People who don’t wash new clothes before wearing them

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.

looksee

I also wash fruit and veg, especially things like nectarines and apples, and melons get a wash too. The only fruit I don't wash is raspberries, I'll take my chances with those, washing destroys them.

I don't wash new clothes but I do wash bedding and towels - I don't use fabric conditioner on towels and tea-towels as it makes them less absorbent and I don't like the feel of very soft towels I prefer them a bit 'scratchy', they dry better.

I suppose clothes are much more washable than they used to be, you can wash most things now, but there are still a few things that you would not wash, more formal clothes, coats etc. They would end up mankier after dry cleaning with chemicals than not cleaning them at all.

magicbastarder

yeah, big fluffy towels just push the water around your body, rather than actually absorbing it. tea towels usually take a few washes before they become effective.

One eyed Jack

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

You’re probably familiar with Boohoo? Most women I know anyways order clothes from them, and you don’t have to go as far as the third world for that kind of exploitation and hygiene risks. Leicester will do -

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-60650374.amp

I’d iron shirts out of the pack, never thought there was any need to be washing clothes and bedding out of the pack or off the rack though, just seems a bit excessive.

Clothes have become so cheap and disposable now though that you could nearly do Vogue Williams on it 😂

https://www.thesun.ie/tv/9275438/vogue-williams-wear-clothes-more-than-once-lorraine/

cezanne

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119536925#Comment_119536925

Wouldnt put Boo Hoo near me i was brought up to buy good quality clothes that last, i disagree with the exploitation & awful cheap materials of fast fashion.

Gaspode

It's the nonsense of demonising 'chemicals' as if they were something bad that I was getting at. There was no mention of what chemicals involved were, just the dumbass scare-mongering use of 'chemicals' as if they were all poisonous. For all we know the op could have meant air or water, both made of chemicals, as is everything on the planet.

Anyway the fact that new clothes may contain fungicides or other pesticides means nothing without knowing what the active ingredients are, their effects on human skin (if thats the route affected), and the concentration.

Poisoning is all about the dose not the fact that there might be something poisonous in the clothes.

Sure the air we're all breathing right now has lots of toxins in it and we are not keeling over from it.

I've never even heard anecdotal evidence of new clothes causing someone harm never mind objective scientific evidence. Bring it on and change my mind.

Unril then the OP is the weird one here.

Graces7

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119540457#Comment_119540457

Do skin rashes qualify? and many chemicals are intended to be and are toxic

GerardKeating

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

Are you sure online is good, Joe Lycett does not really think so.

Brid Hegarty

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

Do you ask a woman to wash her vagina before you go down on her? Out of sight is out of mind!

What a waste of water and electricity that is... especially with things the way they are at the moment. It's not like they do a marathon and then try on the garment. How dare you?!

laoisgem

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119545288#Comment_119545288

🙄🙄🙄

gary550

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119545288#Comment_119545288

well if it smelt like someone else was just in it probably yes

thedart

Don’t you have to apply a paper barrier to try on panties in case a squirt occurs?

Graces7

Not had new clothese as such for,,, Oh socks Never wash before wearing ...

New Home

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.

The Mighty Quinn

I wouldn't expect it to be clear. I'm sure there's stuff on new clothes, but I'm also not one bit worried about it.

What's the insinuation here anyway, that it's carcinogenic or something?

New Home

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.

gameoverdude

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119550029#Comment_119550029

So we all got cancer. Meh. Something in common I suppose.

laoisgem

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119550029#Comment_119550029

I couldn't read past "does cause cancer" without a face palm

looksee

In my teens I lived in Leicester in the UK, a centre for knitwear of all kinds. One way of making a (very small) amount of money was to go to any of the factories, pick up a bag of almost completed jumpers or cardigans and take them home to 'finish' them. This involved at its most basic weaving in loose ends and fastening off at seam ends. The pay was an absolute pittance but many women did it and could get through numerous bags in a week. I did one bag but that was enough and I decided life was too short. You would not want to think too deeply on the kinds of places that these garments resided while they were being finished though.

Greyfox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119550029#Comment_119550029

This post is pure tin foil hat stuff. Theirs nothing gross about using your common sense instead of reading bizarre conspiracy theorys. There is absolutely zero proof of anything harmful transferring from new clothes, if there was new clothes would mention it on labels by now.

