Colour-Coding OT Linen by Procedure, Theatre, Size or Batch

Colour-coding OT linen means using a visible colour cue, such as a fabric shade, a coloured hem or border, coloured stitching or a coloured label, so staff can tell at a glance which theatre, specialty, item type, size or batch a piece belongs to. It speeds up sorting and pack assembly and cuts down on mix-ups between sites. It works best when the scheme is simple, written down, and built into the linen when it is made rather than added later.

This guide covers what you can code, the ways of applying colour, and how to keep a scheme from becoming confusing.

What colour-coding is for

In a theatre linen cycle, the same items pass through many hands: theatre staff, porters, laundry staff, CSSD technicians and stores. Text marking does the detailed identification, but text is slow to read when someone is sorting hundreds of items. Colour is faster. A good scheme answers one question instantly, for example "is this a large gown or a medium?" or "does this drape belong to the day-surgery unit or main theatres?"

The mistake many facilities make is trying to answer several questions with colour at once. Each extra layer makes the scheme harder to remember and easier to get wrong.

What you can code by colour

By site or theatre suite

Useful when one laundry serves several hospitals or units, or when a day-surgery centre and main theatres share CSSD but keep separate stock. A coloured border or label shows where an item should go back to.

By specialty or procedure pack

Some teams use a different shade for one specialty's drapes, such as ophthalmic or obstetric drapes, so they are not folded into the wrong pack. If you build procedure packs, see OT procedure linen packs for how pack contents are set out.

By item type

Towels, gowns and drapes can look similar once folded. A distinct shade for hand towels, or a coloured edge on trolley covers, helps CSSD pick the right item quickly.

By size

Surgeon gowns in several sizes are a common source of mix-ups. A coloured neck binding, cuff label or small coloured tab by size lets staff grab the right gown without unfolding it.

By batch or year of introduction

A coloured thread or tab that changes with each new batch helps you see how old the stock in circulation is. That supports decisions about replacement and tracking reuse. This works alongside, not instead of, a proper cycle-counting method.

Ways of applying colour

Method	How it works	Strengths	Limitations
Whole fabric colour	The entire item is made in a different shade	Most visible, impossible to miss	Adds stock lines; field colour in theatre may change
Coloured border or hem	A band of contrasting fabric or binding on the edge	Visible when folded; keeps main field colour	Needs to be designed in at production
Coloured stitching or thread mark	A coloured stitch line or bar-tack in a set place	Low cost, subtle	Harder to see at a distance
Coloured label or tab	A woven or printed tab sewn in a set position	Can carry text too; easy to change by batch	Must be sited where it will not irritate or interfere
Coloured neck or cuff binding	Used on gowns for size	Quick to spot on folded gowns	Only suits gowns

Whatever method you choose, it must stand up to repeated hot laundering and the facility's sterilisation process without fading, bleeding onto other items or coming loose. Ask your supplier about colourfastness of borders, threads and labels, and test on a sample before committing.

Keeping the theatre field consistent

Most theatres keep the main operative field in a consistent green or blue, and there are reasons teams prefer those shades, covered in why OT linen is green or blue. Changing the whole drape colour for coding purposes alters what surgeons look at during a procedure, so many facilities prefer to code with borders, tabs or bindings and keep the main fabric the same.

If you do want different whole-fabric colours, involve the surgeons and theatre nurses in the decision. Check the shades together under theatre lighting before ordering.

Designing a scheme that works

1. Decide the one or two questions colour must answer. For example: size of gown and site of origin. Leave everything else to text marking.
2. Choose a method for each. For instance, coloured neck binding for gown sizes and a coloured tab for site.
3. Pick colours that are clearly distinct, including for staff with colour vision deficiency. Avoid relying only on red versus green; pairing colour with a letter or number on the tab helps.
4. Write the scheme down on one page with a colour key and post it in the laundry, CSSD and theatre stores.
5. Build it into the order. Give the supplier the key with Pantone or physical swatches and the position of each colour cue.
6. Approve a sample that shows every colour cue in place and test it through your laundry process.
7. Review once a year. Remove any colours nobody uses and add new ones only when the old scheme genuinely cannot cope.

Colour and text marking work together

Colour does not replace text marking. Each item still needs its facility name, item code and, where relevant, size and batch in readable form. Colour gets an item into the right pile; the text confirms it. For the text side, see OT linen marking and labelling.

A practical combination for many hospitals is:

• main fabric in the standard theatre shade,
• a coloured tab carrying the facility name, item code and size,
• a coloured binding or border only where items are frequently confused.

Common pitfalls

• Too many colours. Once a scheme passes five or six colours, staff stop remembering it and start reading labels anyway.
• Colours added mid-life. Adding a new colour to only part of the stock creates two schemes running at once. Introduce changes with a new batch and phase out the old one.
• Colour that fades. A border that washes out to a pale shade after a few months becomes ambiguous. Test colourfastness before bulk, not after.
• No owner. Someone, usually the theatre or CSSD manager, should own the colour key and approve any change to it.

Colour-coding checklist

• One or two questions the scheme answers, written down
• Colour key on one page, posted in laundry, CSSD and stores
• Method for each cue: fabric, border, stitch, tab or binding
• Colourfastness tested through your laundry process
• Colours distinguishable for all staff, ideally paired with a letter or number
• Text marking still present on every item
• Swatches and positions supplied with the order

MISHAREN makes reusable surgeon gowns and drapes in theatre green, blue and other colours, with laundry marking, at its own unit in Konni, Kerala, shipping each order to the UAE for delivery across all seven emirates.

To quote for colour-coded theatre linen, share your colour key on the OT gowns and drapes page or through contact.