People who don’t wash new clothes before wearing them

So many Irish people will happily try on a new shirt, pants, sweater, blouse, skirt or what have you, pay for it, and then wear it without washing it. Wash your new clothes folks! They invariably have other people’s sweat and myriad chemicals soaked into them. And they smell.

Jim_Hodge

Sweet @#$€. What next?

That sounds ludicrous. Invariably? I think not.

Pinch Flat

I love the smell of new clothes 😍

Comer1

That's why, as a man, I love wearing brand new women's underwear.

furiousox

And when you return it to the shop they'll refuse to exchange it because it's been washed, great advice!

jim-mcdee

I enjoy wearing other people's clothes. Maybe because of all the hand me downs I got as a kid. There's comfort in it. Or Lenore maybe.

Would you not just buy em online,if this was a concern,

they come in a sealed plastic bag

Andrea B.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058260717/people-who-don-t-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them

You copped it!

It is an "Irish" thing. Makes us feel unEnglish.

We didn't want ye finding out.

Deeec

The only time I washed new clothes was when I was pregnant - washed the new clothes for the baby.

I've never washed new clothes for myself. I've never picked up any bad diseases/illnesses from new clothes. As soon as you wash new clothes they lose their 'newness' and are on the path to being old.

OP can you tell me what exactly happens people who don't wash new clothes?

Greyfox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058260717/people-who-don-t-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them

You should only wash clothes when they smell or are dirty, if they were either at the time of purchase I wouldn't of bought it. Its common sense really. Your post belongs in the ridiculous conspiracy theory section.

FurrySlippers

Have to say, I do this with kacks. I know they are non returnable, and tend to be multi-pack, and so there is little risk that anyone has tried them on, but considering friction, heat, moisture, etc, I don't want to pick anything up. Wife considers this ridiculous...

Gaspode

Wash the chemicals out of your clothes with the chemicals in your detergent?

Pauliedragon

What about shoes OP? I got a dose of verruca a few years ago I put down to trying on shoes I just bought.

893bet

My wife got pregnant from a pair of an underwear. Should have washed it.

Leg End Reject

It's people who don't wash new towels and bedclothes before using them that you need to worry about.

fryup

new clothes can be a tad stiff - jeans and that, for that i'd wash them before wearing them

delboythedub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119532015#Comment_119532015

"O you Bitch"

AMKC

So youngest if someone buys new clothes to wash them. Have you seen the price of electricity recently @OP. I guess not. Probably still lives with Mammh and Daddy.

I will happily wear any new clothes without washing them and have never got anything off them. I only wash clothes when they are dirty.

Graces7

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119532164#Comment_119532164

Why? I mean why wash them? Not that I have had that problem for years.

Leg End Reject

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119532566#Comment_119532566

https://www.bhg.com.au/how-to-wash-new-towels-the-secret-to-fresh-fluffy-soft-towels

https://www.mulberryscleaners.com/blog/should-you-wash-new-sheets/

The same applies to clothes really, so the OP has a point, but I always wash new towels and bedclothes. There is an awful smell off new bedclothes and I don't want to sleep with that.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058260717/people-who-don-t-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them

What are you on about - never heard anything as ridiculous in a long time. Have you also some obsessive compulsion to wash yer hands and clean all household surfaces several times a day?

freshpopcorn

This is a thing I've only ever heard of on Boards.ie. It seem bizarre to me. (Fair enough if you've some under lying condition or something.

However you go into a shop and try it on and you probably pick something up then anyway if your going to.

Also, what do you do with suits, dresses, etc. I've never heard of a wedding where the bride and groom were washing the dress and suit before the day.

Leg End Reject

Is it time for another "How Often Do You Shower" thread? 🙃

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119533039#Comment_119533039

🤣And have to face another barrage of 'I only sponge bath once a week using a bowl of cold water and carbolic soap'? No thanks. Been there, done that.

cezanne

Clothes are mass produced in 3 world places and in cramped factories by unfortunates who barely have clean water or adequate sanitation. My friend is a nurse and has been to these places and now she washes everything before use duvet covers sheets t shirts every item she buys get a pre wash before she wears them. She maintains the handlers of the garments are not inoculated against a lot of diseases and you should wash everything . She uses good earth liquid cleaners in her machine soits not a corrosive detergent. i dont wash the clothes but i often think about what she had said to me but now i barely ever buy new stuff so its ok. I have out grown consumerism

Loafing Oaf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119532635#Comment_119532635

I'd never heard of it either. Sounds like an OCD thing to me too...

