How do you order scrubs for a whole med spa team?

Most of the work in a team order is deciding who pays and collecting sizes. Here's how to do both once.

Decide who pays and pick one scrub line first. Then collect every size on one list, against that brand's size chart, with fit and pant length for each person. Put names on name tags rather than stitching them on, plan two or three sets per person, and expect pieces 10 to 15 business days after you approve the mockup.

First: who pays?

This is the question that decides everything else, and it often goes unasked. When we call med spas, office managers tell us the same few things: the team buys its own scrubs, or wears black, or a local embroiderer adds the logo now and then. That's cheap for the practice. It's also why so few teams match.

There are three ways to handle it:

• Practice pays for everything. The most consistent look, and staff count it as a perk. Costs the most up front.
• Practice pays for the tops, staff buy their own pants in a set color. The top is what clients and cameras see. This gets most of the look for less.
• Staff buy, practice sets the rules. One brand, one color, logo added at your cost. The cheapest option and the hardest to keep consistent as people come and go.

Whichever you pick, put it in writing for new hires, so the next person doesn't have to ask.

Pick the line before you collect sizes

Sizes only mean something within one brand and one fit. A medium in a tailored stretch line can fit like a small in a relaxed one. Choose the line first, then ask for sizes in it.

One line for the whole team keeps everyone matched. Within it, offer a women's fit and a unisex or men's fit, so everyone has something that fits well. If providers and aestheticians wear different colors, keep the logo and thread color the same on both.

Collect sizes once

One person owns this, with a deadline. Give everyone the same short list to fill in:

Send the brand's size chart with it, so people check their measurements instead of guessing from the scrubs they already own. Two habits save a reorder:

• When in doubt, size up. Cotton-blend scrubs can shrink a little in the wash, and a slightly loose top looks better than one pulling across the shoulders.
• Ask for pant length on purpose. People forget it, and it's the one detail you can't fix by swapping a top.

If someone is between sizes, a quick try-on is worth it before the team order. Every major scrub brand publishes a size chart, and many uniform retailers offer free in-store fittings.

Names go on name tags

It's tempting to stitch each person's name on their top. Don't, at least not on the scrubs. A name tag moves with the person. A top with a name on it belongs to that person forever, and when someone leaves, their spares go in a drawer.

Keep the scrubs to your logo and you can hold a few spare tops in the sizes most of your team wears. The next hire is in uniform on day one instead of three weeks later. Our new hire kit guide covers the rest. Lab coats are the exception: providers' names and credentials on the chest are expected.

How many sets

Enough to get from one laundry day to the next, plus a spare. Cherokee suggests six or seven sets for full-time staff and three or four for part-time. A practical start is two or three each, adding more once you know how the fabric washes. A spare top per person is worth it on its own. Spills happen, and nobody wants to finish a day of clients in a stained top.

Time it around hiring

Many practices hire ahead of their busy seasons. If the new hires start in March, the order goes in January. Ordering for the current team and the next two hires at once costs less time than two separate orders.

The order, start to finish

1. Decide who pays and write it down.
2. Choose the line and the fit options.
3. Approve a mockup with your logo, placement and thread colors.
4. Collect sizes on one list, against the size chart.
5. Approve the quote.
6. Pieces are ready 10 to 15 business days later.

Our minimums start at 12 to 15 pieces per item, and every size and fit of the same item counts toward that minimum. The quote is the price, with no setup or digitizing fees added later. If a team order is coming up, book a 15-minute call.