic growth on either group. The researchers also found no relationship between home washing procedures, water temperature, pets in the home, or how workers put on their scrubs and bacterial contamination levels. As long as you’re washing after every shift with detergent and reasonable heat (or a bleach additive), home laundering works.
Keeping Scrubs in Good Shape
Frequent washing at high temperatures takes a toll on fabric. Hot water above 140°F is effective at killing pathogens but accelerates color fading, especially on darker scrubs. A few habits help extend the life of your sets:
- Turn scrubs inside out before washing to reduce surface pilling and protect the color.
- Use warm water with bleach instead of the hottest setting for everyday loads, reserving true hot-water washes for days with heavier exposure.
- Tumble dry on low rather than high when possible, since repeated high-heat drying is the fastest route to shrinkage and fabric breakdown.
- Steam iron on a moderate setting if you want a polished look, which also adds a final layer of heat exposure to the fabric surface.
- Rotate enough sets so no single pair goes through the wash more than once or twice a week, giving fibers time to recover between cycles.
Transporting Dirty Scrubs Home
If your facility allows you to change out of scrubs on-site, do it. Place worn scrubs in a dedicated bag, separate from your personal items, and wash them as soon as you get home. Don’t leave dirty scrubs sitting in your car or on household furniture. The goal is to minimize the surfaces they contact between the clinical environment and your washing machine. A simple plastic bag or a dedicated washable laundry sack works fine for the commute.