Greyfox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119533069#Comment_119533069

Your friend should use her common sense more

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119533039#Comment_119533039

Or "Do you take your shoes off in the house?" thread. Both thread types bring out the very mentally stable and balanced types.

gmisk

I would tend to wash things.

Probably fairly low risk...but with places like Shein etc I would genuinely think you need to wash everything!

https://www.insider.com/toxic-chemicals-in-shein-and-other-fast-fashion-clothing-2022-8

Trigger Happy

Wash new clothes? Nah...save water by wearing them once and putting them in the bin. Then buy some more.

lucalux

I worked in plenty of clothes shops years ago and from what I saw, I'd usually wash things before wearing them.

Towels and bedsheets every time I buy any.

Hate sleeping on the weird rectangles left by brand new bedsheets' packaging, never mind the smell of whatever chemicals they use in some places

Graces7

It is, after all, no big thing? If you have a washing machine of course... NB I have one but out here noone to plumb it in unless I piad them more than I paid for a brand new washing machine so I wash everything by hand including sheets and towels.

Danzy

The lice I have are more than a match for any that might come in on new clothes.

cbreeze

I only wash second hand clothes that I get in the charity shops if I think they have been pre-worn. Stores often donate new clothes to charity shops so its worth looking.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119532043#Comment_119532043

Seal in the flavour 😍

Leg End Reject

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119532043#Comment_119532043

Or it could be a returned item placed in to a new bag.

walshb

I don’t think I have ever intentionally washed new clothes that I have bought. They’re new, don’t smell and seem just ready to wear!

gameoverdude

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119533599#Comment_119533599

Eh...I don't know where to start.

moonage

I bring new clothes into the garden and burn them.

Just to be on the safe side.

gameoverdude

Bath towels I actually do wash before use.

Deeec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119533069#Comment_119533069

Does she seriously think that diseases and viruses survive and spread from clothing? COVID has thought us that viruses don't survive long on surfaces.

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119533802#Comment_119533802

Likewise but not as a hygiene matter, it just improves the texture and drying power of the towel.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119533710#Comment_119533710

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119533728#Comment_119533728

Vom🤢

Settles this,il be washing from now on

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119533298#Comment_119533298

Weird rectangles as in fold marks.

Anyway, people need to stop being so irrationally terrified - we're not that delicate. We encounter germs on a constant basis, and we are resistant to them. We shouldn't be jeopardising that resistance.

gameoverdude

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119533822#Comment_119533822

Feckin spot on!

lucalux

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119533863#Comment_119533863

Yes, fold marks, but they annoy me. Bit like sleeping on a chess board. I'd rather my sheets look and smell good!

Charity shops often have back rooms where donations are turfed out on the floor, new or used, and those floors are rarely clean.

Same thing with clothes shops, plenty of dust and dirt on those back room floors as well. Having seen some interesting things after people have tried on clothes in fitting rooms, the bleurgh factor is strong in me. I'll continue to wash my clothes before wearing, and not worry about my immune system surviving based upon exposure to dirty clothing.

I figure living in the world is enough tbh

Pissy Missy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119533654#Comment_119533654

Same, or if I buy off depop/ebay, the clothes might not smell dirty, but it can have the smell off someone else and I don't like that

Second hand clothes I totally understand, but new clothes - you're not some minger if you don't wash them.

Things like our diets and how active we are, watching our alcohol intake, are more important for our physical health than minimally harmful germs.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119532124#Comment_119532124

16 thanks for this? Wow.

The chemicals put on new clothes include fungicides and pesticides. To keep critters and molds at bay. Comparing that to laundry detergent? Nope.

Anybody got any literature from reliable medical sources about the effects of not washing new clothing. Must be killing or incapacitating millions if not billions given how common not washing new clothing is.

Darwin

and myriad chemicals

You are missing a word there OP 😉