Care guide · Chef whites
Whites are the only uniform judged across a pass by customers who never see the wearer's face. Keeping them white isn't one trick — it's a routine plus a stain playbook, because fat, wine and turmeric all fight differently.
The routine
Every laundry product on the shelf loses to one habit: treating the stain the same day. Kitchen soils set with time and heat — a fat splash pre-treated after service shifts easily; the same mark after a hot wash and tumble is dyed in. So the routine is simple: scrape, pre-treat by stain type, hot bio wash, and never heat-dry a garment that's still marked (heat sets what the wash missed — the same rule as workshop oil).
Fabric matters too: cotton-rich whites tolerate the hottest washes and respond to sunlight; poly-cotton dries faster but yellows under chlorine bleach — which is why oxygen-based whiteners are the professional default.
The playbook
| Stain | Treatment | Never |
|---|---|---|
| Fat & grease | Degreaser or neat washing-up liquid, 20 min, hot wash | Cold-wash first — it sets the grease |
| Blood & egg (protein) | Cold rinse first, then bio wash | Hot water first — it cooks protein into fibre |
| Tomato, curry, turmeric | Bio pre-treat; sunlight after washing does the rest | Chlorine bleach on poly-cotton — yellows it |
| Red wine | Blot, cold rinse, oxygen-bleach soak | Salt folklore — it's theatre, not treatment |
| Scorch & iron marks | Light: oxygen bleach may lift it | Heavy scorch is fibre damage — no product unburns cloth |
End of the line
Questions
The hottest the care label allows — typically 60 °C or above for cotton-rich whites — with a biological detergent. Hot washing is what keeps hygiene-grade whiteness achievable; the label, not habit, sets the ceiling.
Pre-treat the same day with a degreaser or neat washing-up liquid, leave it 20 minutes, then hot wash. Never cold-wash a fresh grease mark first and never tumble-dry a garment still marked — both set the stain.
Oxygen-based whiteners, yes — they lift greying safely. Chlorine bleach is the wrong tool: it yellows poly-cotton, weakens fibres, and most whites' care labels prohibit it outright.
Accumulated soil and detergent residue from washes that were too cool, too short or overloaded — plus fabric fatigue. Regular hot bio washes with occasional oxygen-bleach soaks prevent it; once the base tone is grey despite the full routine, the garment is simply tired.
When the whites or scrubs are done, replacements ship fast — boxed quantities for rotation.