Uniforms for care homes

A care home is also somebody's home. Residents and families should be able to tell who is a nurse, who is a carer and who to speak to, without the place feeling like a hospital ward.

Infection control and laundering

Uniforms in care settings are usually changed every shift and washed hot to reduce the spread of infection. Polycotton tunics and scrubs cope with frequent hot washing and dry fast. Short sleeves, or sleeves pushed above the elbow, support good hand hygiene, as many infection control policies ask for bare below the elbows.

Follow your own infection prevention policy for wash temperatures and whether staff can launder at home.

Telling roles apart

Colour-coding tunics by role is common: one colour for nurses, another for senior carers, another for care assistants. Kitchen, domestic and activities staff can wear polos in their own colour. Families visiting quickly learn who to ask about medication and who to ask about lunch.

Embroidered role titles under the logo help residents with dementia, as words can be easier than remembering a colour code.

• Nurses: tunic in a distinct colour
• Senior carers and carers: tunics in separate shades
• Domestic and kitchen: polo with tabard
• Activities: friendly coloured polo or sweatshirt

Warmth without loose layers

Corridors and gardens can be cool, but long baggy cardigans get in the way of moving and handling. A fitted cardigan or fleece for breaks and garden time, taken off for personal care, is a good balance. Comfortable, closed, flat shoes with grip suit long shifts on hard floors. Pick colours that match the tunics so the team still looks joined up.

Where to put your logo

Embroider the home's logo on the left chest of tunics and polos, with the role title, such as Senior Carer or Nurse, stitched underneath. Embroidery copes far better than print with the hot washing care uniforms need. Keep the logo small and the thread colour soft so the uniform feels friendly. For groups running several homes, the same logo with a home name underneath keeps a shared identity. A proof is sent first.

Ordering for care homes

Most care homes start with healthcare tunics, scrubs and workwear polo shirts. You can order from one garment and add more as you take people on. The logo price drops at 9 and again at 25 garments, and every garment with a small logo counts towards it, so mixing styles and colours still gets the better price. Before anything is made, we embroider an actual sample of your logo and email you a photo to approve, or you can pop in to our Hull workshop to see it.