Describe your science display?
January 5, 2011 12:15 PM   Subscribe

Scientists, medical professionals, students, and technicians of MetaFilter! How do you decorate your lab coat? or wish you could if you can't

I recently acquired a new lab coat that I intend to use just for teaching since I should probably use a clean one around students but it seems so bland. Every lab coat I've owned has quickly acquired a personality of its own through love, clumsiness with chemicals (mostly coffee) and burners, sharpies and patches but I've run out of ideas for this one. How do you decorate yours?
posted by Blasdelb to Science & Nature (9 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
My high-school chemistry teachers tie-dyed theirs.
posted by watch out for turtles at 12:25 PM on January 5, 2011


My lab coat gets heavily bleached every time it's washed, goes in covered in stains and comes back sparkling white. So I don't decorate it because I want it to be clean and safe.

I would probably fabric paint a big picture across the back if I did have to decorate it (good fabric paint becomes wash proof when set with an iron), but I actually like having it clean and knowing the (generally coloured) toxic chemicals I work with have been removed.
posted by shelleycat at 12:31 PM on January 5, 2011


Best answer: For a classy look I brushed up on my calligraphy, then wrote my first initial and last name over the breast pocket in a very formal serif style. (Think Bodoni, rendered in Sharpie.)

When had to I work with a lot of 125-I and decided to embrace the suck, I drew an atom on the back, zapping out a photon (well, a squiggly line). Over the atom it read HARD GAMMA in heavy-metal-style letters, and below it said E = hη. (That's a Greek nu, in case it doesn't render properly.) It felt pretty badass at the time.

Otherwise, I let the acid holes and Coomassie Blue stains convey my badassitude.
posted by Quietgal at 1:07 PM on January 5, 2011 [1 favorite]


Ah crap, that should be "E = hν", but that character doesn't look like a proper nu. Good thing I don't work with gamma emitters any more.
posted by Quietgal at 1:14 PM on January 5, 2011


Blood. It keeps the undergrads in line.

But, seriously, maybe you could do something cool like let everyone who gets an A on a quiz sign it in Sharpie?
posted by Knowyournuts at 1:35 PM on January 5, 2011


I once got a patch that looked gas-station-ish with my name on it and stitched it to the right pocket.
posted by overhauser at 2:24 PM on January 5, 2011


Quirky pins on the lapels. If you have to wear a nametag, get one of those retractable round clips (google image search retractable badge clip). They make ones that light up, and you can also snap it like suspenders for dramatic effect. You can put colorful pens (a whole rainbow of highlighters?) in the upper pocket. Also maybe thing about coloring or replacing the buttons.
posted by alygator at 2:32 PM on January 5, 2011


at our uni, tie dye is also the way to go.
posted by kch at 3:02 PM on January 5, 2011


Quietgal - not "HÄRD GÄMMA"?
posted by russm at 3:28 AM on January 6, 2011


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