Best Underwear for Scrubs and 12 Hour Nursing Shifts

Scrubs ask more of underwear than office clothes do. The fabric is thin and often light in color, the pants sit on a drawstring or a flat elastic waist, and you spend the shift bending, squatting, lifting and walking several miles. A pair that is fine under jeans can ride down, show through or feel damp by hour eight. Below are the cuts we would pick from our own range for each kind of scrubs, what they cost, and where another kind of product would serve you better.

Best underwear for scrubs at a glance

Your scrubs and shift	Our pick	Why
Classic straight-leg scrubs, 12 hour shifts	Soft Cotton Brief, $12	High rise stays covered when you bend, wide soft waistband, breathable cotton modal
Fitted jogger or yoga-waist scrubs	No-Show Seamless Thong, $12	No back edge and bonded sides, so nothing prints through stretch fabric
Fitted scrubs, but you do not wear thongs	Bonded Seamless Hipster, $12	Full back coverage with flat bonded edges
White or very light scrubs	Soft Cotton Brief or Everyday Cotton Thong in Nude Deep, Cotton Bikini Panty in Nude Light	A skin-tone shade has no contrast to show through
Hot units, lots of walking	Everyday Cotton Thong, $12	Least fabric, cotton against the skin, covered waistband that does not dig in
Scrub dress or skirt	Cotton Boyshort, $12	Short leg and full back coverage when you reach and bend

What makes underwear work under scrubs

A rise that survives bending

Most scrub pants sit at or just below the natural waist and slide a little every time you squat to a low drawer or lean over a bed. Low-rise underwear slides with them. A high rise fixes it: the Soft Cotton Brief sits at the natural waist with a wide, soft band, so when the scrub pants dip, what shows is a smooth band of fabric and not skin. If you prefer a thong, wear your scrub top untucked and long enough to cover the dip.

Fabric that handles twelve hours

You will be in the same pair from before sunrise to after sunset, under polyester-blend pants that do not breathe much. Cotton is the comfortable choice for that. Our cotton underwear for women is 57 percent cotton, 38 percent modal and 5 percent elastane, with a 100 percent cotton gusset. The modal keeps it soft through frequent washing, and the elastane stops it bagging out by the end of the shift.

Edges that do not show

Classic scrubs are loose enough to hide a covered cotton edge. Jogger scrubs and stretch styles are not. For those, pick seamless underwear, which is laser-cut microfiber with bonded edges instead of sewn elastic. It is 76 percent nylon and 24 percent elastane with a cotton gusset, and it dries quickly, which helps if you run warm.

A color that disappears

Scrub fabric thins with every industrial wash, and light colors such as white, ceil blue, pale pink and light gray let patterns and dark colors through under bright ward lighting. Skip prints, black and bright white under those. A shade close to your own skin is the one that vanishes, for the same reason it works as underwear for white pants. Under navy, black, hunter green or wine scrubs, any color is fine.

What color underwear to wear under white scrubs

Wear a skin-tone shade under white scrubs, not white. White underwear looks brighter than the skin around it, so its whole outline shows through thin white fabric. A beige or brown close to your skin has no contrast and stays invisible. In our range, Nude Deep (a warm caramel brown) comes in the Soft Cotton Brief, the Everyday Cotton Thong and all three seamless cuts, and Nude Light (a warm sand) comes in the Cotton Bikini Panty.

Cotton or seamless for a 12 hour shift

Cotton wins for comfort over a long shift in classic scrubs. Seamless wins when the scrubs are fitted. Many nurses keep both and choose by the pants they are wearing that day.

	Cotton modal	Seamless microfiber
Feel after 10 hours	Soft and breathable	Smooth and light, dries fast
Shows under fitted joggers	The covered edge can show	No, bonded edges lie flat
Shows under classic scrubs	No	No
Washing	Wash cold in a mesh bag, lay flat to dry	Wash cold in a mesh bag, lay flat to dry
Price	$12, 5 for $45	$12, 5 for $45

One practical point: both fabrics are labeled wash cold and lay flat to dry. Keep work pairs out of the hot cycle you use for scrubs and wash them with your other delicates. They hold their shape and their bonded edges far longer that way.

How many pairs you need for work

Count one pair per shift plus a spare for your bag. Three 12 hour shifts a week means three or four pairs just for work, and most people do not want to run laundry after every stretch of shifts. Five work pairs is a comfortable minimum, and seven means you can get through two weeks of three shifts with one wash in between.

That lines up with pack pricing. Any 5 panties are $45 and any 7 are $55, in any mix of cuts, colors and sizes, applied in your bag automatically. A sensible scrubs pack is three Soft Cotton Briefs, one Everyday Cotton Thong and one No-Show Seamless Thong for the days you wear joggers. See the ready-made mixes on the womens underwear packs page. Shipping to US addresses is $5.95, or free over $50, so a 7 pack ships free.

Work underwear wears out faster than weekend underwear, because it is worn harder and washed more often. If you would sooner not think about it, the Panty Club sends one, three or five pairs a month in your size, cuts and fabrics, from $14 a month with shipping included.

Where another product is the better buy

We sell everyday panties, and they cover most shifts. A few needs are better served elsewhere, and it is worth saying which.

• Thigh chafing. If your thighs rub on long walks through the unit, a longer-leg slip short or anti-chafe short does more than any panty. Our boyshort has a short leg and does not reach mid-thigh.
• Heavy sweating. For very hot environments, purpose-made moisture-wicking sport underwear moves sweat faster than cotton. Our seamless microfiber dries quickly, but it is not a technical sport fabric.
• Periods on shift. Absorbent period underwear is a separate product that we do not make. A full-coverage cotton brief works well with a pad, which is why many people keep a few dark pairs for those days.
• Sizes above XXL. Our panties run XS to XXL, to a 48 inch hip. Check the panty size chart before you order.

Starting a new job in scrubs

New grads and travel nurses often buy a whole work wardrobe in one week: scrubs, shoes, compression socks, underwear. It adds up to a few hundred dollars. Some employers pay a uniform allowance and some do not, and it is a fair thing to raise when you negotiate the job offer, along with shift differentials. Either way, buy the underwear once you know which scrubs you will wear, since fitted joggers and classic drawstring pants call for different cuts.

Questions nurses ask about underwear and scrubs

What underwear to wear with scrubs?

Wear a breathable cotton brief, bikini or thong under classic loose scrubs, and a seamless thong or hipster under fitted jogger scrubs. Choose a rise high enough to stay covered when you bend, and a skin-tone shade if the scrubs are white or a light color.

Can you see underwear through scrubs?

Yes, through light or worn scrubs you often can. Thin polyester-blend fabric shows dark colors, prints and bright white under strong overhead lighting, and fitted styles show sewn edges. Skin-tone underwear with flat edges solves both problems.

Is a thong or a brief better under scrubs?

A brief is better for most 12 hour shifts in classic scrubs, because a high rise and full coverage stay put through bending and lifting. A thong is better under fitted jogger scrubs, where a back edge would show. Pick by the pants, not by habit.

What is the best no show underwear for scrubs?

The best no show underwear for scrubs is a seamless thong or bonded hipster in a shade close to your skin tone. Bonded edges leave no ridge under stretch fabric, and a matched shade does not show through light colors.

Should you size up in underwear for long shifts?

No, wear your true size by hip measurement. Underwear that is too big bunches and shifts as you walk, and underwear that is too small digs in and leaves lines. If you are between sizes in cotton, take the larger one.