What say you?

[Laila619]

...wearing brand spanking new clothing from the store without washing it first? Yay or nay?

My cousin and I love wearing brand new clothing--just cut the tags off and go! Hubby and MIL insist on washing every single thing first. We got into a friendly debate about the merits of both. What do you do?

I will say that I wash all my son's clothing first before he wears anything since he's a baby, but for myself, I will continue to enjoy the crispness of brand new clothing before it's first washed.

 

[Lottie]

I always wear clothes from the store without washing. I washed my children's clothes first until they got to about one but now the tags come off and they go on.

 

[JewelFreak]

Unless you're a germ freak, why would anybody wash clean clothes straight out of the store? Wrecks their newness. What about dry-clean type fabrics -- would anyone get them cleaned first? Somebody else may have tried them on, but I never heard of catching medieval horrid diseases from brand-new clothing! Somebody sat on the bus or subway seat before us, too, and in our cars before we bought them, in the restaurant chair previously to us. And we're living longer & longer in spite of it!

--- Laurie

 

[Laila619]

Unless you're a germ freak, why would anybody wash clean clothes straight out of the store? Wrecks their newness. What about dry-clean type fabrics -- would anyone get them cleaned first? Somebody else may have tried them on, but I never heard of catching medieval horrid diseases from brand-new clothing! Somebody sat on the bus or subway seat before us, too, and in our cars before we bought them, in the restaurant chair previously to us. And we're living longer & longer in spite of it!

--- Laurie

Wrecking their newness--that's what I think, JewelFreak! Hub and MIL are germophobes and say who knows where that clothing has been.

 

[Aoife]

I wash undies, nightclothes, and workout-type clothing before wearing. After college I worked in retail management for a while, and you would be amazed at the things people will do to clothing in what they fondly think is the privacy of a dressing room. A-mazed. And this was at a very high-end store.

It may look clean....

 

[jewelerman]

i always wear an item before its laundered. I like that new crisp look and will wear a new item a couple of times before putting it in the wash because it never looks the same after its washed.

 

[Rhea]

Typically wash first, but depends on how desperately I want to wear it. T-shirts, I usually want to wear immediately!

 

[movie zombie]

i used to love the new clothes look/feel.......then i read some things and remembered how many people don't wash their hands after using the toilet, don't cover their mouth when coughing or nose when sneezing, etc. i've started washing first.......but i do miss that "new" feeling/look.

 

[Matata]

I always wash first. I don't like the smell of most new clothes which either smell dusty or have a chemical aroma that gives me a headache.

 

[ame]

I usually only wash underwear, pjs, socks and anything thta smells or looks "off" or gross. Otherwise I might febreze or lysol it, then on it goes.

 

[JuneRose]

Well from my experience as a sales assistant.... good god I wash first!! Trust me I worked in some very lovely boutiques and I can't tell you how many people I have seen trying on things without a bra or with hairy armpits...

 

[jaysonsmom]

I usually wash first, unless I found something for an eventm and I had to wear it at the very last minute!

 

[missy]

Unless you're a germ freak, why would anybody wash clean clothes straight out of the store? Wrecks their newness. What about dry-clean type fabrics -- would anyone get them cleaned first? Somebody else may have tried them on, but I never heard of catching medieval horrid diseases from brand-new clothing! Somebody sat on the bus or subway seat before us, too, and in our cars before we bought them, in the restaurant chair previously to us. And we're living longer & longer in spite of it!

--- Laurie

I wear them usually right from the store but my dh always washes his. Nothing to do with germs but chemicals at the factory (formaldehyde perhaps?) where they are made or something like that. Now with the rise in bedbugs makes me a bit concerned and I have thought about (thought about mind you not actually done ) washing them in really hot water before I wear them. The problem is most of the things I buy are not supposed to be washed in hot water so you see the dilemma. You can also put them in the dryer on the hottest setting as an alternative but I have not done that as of yet either. So not about germs per se but really do not want to get a bed bug infestation...but to answer your question I wear them before washing.

But, I always wash new underwear before wearing!

 

[kenny]

I wash it first, every time no matter what!!!!!!!!!!!!

The person who tried it on before I bought it may have crabs or some disgusting skin fungus, and don't they put chemicals in new clothes to make them look better and preserve them?
I can certainly smell something in new clothes.

 

[slg47]

wash first.

except socks that come in a package...just wear those first and then wash.

 

[Lulie]

I always wash all new fabrics first. Formaldehyde resin may stiffen and keep a shape in a garment even prevent mildew but is really bad for you.

 

[centralsquare]

I usually wash. It's strange to think that others may have brought them home and returned.

