The dictionary meaning of the word scrubs is the protective garment worn by surgeons and nurses during operations. Earlier the garment was called “surgical greens”. It was only in the 1970’s that it got its name as “Scrubs”. It is called scrubs because it is worn in a scrubbed environment.

Scrubs can be of any color and pattern, as the color and pattern is usually designed by the hospital authorities, with the hospital logo printed on it. For example, you will find the doctors and nurses of a children’s hospital wearing scrubs which have cartoon creatures or crazy prints on them. Some hospitals also prefer having different colors of scrubs for different departments. Like, blue scrubs for surgeons, pink for nurses and so on. You will be surprised to find that there are scrubs to match the seasons as well. Some hospitals also prefer their non surgical staff to wear scrubs.

Scrubs are usually maintained by the hospital itself. And this is simply because of home laundering and sterility issues. Most of the times, the hospital lease them to commercial linen services. Just as how scrubs are common, scrub hats or rather caps are also becoming common. These scrub caps are mainly used during operations in the operation theatre to protect the patients from the contaminants of hair.

If the hospital does not have a fixed pattern of scrubs, then the choice is yours. There are lots of companies which manufacture scrubs, to meet individual preferences. So you can choose your own color and pattern that you are comfortable with. The scrubs are made of good quality material, which is highly durable. You can even purchase them online. As there are number of websites which can deliver, the pattern, color and size of the scrub you are looking for.

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Lab coats are usually used to provide protection to the user from any form of contamination from dangerous chemical and biological substances. Being exposed to so many contaminants, lots of care has to be taken in cleaning lab coats. The choices for cleaning the lab coats depend on the amount of contamination present in the lab coat.

If the lab coat is not that much contaminated, you can take it home in a water soluble bag and then clean it using detergent and bleach in the stipulated amounts. However if there is too much contamination, then you have to use the services of a specialized laundry service to clean or dispose of the lab coat.

You can find out more about specialized laundry services in your area through your lab authorities. However if you don’t have the time or find it inconvenient to go to these laundry services, there are laundry services that will come and pick up blood contaminated lab coats from your lab. They charge for their services where they pick up the laundry, have it cleaned and then deliver it to your required destination.

However if you use radioactive materials in the lab, added precaution has to be taken in the cleaning of the lab coat. You have to first ascertain that the lab coat does not cross certain limitations in beta/gamma emitting radioisotopes before leaving the lab. It is only if the lab coat has contaminants below this level that it may leave the lab. If it crosses the limit, you have to contact the authorities for advice or dispose of it in the radioactive material waste bin.

Lab coats with chemical, biological or radioactive material contamination have to be disposed of by placing them in disposable lab coats and into appropriate waste containers.

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