People who don’t wash new clothes before wearing them

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 😉

Wanderer2010

How could new clothes have other peoples sweat embedded? I have never, ever washed new clothes before wearing them my entire life and im still here to tell the tale.

KilOit

found the op

Loafing Oaf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119534548#Comment_119534548

I presume it can only be if they have been tried on in the shop? Not sure what the chances of this would be...

Headless_1916

It really depends on the clothes. Some new items are fine, but others I have noticed that if I don't wash them first, as soon as I sweat, whatever was on the clothes does irritate my skin (itching) and I've noticed the itching is followed up by break outs of tiny acne where the new clothing was making contact.

Since I don't know what chemicals were in the dyes and/or what chemicals were used by the manufacturer to preserve the clothing during transport from the factory and avoid any kind of infestations or mold growing in the clothing, I wash them all before wearing them now. Just like I wash all vegetables and fruit before I eat them, even though they look clean. Also, many types of synthetic fibers can shed excessively and excess die can wash off (which means it can rub off on your skin also); I'd prefer to get the majority of that stuff off the clothing before I start wearing it.

While it's unlikely you will catch something from truly new clothes, if the clothing was in a rack in a retail store you really don't know who has tried them on , how long ago, and whether they were clean or had something like mites, lice or a fungal infection of some kind, which can indeed be problematic from a transmission perspective.

I've almost always washed new clothes before wearing, as I was taught by my parents many years ago, so I had never done any research on it. For whoever was asking for reference material, I googled it for you ;)

https://www.simplemost.com/why-you-should-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them/

https://www.wellandgood.com/should-you-wash-new-clothes/

I was interested to see them describe exactly the problems I experienced when I didn't wash some new clothes in the past before wearing:

Two factors that play a role into whether or not you develop contact dermatitis include how log you wear the item, and if you get sweaty, explains Dr. Chi. So you'll have a lesser chance of getting a rash from wearing a straight-off-the-rack blouse for an hour than you would from wearing a new, unwashed sweater all day, or leggings you bought on the way to the gym.

"If you get sweaty, it releases the chemicals and then is more likely to cause a rash," says Dr. Chi. "And then you go into the gym or something and next thing you know you have a rash on your thighs."

But to each their own, everyone has their own comfort levels for risks that they can't directly see, a lot of folks undoubtedly aren't as sensitive to the chemicals that are used to preserve and construct new products as I am. I'm sure someone will come along and take issue with the qualifications of whoever wrote the articles I've, posted and insist it's all nonsense, but I've experienced the effects myself so am not relying on third party sources telling me as much as my own experiences.

Strumms

ive gotten into the habit of doing it since the pandemic…. Before that no, not really.

Graces7

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

Actually the charity shop ladies are very zealous in washing the stock! At least where I live. Everything is so clean and fresh

Great advise. You'd never know if the person who tried on the clothes before you was unvaccinated.

The Mighty Quinn

The only things I wash before use are tea towels and faceclothes and bath towels.

And it's not for hygiene reasons at all. Ever try dry a dinner plate with a brand new tea towel after washing? You just smear water around the place! New towels don't absorb anything for some reason. A wash sorts that out.

Graces7

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119535937#Comment_119535937

and they squeak when you try.. I don;t dry dishes at all anyways.

New Home

I always wash clothes before wearing them, too. I also rinse the dishes after washing them and I wash all fruit and veg.