 

[centralsquare]

I wash undies, nightclothes, and workout-type clothing before wearing. After college I worked in retail management for a while, and you would be amazed at the things people will do to clothing in what they fondly think is the privacy of a dressing room. A-mazed. And this was at a very high-end store.

It may look clean....

I'm curious...do tell...

 

[zoebartlett]

I wear brand spanking new clothes right from the store. My husband washes his new clothes first though.

 

[beadchick]

I used to NOT wash (other than socks, undies, and the like) until I wore a pair of brand spanking new capris one day and ended up with a gnarly case of allergic dermatitis with quarter-sized red blotches all over my butt, legs, and thighs.

You know when you were a kid and your dad threatened to spank you so hard you wouldn't be able to sit down? It was kind of like that. Thank God for benadryl. Now, I wash.

 

[slg47]

I wash undies, nightclothes, and workout-type clothing before wearing. After college I worked in retail management for a while, and you would be amazed at the things people will do to clothing in what they fondly think is the privacy of a dressing room. A-mazed. And this was at a very high-end store.

It may look clean....

I'm curious...do tell...

I haven't worked in a store but I did see a special on stores that allowed underwear to be returned without the original tags. Even though it was not in the store policy, they showed associates putting the 'used' underwear back on the floor.

 

[Aoife]

I wash undies, nightclothes, and workout-type clothing before wearing. After college I worked in retail management for a while, and you would be amazed at the things people will do to clothing in what they fondly think is the privacy of a dressing room. A-mazed. And this was at a very high-end store.

It may look clean....

I'm curious...do tell...

Okay, here's one example:

The store was a high end (very!) store, in a suburb/town that is pretty synonymous with "rich people live here." The area I worked was all designer clothing. This was back in the early 80's, and some single articles of clothing sold for thousands of dollars. One of the first things you were taught when you started working at this store was that you could not afford to judge the customer by the way they were dressed. Yes, there were the stereotypical ladies-who-lunch in their designer knit suits, rocking their 4 ct diamonds, but there were also people who dressed that way who were wannabe's who came in, tried everything on, left the dressing rooms a mess, and then headed to Loehman's to try to get a deal. There were also people who literally looked, and smelled, like bag ladies who came in, tried things on (or not) and then bought everything we had in stock in their size from a particular designer--and we are talking tens of thousands of dollars in a single sale. This is the early 80's, remember.

Unfortunately, sometimes the scruffy customers came in, tried everything on--and didn't buy. So here you have clothing that has been handled and worn, however briefly, by someone for whom hygiene is a remote memory. And you have a lot of very expensive clothing. What do you do? Write it off as a loss? Sometimes that was what we did. But more frequently it was put back out on the floor, and sold to someone else.

Just something to think about. Anyone who has worked in retail has stories along these lines.

 

[iheartscience]

I don't wash my clothes first but I do wash undies first. I try to wash my clothes as little as possible actually-keeps them looking new! And a lot of stuff I get is dry clean only anyway (I love silk!), so there's no way I'm springing for dry cleaning before I even wear it!

 

[AprilBaby]

Gosh, never thought about it! I wear it right from the store

 

[Sha]

I first heard about this 'wash before wear' thing when I had my daughter. I can understand doing it for babies/children, but I've never done it for myself, unless the clothes have strange stains on them from ppl trying them n...

 

[Amys Bling]

Gosh, never thought about it! I wear it right from the store

Same here, but now this thread is making me think otherwise!

 

[Cehrabehra]

It depends on what it is... bathing suits and underwear I always wash no matter what. Some pants that I want to shrink in length I wash first. If it looks questionable I wash it first. If it was on super clearance I usually wash it first (it's been hanging around a LONG time). But if it's just been pulled out of the middle of 30 of the same thing and looks never been worn... and it's a shirt or pants.. why would I want to mess it up by washing it? lol

 

[bee*]

I never wash new clothes-I just put them on. I love the feel of new clothes. DH does the same.

 

[somethingshiny]

I wash undergarments first and jeans to get rid of the stiffness. But, I wear socks, tops, and jackets without washing first.

 

[HollyS]

I'll wear clothing fresh from the store - - as long as it is brand new merchandise and not secondhand. (Never, ever buy secondhand unless you are prepared to immediately wash it in HOT water. . . bedbugs.)

But it depends on the feel of the fabric, the smell, whether it looks dusty from being in the store for too many months. If it stunk of too much dye, etc., I probably wouldn't buy it anyway.

That reminds me of a woman who was on our car lot last summer, obviously wearing brand new denim capris. Dark wash. She stood out there, getting kinda sweaty, and then came in and used our bathroom. I went in later to find smurf blue all over the seat. She hadn't washed her capris before wearing.