Billions of people over the last few decades have been regularly buying and just wearing clothes with absolutely no issues. Washing clothes before use would be like washing your hands 30 times a day because you have an overactive imagination.

New Home

Just because you don't think something happens does not mean that it doesn't.

As for washing your hands, have we all been disinfecting our hands for no reason, these past two + years? Like I said, I'm not saying it'll kill you on the spot, but it's not good for your health, either. And I didn't say clothes should be washed before wearing just because of the chemicals.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119550724#Comment_119550724

https://dceg.cancer.gov/research/what-we-study/pfas

https://www.epa.gov/pfas/pfas-explained

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweatshop

Just because you don't think something happens in Ireland doesn't mean it doesn't happen elsewhere.

thedart

I’m doing the harry stylish and wearing dresses from now on.

Deeec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119550029#Comment_119550029

I suppose you think the detergents you wash your clothes in are 100% safe and couldnt cause any issues. You seem to believe that the alleged chemicals on new clothes cause cancer but cleaning chemicals are safe. I fail to see your logic here.

New Home

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119551098#Comment_119551098

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.

Larbre34

Towels are supposed to be washed before use. I'd usually wash new cotton sheets just to soften them up and take off any loose lint.

But the idea of washing new clothes before wear is stupid.

Would you take a brand new suit or gown to the dry cleaners before it was ever worn? No, because theres no need.

No underwear or swimwear bought has ever been worn by anyone before, so that problem doesn't arise either.

Yes, new clothes can have a certain smell from the manufacturing process, so just air the item out well, or if its unusually overpowering, use Febreze.

Greyfox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119550976#Comment_119550976

If someone says "something happens" the onus is on that person to provide proof. If someone says they saw the tooth fairy a few times ill ask them to take a picture the next time

touts

Modern clothes are designed to only be washed three or four times before they look ****. The likes of Zara and H&M make clothes designed to only be worn and therefore washed once. Why waste one wash before you even get to wear it

New Home

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119551236#Comment_119551236

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.

New Home

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119551281#Comment_119551281

Definition of disposable fashion. If the clothes are only looking ok provided they're not washed too often, that should tell you something about how they're made/ what they're made with.

New Home

https://chemicalsinourlife.echa.europa.eu/clothes-and-textiles

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

Graces7

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119550739#Comment_119550739

People's homes. Like the handknits,,, these ARE checked. I speak from long experience.

looksee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119552943#Comment_119552943

Well mine wasn't, nor any of my friends (who mostly lasted about as long as I did). So long as they came back finished and looking clean there were no questions asked.

The Mighty Quinn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119550029#Comment_119550029

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?

I appreciate what you're saying, and it may make me disgusting, but I don't really mind. We live in a world where we all huddle up against each other on public transport, or in concert venues or nightclubs etc. There's all manners of 'germs' out there that we're routinely exposed to. We're getting into the territory here where you'd probably support people insisting on taking shoes/boots off at the front door in case they drag god-knows-what in through the house from footpaths outside? I'm of a mind where unless it's visibly soiled, or clearly smells unclean, it won't be put in the wash. I have so much washing to keep on top of and get dried as it is, adding in new clothes to the mix seems even more daft.

Each to their own.

New Home

Maybe it's only a matter of time, nobody used to find disgusting having carpet in the bathroom, including around the toilet, either.

whatchagonnado

What's are these other people doing in the changing room that puts their sweat onto the clothes? And what's wrong with other peoples sweat?

The Mighty Quinn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119554087#Comment_119554087

Yeah that's fairly sickening to be honest. The house I bought a few years ago had a thick red carpet in the ensuite. If it was left to its own devices it probably could have crawled itself down the stairs and into the skip.

Esel

I don't wash clothes from the charity shop before wearing them. Am I doomed?

Chorcai

Worked in clothes shops, yes wash the clothes - all sorts come in and try on clothes 🤮

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119553203#Comment_119553203

Same here. Nobody checked the home. Neither for homeknit finishing or shoe interlacing. Both glorified slave labour really but a vital stipend at the time for many homes. I don't think anybody caught any diseases from the practice though.

Graces7

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119555853#Comment_119555853

Well, if the charity shop is like the one i use the volunteers wash everything very well

Graces7

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119553203#Comment_119553203

We were all visited with the first order. It was sensible enough.