How to keep your chefs whites white

A traditional chefs jacket will normally be white to signify cleanliness, but how do you keep your chef whites white? Keeping chef whites looking white and stain free can be a challenge whether the jacket is either 100% cotton or a percentage of polycotton. The advantage of white is that no matter how badly stained a jacket gets, the true white colour is just a wash away.

How to Remove stains from chef whites

When you work as a chef you encounter many possible types of stain from tomato sauce, wine, coffee, chocolate, oil splatters and even blood from meat. During busy shifts there is not always time to deal with every stain on a jacket, so by the end of the day a jacket will have a number of different stains on it no matter how hard you try to prevent it.

One measure you can take to protect your chef whites is to wear an apron. Aprons come in a variety of styles depending on your preference: waist aprons and bib aprons are the most popular within hospitality and can help to protect a chef jacket from stains.

How to clean chef whites

When it comes to removing stains from chef whites, do not use hot water as it will bake the stain into the fibres. Always use warm or cold water. When you have soaked the stain and are ready to rub the mark out, don’t scrub too hard as you will be rubbing the stain further into the fabric of the jacket.

When it comes to what product to use to clean the stain, do not use bleach except as a last resort. Bleach will weaken fibres, and it will eventually turn fabric yellow or grey. It will also fade any embroidery that is on a jacket.

Another don’t with chefs whites is never put a stained jacket in the dryer as this will only set the stain further. If after washing the stain is still present, hang the jacket out to dry.

Tips for removing stains from chef whites

There are some other measures that you can take to help protect your chef whites when you are on the go. One tip would be to carry a detergent pen or stain remover wipes with you. This will allow you to get to work on a stain sooner.

If you find that you've splattered or stained your chef's jacket, taking fast action can minimise the damage. Water-based marks such as sauces and liquids can be cleaned with a damp cloth and some salt, which will help keep the pigment from setting on the fabric. Fat splashes need a small amount of soapy water to break down the fat molecules and wash them out.

Other tips include using vinegar or club soda as these are also great stain removers. White vinegar is good for tomato, coffee, grease, and wine stains, while club soda is also good for wine stains. The best method is to saturate the stain as much as possible, and dab the stain with a clean cloth – do not rub.

Washing stains at home

When you get the jacket home, soak it in warm water for an hour or so with an oxygen-based detergent. Once you've soaked your chef coat, take a look and see what stains remain.

If there are grease stains, try using a dishwashing detergent. If you have coffee, red wine, or tomato stains, try soaking them in white vinegar. Even if you already tried dabbing them with vinegar, soaking them could make a difference. Saturate the stain completely and leave it for ten minutes.

Once you've done what you can to deal with the stains by hand, wash the chef coat in warm or cold water using a bleach-free detergent. You can also add oxygen-based detergent to the wash, following the instructions on the label. You could add a cup of white vinegar to the final rinse to get the chef jacket sparkling white.

Pre-treating a chef jacket

As well as wearing an apron to protect a jacket, you can also spray each new jacket with a fabric protector to help prevent stains from setting.