People who don’t wash new clothes before wearing them

Right, next time you buy any piece of clothing, before you wear it, just for the hell of it, plunge it into a basin with some warm/lukewarm water and mild detergent. Then tell me if the water is still clear.

EDIT: https://www.businessinsider.com/toxic-chemicals-in-clothes-cancer-2019-7?r=US&IR=T#organic-compounds-called-npes-lurk-in-many-clothes-6

https://sourcedenim.com/stories-of-source/chemicals-in-denim

And we'd better not talk about those made in sweatshops.

PFAS are b*tches and prolonged contact with them (be it through fabric or through the non-stick material on pots and pans or through plastic) does cause cancer. Then there are the other chemicals, as well as the general dirt they pick up along the way.

I'm not saying you'll die on the spot by wearing them, but I do think it's gross not to wash them first. At the very least, the fabric used to make them has been treated and it's unlikely it was washed before the garmets were made. Then they were handled by numerous people along the way (cutting, sewing, trimming, labelling, what have you), then they were piled and packed and sorted and wrapped. Then they were shipped, brought to various warehouses, sorted, brought to shops, where yet more people handled them. Then, in the shop themselves, innumerable people (with various levels of personal hygiene) could've tried them on, let them fall on the ground in changing rooms, etc. If they were made in sweatshops, forget it. There's almost no control over what goes on in places where people are exploited.

Think about all the steps they've gone through from thread to your shopping bag. Not washing them might not kill you, but would giving them a wash beforehand kill you, either?

There was a thread about shaking people's hands in AH a good few years before Covid, that was enlightening enough.

There are chemicals and chemicals. Some kill you, some don't, some do depending on the dosage. Why do you think there are labels and strict regulations around medicines and weedkillers and fertilisers and insecticides and fungicides, etc?

Usually, when you (or your washing machine) wash your clothes, you also rinse them, so most of the detergents are removed. You do the same with your hands, it's not like you rub soap all over them and off you go. Dry cleaning products are also renowned for being toxic, but then again the fabrics treated are seldom in direct contact with the skin and anyway they usually recommend the clothes be aired out before wearing.

Those links should be a good start, provided you want to read them (or do some research on illegal sweatshops, dirt, toxic chemicals used in the manufacture of clothes, etc). Saying "I didn't see it so it didn't happen but I'm not looking in case I see it" doesn't hold any water.

Also, for the umpteenth time, let me repeat that it's not just the chemicals that are concerning me, it's the dirt that's on the clothes.

Straight from the European Chemicals Agency's mouth. Tinfoil hat, right?