A lab coat is a necessary safety resource used throughout a spectrum of industries. From medical and dental facilities to agriculture, laboratory and food processing contexts, a lab coat provides your employees with the coverage they need to work safely and productively. Unfortunately, not all lab coats can meet your needs. Although there are a few applications in which reusable lab coats provide some advantages, many of our customers prefer disposable lab coats because they provide a range of benefits that suit a wide variety of needs.
Disposable vs. Reusable Lab Coats
Industry professionals choose disposable lab coats for a variety of reasons. Although there are a handful of specific scenarios in which a reusable lab coat may be better suited for an isolated task, the pros of disposable lab coats often exceed the few benefits reusable lab coats offer without the drawbacks. Depending on your needs, disposable lab coats can outperform reusable lab coats and provide you with the convenience and coverage your employees require. In the debate between disposable vs. reusable lab coats, we believe disposable coats win.
Why Use Disposable Lab Coats?
Choosing personal protective equipment is not a decision you can make on a whim. To ensure all your employees have durable, reliable outwear that meets all their needs, you need to thoroughly research your options. PalmFlex believes that without safety apparel tailored to your unique business activities, your employees face exposure to potentially harmful contaminants. That’s why we only provide the highest-quality disposable lab coats from industry-leading manufacturers who have a reputation for exceptional, innovative products you can count on.
For over 30 years, PalmFlex has had the privilege to work with some of the best manufacturers of safety equipment on the planet. We’ve considered thousands upon thousands of items as we refined our product line to showcase only the highest-quality, most reliable personal protective gear for your diverse needs. We choose to provide a broad selection of disposable lab coats to our customers because they offer priceless benefits over reusable lab coats. Let’s look at the pros of disposable lab coats our clients value the most.
More Cost-Effective
For many supply purchasers, the first factor they consider is cost. We agree staying within — or, ideally, under — budget is a responsible way to bolster the success of your business. However, too many managers focus on obtaining the lowest-priced option without understanding cheap products yield low-quality results. Disposable lab coats are simultaneously cost-effective and high-quality products. Instead of wasting money on poorly made products that can’t accomplish your goals, disposable lab coats are an affordable investment.
Easier to Clean and Maintain
If you purchase reusable lab coats, you’ve committed to your order. Although it’s possible to wash these garments, specific stains or contaminants may not come out quickly, and damage can be more difficult to repair. In comparison, it requires little effort to clean and maintain disposable lab coats. Most importantly, if some of your lab coats are too soiled, damaged or have gotten exposed to hazardous substances that put others at risk, you can discard them immediately without feeling like you’ve thrown your investment in the trash.
Decreased Cross-Contamination Risks
If your employees work within contexts that involve medicine, biological sciences or clean rooms, we understand you can never risk cross-contamination. Reusable lab coats force you to either purchase additional boxes every time your inventory gets contaminated, or risk cross-contamination by wearing them again. Disposable lab coats eliminate these issues. You can store and discard these resources in a contained area to fully prevent any chance of their cross-contamination.
Protection from Workplace Hazards
One misconception you may have when shopping for disposable lab coats is that their lower-quality material can’t stand up to the heavy use needed in intense applications like oil and gas, medicine, manufacturing and lab work. Instead, many of the disposable lab coats PalmFlex carries are made from exceptional materials that keep employees safe. We have options that are fluid-impervious, splash-resistant, chemical-resistant, fire-retardant, anti-static, tear-resistant, ASTM F1670 tested, ISO class compatible — the safety your employees need is available from PalmFlex.
Stops the Spread of Contagious Diseases
Lab coats are a vital resource in the medical and science fields. Whether your employees are working in the emergency room or are treating patients in a clinic, there’s always a chance they may contact blood, fluids or airborne particles that contain diseases. It’s an occupational hazard these employees admirably accept and expect. However, other patients and staff shouldn’t also be at risk. Personnel can discard disposable lab coats immediately before leaving the room to prevent the spread of contagious diseases.
Reliable Comfort and Quality
Another incorrect perception is that disposable personal protection equipment is only available as one-size-fits-all apparel that’s uncomfortable and restricts movement. Our well-designed garments are comfortable to wear in dozens of applications. With sizes ranging from extra-small to 9XL, we have a fit for every body type. Many of our products include elastic wrists, breathable fabric, light to heavyweight fabrics, latex-free materials, pockets, snap buttons, professional collars and attractive color options with or without pockets. Disposable lab coats from PalmFlex can fit your needs and employees perfectly.
Drawbacks of Reusable Lab Coats
There are so many advantages to using disposable lab coats. Once you see how easy they are to maintain, how comfortable they are to wear and how well they stand up to the rigors of your industry, you’ll wonder why you would ever consider ordering reusable lab coats. Although reusable lab coats do provide certain benefits in unique contexts, they also come with their share of drawbacks that increase their cost, create unsafe scenarios and inconvenience your employees.
More Effort Required to Clean and Maintain
If you’re concerned with the cost aspect of either option, you may assume reusable lab coats are less expensive than disposable lab coats because you should only need to purchase a limited number of them. However, there are other costs associated with reusable lab coats, such as the need to launder them. You also need to remember lower-quantity orders don’t always have the attractive price break that bulk orders do.
