Keeping your Chef Coat Clean During the Holidays

It’s tough sometimes to be a great cook and not make a mess. This can be especially difficult around the  holidays, when there are so many different dishes cooking at once. It’s hard to stay neat and organized with so much chaos going on around you. Sometimes, you just have to throw caution to the wind and get your hands doughy. Doing this, however, can leave your chef coat a little worse for wear.

Whether you are a chef in a restaurant, at home, or anywhere in between, appearances can be everything, which is why keeping your chef uniform clean is so important. Think about it: if you’re dining in a nice restaurant and the chef comes out to greet you, do you want to see a disheveled, stained mess, or do you want to see the person who handles your food looking clean and neat? I think the choice is obvious.

So how can you keep it clean when juggling so many dishes during this high traffic time of year? We’ve put together some tips which might help with just that.

Precautionary Measures

– Always follow the care labels and wash instructions on the garments. They are created by experts who really know what they’re talking about.

– Try washing your clothes inside-out. This helps to preserve the fabric, making your uniform last longer.

Taking Care of your Coat

– Try to treat stains immediately before they set. Use a spoon or the back of a butter knife so that you don’t damage your clothing while scraping.

– Run cold water through the back of the stain as soon as possible.

– Rub liquid detergent onto the stain. You can also use lemon juice on white fabrics. Rinse well.

– Wash normally with laundry detergent. Don’t use bleach unless your garment is entirely white. If you have black or colored piping around the garment it can turn brown and eventually pink from bleaching. Use warm water rather than hot, as it can shrink cotton fabrics.

– If the stain remains, rub detergent into the stain and soak the garment in warm water for 30 minutes.

For on-the-go maintenance, always keep a stain remover stick in your pocket. You never know who you’re going to run in to!

Do you have any other tips for keeping your chef uniform clean during the holidays? Post them in the comments below!