Do you struggle to maintain your sanitation standards? Have your lab workers struggled with accidental contaminations from materials no one remembers bringing into the lab? These may be signs that you should reconsider cotton lab coats. Disposable lab coats provide a more sanitary option, and they’re more affordable in the long run, especially if you adhere to strict cleanliness standards. Below, we go into more detail about why cotton lab coats may cause sanitation, appearance, and budget problems.
Sanitation
The fact is, cotton lab coats simply aren’t as sanitary as disposable lab coats. Any material you have to wash has an increased potential of carrying residue and contaminants that could compromise patient health or lab work. Even residual detergent can cause issues. Once a cotton lab coat has been contaminated, it’s essentially impossible to completely clean, which is a massive problem in a laboratory or clinical environment. It simply doesn’t make sense to choose a reusable garment as a piece of PPE to protect against splashes and contamination.
Appearance
In order to maintain any level of sanitation, a cotton lab coat really needs to be washed on a daily basis. If the coat comes into contact with any form of hazardous material, it will need to be washed even more often. Still, unless every doctor and lab worker keeps an entire closet of back-up coats on-hand, chances are high they will have to wear over-washed, frayed, or stained lab coats on occasion. This looks tremendously unprofessional. Even if someone spills a bit of salad dressing on the lab coat, they will leave a stain. Materials caught in the fabric of the lab coat also increase the likelihood of contamination. It’s an endless cycle of the lab coat fulfilling its use, and then becoming unfit to serve that purpose again.
Cost Efficiency
The fact that lab coats are designed to protect the clothes and skin underneath mean they really ought to be disposable in the first place. A cotton lab coat that is used as a lab coat will become stained or contaminated on a regular basis, and it will never be as pristine as it was when it was first worn. In order to maintain a professional appearance, medical professionals would need to replace even well-made cotton lab coats fairly frequently. They are not necessarily constructed or priced as disposable items, however. This will begin weighing down a budget very quickly.
Disposable lab coats do not carry contaminating materials between patients or lab processes, because they are only designed to be worn once. They are also priced to be worn once. They are simultaneously the most sanitary and the most affordable option. While cotton lab coats have their uses, they are fairly impractical as actual lab coats.
Disposable lab coats simplify sanitation procedures, protect patients, and improve your professional appearance. The fact that they are more cost efficient only increases their worth. Take the opportunity to consider your budget and your commitment to sanitation. You may find that cotton lab coats don’t fit into either.