Do you wash new clothes before you wear them?

[MichelleVW]

sometimes...but not always...

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I'll admit that I don't. Mostly because I do not have my own washer and dryer. I tend to buy new clothes right before I need them and don't see the point in spending the money just to wash one outfit. It's the same price whether I wash a few things or a full load. But then, I tend to wait until I have at least two loads to do laundry.

Once I have my own washer and dryer this habit will change.

 

[zippitydoo]

I only wash new clothes if they feel stiff mostly jeans and undergarments

 

[Caradana]

Rarely. I like the freshness and shape and color intensity (especially black) of new clothes. I try hard to preserve them - I feel like they go downhill from the first wash onwards, but most of what I wear at work is business formal, so the dry cleaner is pretty much a member of our family at this point. I do however LOVE freshly-laundered towels.

Besides, NYC neutralizes a girl's neuroticism about clean. Think about it. I buy a new shirt. It might have germs. I wash it. I put it on. I leave the building. I enter the subway. I touch the subway banister. WAIT. How many germs are on that subway banister? I go through the turnstyle. It touches my shirt. AAAH! NEW GERMS!!!!!

 

[Imzadi]

Somehow I have made it to age 50 without washing new clothes before wearing them.

Nope, always too excited to get the new clothes, I have never had a problem.

Rarely. I like the freshness and shape and color intensity (especially black) of new clothes. I try hard to preserve them - I feel like they go downhill from the first wash onwards,

Besides, NYC neutralizes a girl's neuroticism about clean. Think about it. I buy a new shirt. It might have germs. I wash it. I put it on. I leave the building. I enter the subway. I touch the subway banister. WAIT. How many germs are on that subway banister? I go through the turnstyle. It touches my shirt. AAAH! NEW GERMS!!!!!

I totally agree! I spend enough money on clothes. I want my new clothes to look NEW. I hate how after even one washing they LOOK washed. They loose that crispness, the sheen, they never can be ironed & starched to look the same. Sometimes, the stitching shrinks and becomes puckery. Some clothes fade, ever so slightly even after one washing.


If people don't quite understand: humans are animals. Our skin is actually designed to withstand germs & dirt. As a species, we wouldn't have lasted this long if our epidermis couldn't take a layer of germs & dirt. In ancient days, people didn't even bathe for months on end. (Not recommending that, by the way. )

Unless the article of clothing is something like jeans, black pants (like someone else mentioned,) or a red piece of clothing from India, where the dyes are more likely to come off while wearing, I prefer my clothing new and unwashed. I want to have that monied, new clothing look, while I can.

 

[KSchwagg86]

Never!!

 

[Macca1111]

I said yes, but there is one skirt that I bought and didn't wash for the first few times. It's a pain to hand wash, and I the smell of incense from the Indian store that it came from. That's the only item I haven't washed first...it just seems like a good idea since you don't know what's happened to it before you get it. I don't think it's terrible to not wash them first tho - probably doesn't matter in the long run.

 

[PaulaSB12]

Nope, always too excited to get the new clothes, I have never had a problem.

Me to its never crossed my mind to wash new clothes before wearing them.

 

[Pin Wizard]

Everything. There's the chemicals, smell, packing, shipping, employees touching them. I hate to even think about the possibility that someone else may have tried on the piece of clothing in a store. Ick. I was it all first.

 

[Northstar]

Just underwear. Especially underwear from the "on sale" bin at La Senza... you know, the unpackaged ones that everybody's been rummaging through...