We recommend washing our Medicus Scrub Caps after each surgery or at the end of each working day.
The Best Temperature To Kill Bacteria
We take this on the same recommendations for if you had towels or sheets washed after someone was ill. We have taken this section from the recommendations from Percil.
"Towels and sheets, along with any clothes that an ill person has been wearing, should really be washed at a fairly warm temperature to kill bacteria and potential mould. A good temperature for washing towels and sheets is 40 degrees, but a 60 degree wash will be better at killing germs."
So we recommend a quick wash at 60C will be enough to make sure you kill everything along with the detergent.
NHS Workwear Guidance For Washing Scrub Caps
The following NHS guidance on workwear washing was updated and published on 2 April 2020. This covers a number of other areas in workplace uniform good practices that we will break down in other scrub cap articles.
5.2 Washing uniforms and workwear
All elements of the washing process contribute to the removal of micro-organisms on fabric. Detergents (washing powder or liquid) and agitation release any soiling from the clothes, which is then removed by sheer volume of water during rinsing. Temperature also plays a part.
Scientific observations and tests, literature reviews and expert opinion as stated in the 2007 suggests that:
- There is little effective difference between domestic and commercial laundering in terms of removing micro-organisms from uniforms and workwear
- Washing with detergents at 30ºC will remove most Gram-positive micro-organisms, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
- A ten minute wash at 60ºC is sufficient to remove almost all micro-organisms. In tests, only 0.1% of any Clostridioides difficile spores remained. Microbiologists carrying out the research advise that this level of contamination on uniforms and workwear is not a cause for concern
Learn more about Scrub Caps
We really are focused on providing not only the best service but collecting the most information on scrub caps and the benefits for your organisation and its patients. You can find our main article on everything you need to know about scrub caps here.
