Can you wash NHS uniform at 40 degrees? What the guidance says

Short answer

• No national NHS rule names 40°C. NHS England and NHS Scotland say wash at the hottest temperature the fabric allows.
• If your uniform's care label allows 60°C, a 40°C wash falls short of the national advice.
• If the label stops at 40°C or lower, the label sets the ceiling, but check your trust's policy.
• Some trusts go further: Sherwood Forest Hospitals' 2024 policy says all home-laundered uniforms should be washed at 60°C.
• NHS England says 10 minutes at 60°C removes almost all micro-organisms and 30°C with detergent removes MRSA.

In this guide (8 sections)

1. What temperature should you wash NHS uniform at?
2. Is 40°C allowed if my trust says 60°C?
3. What if the care label says 40°C or 30°C?
4. Why do trusts prefer 60°C over 40°C?
5. What did the 2025 home washing machine study find?
6. How does US guidance compare?
7. A worked example: one nurse, two sets of scrubs
8. What to check before you act

There is no national NHS rule that says 40°C. NHS England and NHS Scotland both tell staff to wash uniform at the hottest temperature the fabric allows, so a 40°C wash is only in line with the guidance when 40°C is the most the care label permits. If the label allows 60°C, or your trust's policy asks for 60°C, wash at 60°C.

This guide sets out what the national guidance says, where trusts go further, what to do when the label stops at 40°C or below, and what a 2025 study found about home machines. For the wider question of whether you may wash uniform at home at all, see can nurses wash uniforms at home.

What temperature should you wash NHS uniform at?

The national documents don't give a single number. They give a rule: the hottest temperature the fabric can take.

NHS England's "Uniforms and workwear: guidance for NHS employers" (2 April 2020) makes three points about temperature:

• Wash at the hottest temperature suitable for the fabric.
• A 10-minute wash at 60°C removes almost all micro-organisms.
• A 30°C wash with detergent removes most Gram-positive bacteria, including MRSA.

NHS Scotland's national policy, DL(2018)4, says the same thing in its own words: the highest temperature the care label allows. It adds that bleach should not be added to the wash.

Neither document mentions 40°C. That is the gap people search into. The national answer is not "40 is fine" or "40 is banned". It is "check the label, then use the top of the range".

Is 40°C allowed if my trust says 60°C?

No. A trust policy sits on top of the national guidance, and some trusts are stricter.

Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust's dress code and uniform policy (HR/0039, version 4, issued March 2024) is one example. Its laundry section, which applies where staff wash their own uniform, says all uniforms should be laundered at 60°C, or 140°F. It gives no lower option. The same section says not to add bleach, says uniform may be ironed or tumble dried as the care label allows, and says theatre and laboratory staff must never take uniform home.

Other trusts word it differently. South East Coast Ambulance Service's uniform procedure (version 4.00) tells staff to follow the manufacturer's instructions, and repeats that a 10-minute wash at 60°C is enough to remove most micro-organisms. Northumberland, Tyne and Wear's laundry table (2014) tells staff to wash at the hottest temperature suitable for the fabric.

So the trust you work for decides how firm the 60°C line is. If its policy names 60°C, a 40°C cycle doesn't meet it.

What if the care label says 40°C or 30°C?

The care label is the ceiling. National guidance says "hottest the fabric allows", not "hotter than the label".

This matters more than it used to. Many stretch scrubs sold to nurses are polyester, rayon and spandex blends, and their care advice often says cold or 30°C. When we checked listings in October 2026 for our guide to scrubs you can wash at 60°C, the pattern looked like this:

Garment (listing checked 23 Oct 2026)	Listed care	Fits a 60°C policy?
Dickies men's poplin top, 55% cotton, 45% polyester	Machine wash 60°C	Yes, per the listing
Grey's Anatomy Kim top and pants, polyester-rayon-spandex	30°C	No
FIGS FIONx fabric, polyester-rayon-spandex	Wash cold	No
Healing Hands Purple Label Jane top	"Machine washable", no temperature	Not stated

These are retailer and reseller listings, not the sewn-in label on your own garment. See the brand files for Dickies, Barco Grey's Anatomy and FIGS for where each figure came from.

If your uniform is trust-issued, check its label anyway. If you bought your own scrubs, the label may stop well below 60°C. In that case washing hotter risks damaging the fabric, and washing at the label's limit may still fall short of your trust's policy. The fix is to ask your manager or infection prevention team whether those garments are acceptable at work, not to ignore the label.

