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Laundering

Reusable theatre hat in washing machine by Eco Ninjas

Many hospitals in the UK allow theatre staff to take their hats home to wash but many do not.  Each Infection Control department is unique and there is no standardisation when it comes to changing hospital policy from disposing of scrub hats into the bin, to being able to wash them at home. 

 

We have innovated a new form of personalised scrub cap which can be centrally laundered, just like scrubs or, washed at home so we can give hospitals a choice.

 

Laundering of our theatre caps can be done by local laundry companies to where the hospitals are situated, and we can work with them and the hospitals to enable implementation and effective laundering of our theatre badge hats. 

 

Other benefits of our detachable badge hats are that they are easier and quicker to order, and they can also be worn by other clinicians if people leave, whereas personalised embroidered hats cannot be worn by anyone else.

Hospital operating theatres have their theatre workwear attire (known as scrubs) laundered by the hospital and this is done at high temperatures for the successful removal of bacteria and other pathogens. 

 

Due to many hospitals not having their own on-site laundering facilities, the washing of theatre attire such as scrubs is usually carried out by 3rd party laundry companies such as Elis which is done on a rental system and the hospitals do not own the scrubs. 

 

Decontamination through optimal methods is important to minimise the transmission of microorganisms from theatre personnel’s clothing to different areas in the hospitals and the clinicians’ homes.

3rd party laundering is expensive and if hospitals washed their scrubs at home, this would save the NHS millions of pounds. 

Reusable laundry bag in washing machine by Eco Ninjas

Laundering hats at home- embroidered hats or badge hats
 

  • We advise users to purchase at least three hats each to allow for laundry rotation.  Most of our customers purchase 4 hats each and one laundry bag.
     

  • A new hat should be worn each day or each shift. The hats should be changed more often if contaminated, so a spare is advised to be brought along to work in case this happens.  

 

  • Prior to washing the badge hats, please simply remove the badge, clean it in the same way you clean your other name badges and keep it safe.
     

  • Dirty theatre hats should be transported separately from clean theatre hats; our laundry bags are perfect for this​.
     

  • The theatre hats should be washed at 60 degrees or higher and tumble-dried and may be ironed
     

  • A wash for ten minutes at 60 degrees centigrade removes almost all micro-organisms”. (Uniforms and workwear: guidance for NHS employers, NHS England).

 

  • Some hospitals use colour-coded theatre hats to signify the role of the clinician, but there is no standardisation of this. You may wish to check and follow any local guidance.
     

  • Our badges can be colour co-ordinated and the same colour fabric can be ordered for the hats, just like all scrubs are the same colour.

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