Know Your Bag Colors
When rounding in medical facilities, I often find the wrong-colored bag placed in a hamper. The situation is easy to imagine. Someone uses the last purple bag on the roll, they’re near the end of their shift, and instead of restocking, they grab a blue bag and place it in the hamper labeled Reject Linen Only. They assume it doesn’t matter because “everything goes to the laundry plant anyway.” Let’s review the bag colors to see why this shortcut is a mistake.
Usual Bag Colors
BLUE – Soiled Linen
Blue bags are for all soiled linen, regardless of the amount of blood, feces, or bodily fluids. If one bag can’t contain the moisture, use two blue bags. Tie the bag when it is two-thirds full to keep the linen fully enclosed.
RED – Biohazard
Red bags are for regulated medical waste only. No linen should be placed in a red bag. Doing so increases incineration costs for the facility, and additional fees are charged if red bags are returned to the laundry plant.
PURPLE – Reject Linen
Purple bags are for any clean linen that is stained, torn, taped, or otherwise defective. These items are credited or replaced because they were not used for patient care.
CLEAR – Trash
No linen should be thrown away. Linen is a reusable asset and should never be placed in the garbage.
Other Bag Colors
Alternate Colors (e.g., pink) – Specialty Linen
Follow facility-specific procedures for specialty linen or linen that is customer-owned.
Double Blue Bags – Infestations
For infestations, double-bag using blue bags and clearly write BEDBUGS on the outer bag.
YELLOW – Hazardous Drugs / Chemo
For linen contaminated with hazardous drugs, place them first in a water‑soluble bag, then into a yellow bag marked with a biohazard symbol.
GRAY – Behavioral Health
Behavioral health units use gray nylon bags without drawstrings for safety.
ORANGE – Hyperbaric Oxygen (HBO)
HBO areas use orange bags to identify their 100% cotton linen.
Educational Flyer
A new educational flyer is now available that covers this information. Posting these flyers in clinical areas provides daily reminders. Staff often become blind to old flyers so refreshing them helps keep linen awareness top of mind.
Find all of HandCraft’s customer education on our website by clicking the gold button labeled “Customer Access” at the top right of the page.
https://handcraftservices.com/customer-portal/ with password: handcraft
Once on the portal, click on the Customer Education tab or scroll down to that section in the middle of the webpage.
Final Thoughts
Now that you know your bag colors, think again about that blue bag placed on a hamper labeled Reject Linen Only. Once a rejected item is placed in a blue bag, it is treated as soiled linen. The facility loses the credit or replacement for that item, and it may return to circulation at another medical facility, hoping someone else will finally place it in the correct purple bag.
Performing regular linen rounds is one of the most effective ways to reinforce proper linen-handling practices. Correcting issues in real time and offering quick just-in-time education prevents costly mistakes and preserves reusable healthcare linen so it can continue supporting patient care.
Contact HandCraft for more information
If you are looking for the right team to help prevent linen loss and decrease your linen loss costs, you found us. We have the experience, the industry-backed expertise, the technology, and the professionals to help you achieve your goals. Remember to look at our Linen Awareness Program – healthcare linen management strategies that save costs and improve service.
Call us today at (888) 358-8671 or reach us here for more information on our services.
About the Author
Dyan Troxel, MSN, RN
Dyan is a registered nurse with experience in clinical and non-clinical settings including Surgical ICU, Neonatal ICU, Education, Process Improvement, and Healthcare Leadership.
