Proper lab attire means wearing clothing and protective equipment that covers your skin from your neck to your ankles and toes, shielding you from chemical splashes, biological hazards, broken glass, and open flames. The core essentials are a lab coat, safety eyewear, closed-toe shoes, long pants, and gloves appropriate for the materials you’re handling. Beyond those basics, the specific gear you need depends on what kind of lab you’re working in.
Clothing That Goes Under the Lab Coat
Your street clothes are your first layer of protection, and they matter more than most people expect. Always wear long pants or other clothing that covers your legs down to your ankles. Shorts, skirts, capris, and cropped pants leave skin exposed to splashes and spills, and a standard lab coat only reaches to about the knee. If a chemical hits bare skin below that hem, you have no barrier at all.
Fabric choice also plays a role. Cotton is the most preferred laboratory clothing fabric because it doesn’t melt or stick to skin the way synthetics can. Materials like polyester and nylon can melt at relatively low temperatures, and molten synthetic fabric adhering to skin dramatically worsens burn injuries. If you’re working near open flames or flammable solvents, wearing cotton underneath your lab coat is a simple precaution that could prevent a serious burn.
Tops should cover your torso and shoulders. Tank tops, low-cut shirts, and anything that leaves large areas of chest or back skin exposed won’t give you adequate coverage even under a lab coat.
Choosing the Right Lab Coat
The traditional white lab coat, usually made of 100% cotton or a polyester-cotton blend, works fine for general lab tasks involving non-hazardous materials. It protects against limited splashes and minor spills. But it doesn’t offer real protection against infectious agents, concentrated chemicals, or flammable liquids.
For work with flammable or pyrophoric materials, you need a flame-resistant lab coat made from materials like Nomex. Standard cotton won’t deflect flammable liquids effectively, and synthetic fabrics will melt. When working with human or animal blood, body fluids, or infectious materials, a fluid-resistant gown tested against synthetic blood penetration is the right choice. Labs handling bloodborne pathogens like hepatitis B, hepatitis C, or HIV require gowns that meet specific barrier standards for pathogen exposure.
In higher-containment biological labs, the requirements get stricter. A standard BSL-2 lab requires a buttoned lab coat worn over street clothes at all times. BSL-2/3 work calls for a wrap-around or solid-front gown, preferably liquid-resistant. At these levels, lab coats must be removed before leaving the lab area and can never be taken home. They’re either disposed of in the lab or sent to an approved laundry service.
Footwear Requirements
Closed-toe shoes are non-negotiable in any lab setting. Sandals, flip-flops, open-toed shoes, and perforated footwear leave your feet vulnerable to chemical spills, broken glass, and falling objects. OSHA requires protective footwear in any work area where there’s a danger of foot injuries from falling or rolling objects, sole-piercing hazards, or electrical shock.
Your shoes should also cover the top of your foot completely. Canvas sneakers with mesh panels technically have closed toes but won’t stop a chemical splash from soaking through. Leather or synthetic leather shoes with solid uppers provide much better protection. In labs where heavy equipment or large chemical containers are present, steel-toed or composite-toed safety shoes may be required.
Eye and Face Protection
Safety glasses with side shields are the minimum for most lab work. They protect against flying particles and minor splashes, but they leave gaps around the edges. If you’re working with chemicals that could splash, pour, or release vapors, indirectly vented chemical splash goggles provide a much better seal against your face.
Contact lenses are permitted in most labs, which surprises many people. NIOSH reversed its earlier blanket recommendation against contacts in chemical environments after finding no injury data to support the restriction. The current guidance allows contact lens wear around hazardous chemicals as long as you also wear proper eye protection. Contacts are not a substitute for safety glasses or goggles. For chemical vapors, liquid hazards, or caustic dust, the minimum protection is well-fitting nonvented or indirectly vented goggles.
Glove Selection by Hazard
Not all gloves protect against all hazards. Nitrile gloves are the preferred general-purpose option in most labs. They offer good chemical resistance against solvents, oils, greases, and some acids and bases. They also rip visibly when punctured, giving you an immediate signal that your protection is compromised. And they don’t trigger latex allergies, which makes them a safer default for shared lab spaces.
Latex gloves work well for biological materials and water-based solutions but offer little chemical protection and perform poorly against organic solvents. They’re also harder to inspect for puncture holes. PVC (polyvinyl chloride) gloves are a more specialized option, useful for acids, bases, oils, fats, and peroxides, though they fail against most organic solvents.
For routine handling, a single pair of disposable nitrile exam gloves is usually sufficient. For extended contact with hazardous chemicals, thicker reusable nitrile gloves provide a more durable barrier. Whichever type you use, remove and replace gloves that are torn, discolored, or have been in prolonged contact with chemicals.
Hair, Jewelry, and Loose Items
Long hair must be tied back. Loose hair can get caught in rotating lab equipment like centrifuges, and it can also dangle into chemicals, open flames, or biological samples. A simple ponytail or bun keeps hair out of the way.
Jewelry creates several risks at once. Rings and bracelets can trap chemicals against your skin, increasing exposure time and causing burns you wouldn’t otherwise get. Metal jewelry can contact electrical sources. Dangling necklaces, lanyards, and loose scarves can catch in rotating equipment. The safest approach is to remove rings, bracelets, dangling earrings, and necklaces before starting lab work. Loose clothing like baggy sleeves, untucked ties, and flowing scarves should also be secured or removed for the same reasons.
Putting It All Together
A quick checklist for a standard teaching or research lab looks like this:
- Legs: Long pants reaching your ankles, ideally cotton or a cotton blend
- Feet: Closed-toe, closed-top shoes with solid uppers
- Torso: A shirt covering your shoulders and chest, topped with a buttoned lab coat
- Hands: Nitrile gloves matched to the chemicals or biological agents you’re handling
- Eyes: Safety glasses with side shields at minimum, splash goggles for liquid or vapor hazards
- Hair and accessories: Hair tied back, jewelry removed, no loose or dangling clothing
If your lab involves flammable materials, infectious agents, or higher biosafety levels, each of these items may need to be upgraded to a more protective version. Your lab’s safety officer or principal investigator should specify exactly which PPE is required for the hazards present in your workspace. OSHA requires employers to assess the workplace and determine what protective equipment is necessary based on the specific hazards involved.