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Why Are They Called Scrubs? A Short History of the Uniform

· Hedy Nie· 5 min read
Why Are They Called Scrubs? A Short History of the Uniform

The name is more literal than it sounds. "Scrubs" comes from the phrase "to scrub in," the compulsory pre-operative routine where surgeons and nurses wash their hands and forearms thoroughly before entering a sterile field. The clean clothing they changed into to work in that scrubbed environment got called a scrub suit, and over time people shortened it to scrubs. So the word describes the setting, the scrubbed-down sterile area, more than it describes washing the garment itself. Here is how the clothes, and the name, got where they are.

Surgeons used to operate in their own clothes

For most of medical history there was no special surgical clothing at all. As Wikipedia's history of surgical attire puts it, surgeons did not wear any kind of specialized garments until well into the 20th century. They operated in their street clothes, sometimes with a butcher's apron to keep blood off, bare-handed, with non-sterile instruments. The operating theater was closer to a workshop than the sterile room we picture now.

Two things changed that. Germ theory and antiseptic practice, pushed by figures like Joseph Lister, established that infection came from contamination you could not see. Then the 1918 influenza pandemic drove home the value of masks and barriers. Over the early-to-mid 20th century, surgical teams moved to gowns, masks, gloves, and dedicated clothing changed into on-site. The first versions were white, to signal cleanliness.

Why surgical scrubs turned green and blue

White did not last in the OR. Staring at the bright red of blood and tissue under strong lights for hours tires the eye and leaves a greenish afterimage, and a sea of white made that worse with glare. Hospitals switched surgical attire to green and blue, which sit opposite red on the color wheel, rest the eye, keep red details crisp, and hide stains better than white. Those washed-out green sets were the original "surgical greens," and they are why OR scrubs are still blue-green almost everywhere. We go deeper on that in what scrub colors mean.

Nurses and the long goodbye to the white dress

Nurses took a different road to the same place. From the early 1900s through the 1960s, the standard was a white dress, white stockings, an apron, and the cap from the nurse's training school. The look signaled purity and discipline, and it was shaped partly by military nursing in both world wars. The cap in particular was a badge of the profession.

The switch to scrubs happened mostly between the late 1970s and the early 1990s, and it was several pressures at once rather than one decision:

  • The work got more physical. Patient acuity rose, and a fitted dress with stockings was a bad fit for a job that now involved constant lifting, bending, and moving.
  • Infection control became urgent. The hepatitis B and HIV era made it matter that a uniform could be thrown in hot water repeatedly. A washable scrub beat a starched white dress on every hygiene measure.
  • The cap fell out of favor. Caps were found to collect bacteria and were impractical for the work, and nurses themselves pushed back on a piece of uniform that signaled subservience. They were phased out around the same time.

By the 1990s, scrubs were the default on most units, and the white dress had become a museum piece.

How scrubs spread beyond the OR

Once scrubs proved themselves as cheap, durable, easy to sanitize, and comfortable, they did not stay in surgery. Nurses, then techs, dentists, vets, and eventually most of healthcare adopted them. The design stayed deliberately plain, few seams and no fussy details, because the whole point was to wash hard and sanitize often. The name came along for the ride, which is why a dental hygienist who never scrubs in for surgery still wears "scrubs."

The category even has its own holiday now: October 9 is International Scrubs Day.

The Eipnare view on this

The history is a useful reminder of what the garment is for. Scrubs were never meant to be fashion. They are work clothing built to be washed hard, moved in, and replaced without much cost. The modern version trades the stiff cotton of the early days for a four-way-stretch performance blend, but the brief is the same one it has always been: plain, durable, easy to clean. That is the standard we build to.

FAQ

Why are scrubs called scrubs?

The name comes from "scrubbing in," the surgical routine of washing hands and forearms before entering a sterile field. The clean clothes worn in that scrubbed environment were called scrub suits, later shortened to scrubs. The word describes the sterile setting more than the act of cleaning the clothes.

When did nurses stop wearing white dresses and caps?

Mostly between the late 1970s and early 1990s in US hospitals. Rising patient acuity, the infection-control demands of the hepatitis B and HIV era, and the cap's reputation as impractical and a bacteria carrier all pushed nurses toward washable scrubs. By the 1990s scrubs were standard.

Why are surgical scrubs green or blue instead of white?

Because green and blue sit opposite red on the color wheel. Staring at red tissue under bright lights tires the eye, and green or blue rest it, keep red details crisp, and hide bloodstains better than white, which also glares under OR lights.

Who wore scrubs first, surgeons or nurses?

Surgical teams adopted dedicated sterile clothing first, in the early-to-mid 20th century, while nurses kept the white dress and cap until the 1970s to 1990s. Scrubs started in the operating room and spread to the rest of healthcare from there.

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Edited by Hedy Nie, COO of Eipnare. Connect on LinkedIn.

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