Having a broad availability of sizes can also raise your costs if you need to purchase a whole box of a specific size for just one or two employees. If these reusable lab coats become damaged or soiled with hazardous material and aren’t safe for reuse, you’ll essentially have to discard the investment you assumed would last longer than a disposable lab coat.
Increased Potential for Cross-Contamination and Spread of Contagious Diseases
It’s no secret that all materials, even the highest-quality products from the leading manufacturers, have a shelf life. While this is a fact of life, it unfortunately isn’t a welcomed expectation in your industry. If you need to prevent cross-contamination, keep hazardous substances and diseases from spreading and protect your employees, you can’t always trust a reusable lab coat to meet your needs. All it takes is one mistake in the cleaning process for a severe problem to present itself. Disposable lab coats let you throw these worries away.
Research shows lab coats often contain potential contaminants that can then get transmitted to others. One reason for this is due to misuse by the wearer when they purposely or accidentally bring the lab coat into different contexts. This issue becomes especially troublesome when wearers attempt to launder their lab coats on their own, which does not clean and decontaminate the material adequately. By providing employees, especially new hires or students, with disposable lab coats, you can limit the chances of cross-contamination and transmission.
Not a Viable Option for Many Applications
Many professional contexts require a disposable lab coat. For other companies, ordering reusable lab coats doesn’t make sense. It’s safer to work in a clean room with a brand-new lab coat than to chance bringing contaminants in on a reusable coat. The opposite is also true — it’s safer to discard a contaminated disposable lab coat than risk bringing it into a setting where it can spread bacteria or disease to others.
Relying on reusable lab coats is also not a practical option when working within some labs. If an employee needs to move from room to room or interact with various chemicals throughout the day, they may require separate lab coats. Any inevitable spills of volatile chemicals will also require a new lab coat. Wearers of contaminated lab coats should remove and dispose of them immediately, especially if the material is flammable. Relying on a few used lab coats to perform multiple roles a day is irresponsible and unsafe.
Regulations on Safety Wear
Of course, the decision between a disposable vs. reusable lab coat isn’t as straightforward as price and preference. Your company must also abide by all safety laws, rules and regulations set forth by the government. Failure to do so not only endangers your employees and work, but it’s also a violation of the law and subjects the company to penalties. When you choose between disposable and reusable lab coats, you need to make sure your choice meets all regulations on safety wear.
PalmFlex can supply you with disposable lab coats that meet the American Society for Testing and Materials requirements to ensure OSHA compliance. These standards include ASTM F1670 testing for blood penetration. We also carry disposable lab coats that meet FDA clean-room requirements, including compatibility with ISO classes 5, 6 and 7. In addition, some of our brands also size their lab coats per ANSI/ISEA 101-1996 standards to ensure proper fit.
Industries Best Suited for Disposable Lab Coats
With dozens of disposable lab coats from seven of the best brands in the industry, your options at PalmFlex are endless. Our product selection includes lab coats specifically designed for the needs of a range of industries, including:
- Asbestos and lead abatement
- Assembly
- Clean rooms
- Dental work
- Food processing and service
- Lab work
- Manufacturing
- Medical
- Mold remediation
- Pet care
- Pharmaceuticals
- Spray painting
Not sure of which lab coats are right for you? If you’re still comparing disposable vs. reusable lab coats, here are a few questions you should ask when determining whether the benefits of disposable lab coats apply to your industry.
- Do you need a high-quality lab coat material that doesn’t inflate your budget?
- Does your industry involve hazardous chemicals or bodily fluids which are likely to make contact with the lab coat?
- Would you prefer not to launder your lab coats?
- Will your supply of lab coats need to fit a range of body types?
- Is it important that your disposable lab coats have a reasonable degree of reuse?
- Does your company need PPE that meets OSHA, ASTM or FDA regulations?
- Do you prioritize the safety of your employees and their work?
If you’ve answered yes to any of the questions above, it sounds like you’ve resolved the dilemma of whether you need disposable lab coats. Our large inventory includes supreme-quality disposable lab coats made from industry-leading manufacturers, including:
From general operations, assembly and manufacturing to lab work, medical and food service applications, trust PalmFlex to provide you with the disposable lab coat that’ll get the job done!
Disposable Lab Coats From PalmFlex
PalmFlex has been a trusted provider of the best disposable lab coats to customers throughout the country for over 30 years. We take great pride in all the brands we partner with, because we only sell products that offer our customers unrivaled quality at an unbeatable value. Shop our amazing selection and discover how the meticulous design of these innovative products allows them to go above and beyond your expectations.
To provide our customers with service that rivals the quality of our products, we’re happy to offer fantastic volume discounts, bulk quote options and free shipping on orders over $80 throughout the contiguous United States. We believe it is possible to obtain high-quality, disposable lab coats for a price that won’t strain your budget. If you have any questions, our friendly customer service staff is ready to help you choose the right safety equipment that fits your exact needs. Contact us today for more information.
