Different Folding Styles of the Hospital Gown

Hospitals bring to mind rushing doctors, moaning patients, wheelchairs and the sickening smell of chemicals. Laundry is usually not the first thing you picture. However, with so many patients in and out every day, hospitals are constantly washing sheets, blankets and hospital gowns, so it is important for the laundry staff to be able to fold these items quickly and easily.

One Fold

• In June 2010, Noémie Marquis and Denyse Roy from the University of Montréal School of Industrial Design came out with a new design for hospital gowns, which folds faster than the standard model. The DUO hospital gown, as it is called, requires just one fold and then it is ready to be stacked into a pile with the rest. With a simple bend in half, this gown is as folded as it needs to be.

Three Folds

• The traditional way to fold a hospital gown, which is how most of them are folded, is to fold over one side, then the other side, and then bend the whole thing in half from the top.

Reversible Fold

• The reversible fold is a feature of the traditional gown. These gowns are designed to be folded in or out, so you can either fold the side flaps in from back to front or from front to back. After the sides are folded in, the top is folded down to the bottom, enclosing the tucked-in flaps.