Choosing a scrub cap colour

Choosing a scrub cap colour sounds trivial until you are standing in front of five of them. Should it match your scrubs? Stand out? Follow whatever your department wears? The good news is that there is no wrong answer, only one that suits your work better.

Our tie-back scrub cap comes in navy, teal, wine, ceil blue and OT green. Here is how to choose among them.

Start with the rules

Before anything else, check your hospital’s or college’s uniform policy. Some set the cap colour for each area:

• Theatre staff may be asked to wear only the OT colour.
• Some departments use a cap colour to show role, for example a different colour for anaesthesia or for students.
• Nursing colleges often specify one cap colour for all students.

If the rules decide for you, the choice is made. If not, read on.

Option 1: Match your scrubs

The simplest look is a cap in the same colour as your scrubs.

• Navy cap with navy scrubs: smart and professional, the most common combination.
• Wine cap with wine scrubs: warm and distinctive.
• Teal with teal, ceil blue with ceil blue: clean and calm.
• OT green with an OT green set: the standard theatre look.

Matching also makes laundry easy. Wash the cap with its set and you never hunt for the right one.

Option 2: Contrast

A contrasting cap adds a little personality without breaking a dress code that only covers scrubs.

Scrubs	Caps that contrast well
Navy	Ceil blue, wine, teal
Grey	Navy, wine, teal
Teal	Navy, wine
Wine	Navy, ceil blue
Ceil blue	Navy, wine

Darker caps stay looking clean longer between washes. Lighter caps show the colour of the scrubs more.

Option 3: One colour for the team

In some departments, everyone wears the same cap colour regardless of their scrubs. It makes the team easy to spot in a crowded area. A department can choose a colour together; for a hospital or college that wants it built into the uniform, the nursing office can approve the cap along with the scrubs as part of an institution order.

Practical points

• Marks and stains: navy and wine hide small marks; ceil blue and teal show them more.
• Fading: coloured caps last longer if you wash warm, with similar colours, and never bleach them.
• Telling caps apart: if several people in your unit wear the same colour, a cap in a slightly different shade, or one kept in a named pouch, saves confusion.
• A spare in your bag: keep one clean cap in your locker for days when the first one gets wet or soiled.

How many colours to own

Most people do well with one cap per scrub set, in the matching colour, plus one spare. If you rotate two scrub colours, say navy and wine, owning a navy cap can work with both. Theatre staff usually need OT green caps in addition to whatever they wear on the ward.

Wrapping up

Follow your hospital’s rules first. If you are free to choose, matching is the neat and easy option, contrast adds a bit of character, and a shared team colour helps people find you. When you have decided, pick your colours on the scrub cap page and add them to your next WhatsApp order.