Why do trusts prefer 60°C over 40°C?

Because 60°C is the figure the guidance can point to. NHS England's statement that 10 minutes at 60°C removes almost all micro-organisms is the line most trust policies copy.

Northumberland, Tyne and Wear's laundry table also repeats the 30°C point: MRSA was removed completely after a 30°C wash with detergent. It pairs that with practical rules:

• Wash uniform separately from other clothes.
• Don't overload the machine, because it lowers how well the wash works.
• Iron after washing and drying, because ironing raises the fabric temperature in a way the table compares to thermal disinfection.

Its concern about mixed loads is the real-world problem with 40°C. If you put uniform in a mixed family wash, the whole load tends to go at the temperature the most delicate item can take. Washing uniform on its own lets you use the top of its own range.

What did the 2025 home washing machine study find?

De Montfort University published research in PLOS ONE in spring 2025 (news release dated 1 May 2025), led by Professor Katie Laird. The team tested six models of home washing machine on fabric contaminated with bacteria.

According to the university's release:

• Even the 60°C setting did not remove all potentially harmful bacteria in every case.
• Half the machines did not disinfect the fabric on a rapid cycle.
• A third did not clean it well enough on a standard cycle.
• Swabs from inside 12 machines found potentially harmful bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes.

The researchers called for laundry guidance for healthcare workers to be revised, or for employers to launder uniforms on site in industrial machines. The release did not test 40°C or say NHS guidance was under review.

Read it carefully. The study says hot washes in some home machines were not as reliable as assumed. It does not say 40°C is as good as 60°C. If anything, it is a reason to avoid rapid or eco cycles for uniform, and to use a full cycle at the top of the label's range.

How does US guidance compare?

The US has no national home-washing temperature for scrubs. The CDC's laundry page (last reviewed 8 January 2024) describes healthcare laundry processing, where a hot wash of at least 71°C (160°F) for 25 minutes is commonly recommended, with lower-temperature cycles relying on chemicals. That applies to industrial laundries, not home machines. US facility policies on home washing vary, which our how to wash scrubs guide covers in more detail.

A worked example: one nurse, two sets of scrubs

This nurse is hypothetical, built from the guidance above.

A staff nurse in England has two kinds of uniform. Her trust issues national uniform tunics whose labels allow 60°C. She also bought a set of stretch scrubs online for night shifts, and that label says 30°C.

1. She checks her trust's uniform policy. It says to wash at the hottest temperature the fabric allows, and to change out of anything visibly soiled immediately.
2. The trust tunics go in a separate load at 60°C on a full cycle, not a quick wash. She irons them as the label allows.
3. The stretch scrubs can only go to 30°C. She asks her ward manager whether they are acceptable. The answer at her trust is that personal scrubs are fine for non-clinical shifts only.
4. If her trust had a Sherwood Forest-style rule (all uniforms at 60°C), the 30°C scrubs would not meet it at all.

The lesson is to check both documents, the policy and the label, before buying, not after the first wash.

What to check before you act

• Read your trust's uniform or laundering policy and note whether it names a temperature.
• Read the sewn-in care label on each garment, not the shop listing.
• If the label allows 60°C, wash at 60°C on a full cycle, separate from other clothes.
• If the label stops at 40°C or lower, ask your manager or infection prevention team before wearing it clinically.
• Change out of uniform contaminated with blood or body fluids straight away and follow your employer's procedure.
• Buying new? Use our 60°C buying guide and the brand spec table first.

Questions people ask

General information only, not medical, legal or employment advice. Your employer's uniform and laundry policy comes first, and brand specs and prices change. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.

Sources

1. Uniforms and workwear: guidance for NHS employers (NHS England, 2 Apr 2020)checked October 23, 2026
2. DL(2018)4: national uniform policy, dress code and laundering policy (Scottish Government)checked October 23, 2026
3. Dress Code and Uniform Policy HR/0039 v4, Mar 2024 (Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS FT)checked November 10, 2026
4. Laundry guidance for staff dress and uniforms, NTW(O)48 App 1 Table 5, Jun 2014 (Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS FT)checked November 10, 2026
5. Uniform and Work Attire Procedure v4.00 (South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS FT)checked November 10, 2026
6. Home washing machines fail to remove important pathogens from textiles (De Montfort University, 1 May 2025)checked November 10, 2026
7. Laundry and bedding (CDC, last reviewed 8 Jan 2024)checked October 23, 2026