# Why are medical scrubs always pale blue? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 6, 2007, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-medical-scrubs-always-pale-blue/414579 "2007-08-06T04:36:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Hildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Johnny\_Hildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Hildo)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-medical-scrubs-always-pale-blue/414579/1 "2007-08-06T04:36:59Z")
They’re in all medical institutions in the US. Did a group get together years ago and assume that this shade was the most psychologically pacifying? Seems kind of weird that hospitals that weren’t affliated with each other would agree to this. How did this come about? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-medical-scrubs-always-pale-blue/414579/2 "2007-08-06T04:39:09Z")
And if this is true…why do I only remember green ones? ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-medical-scrubs-always-pale-blue/414579/3 "2007-08-06T04:41:16Z")
They aren’t always pale blue. I’ve had navy blue, light blue, various greens, white, gray, striped/printed, and even pink OR scrubs over the years, all provided by the hospital. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-medical-scrubs-always-pale-blue/414579/4 "2007-08-06T04:47:39Z")
'Kay then, why is it that the scrubs are always blue on hospital shows? ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-medical-scrubs-always-pale-blue/414579/5 "2007-08-06T05:13:11Z")
I don’t know if I’ve learned this somewhere in the last 52 years, or just figured it out for myself, but I believe the blue/green shades are used because blood spilled on on them will look like dark stains. Whereas white or yellow would highlight the bloodiness of the stain. As for why blue is preferred on television, it is because green clothes would tend to create unflattering green reflections on the actors’ skin. ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-medical-scrubs-always-pale-blue/414579/6 "2007-08-06T05:17:21Z")
White and pink scrubs are meant to be unattractive, so that you will not wear them outside of the hospital (in the white-scrub hospital, a sign in the locker room said "can you see your underwear?). Scrubs that are too dark do not show bloodstains, which is a minus because you want to know if you have been bled on. Yellow makes people look jaundiced, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-medical-scrubs-always-pale-blue/414579/7 "2007-08-06T05:44:49Z")
[QUOTE=commasense] As for why blue is preferred on television, it is because green clothes would tend to create unflattering green reflections on the actors’ skin. [/QUOTE] Blue also really sets off [Sarah Chalke](http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i187/tangerine_misfit/Sarah_chalke.jpg)’s eyes… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-medical-scrubs-always-pale-blue/414579/8 "2007-08-06T14:29:03Z")
In the hospitals I’ve been in lately, each department has a different color. They just went locally with a “uniform” rule, so you can no longer wear your Spongebob scrubs. Even on the show (granted we’re just on season 3), only the medical residents wear blue. Surgical wears green and I think the nurses wear pink. ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-medical-scrubs-always-pale-blue/414579/9 "2007-08-06T15:18:15Z")
Probably because blue is a nice soft tranquil color and could help calm patients. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-medical-scrubs-always-pale-blue/414579/10 "2007-08-06T15:25:41Z")
In the hospital where I work, Shock Trauma scrubs are light pink and General OR scrubs are dark blue.