# Do you wash new clothes before wearing them for the first time? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 28, 2010, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609 "2010-12-28T16:06:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/1 "2010-12-28T16:06:14Z")
**Mods: please close; posted in wrong forum. Sorry 'bout that.** I got a stack of new clothes sitting on my bed in a pile. I’m debating whether to wash them or simply put them away unwashed. In the past I’ve just removed tags and folded new clothes, but I have a feeling I should be washing them first. They are mostly T shirts, sweatshirts, pajama pants and jeans, so wrinkling is not much of a concern. **[Poll located in IMHO]** ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/2 "2010-12-28T16:11:50Z")
I got a stack of new clothes sitting on my bed in a pile. I’m debating whether to wash them or simply put them away unwashed. In the past I’ve just removed tags and folded new clothes, but I have a feeling I should be washing them first. They are mostly T shirts, sweatshirts, pajama pants and jeans, so wrinkling is not much of a concern. mmm ---
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/3 "2010-12-28T16:13:48Z")
I always wash underwear before I wear it. Jeans, not usually, although if I stopped to think about all the bodies that may have tried on those jeans, I probably would. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/4 "2010-12-28T16:16:10Z")
Of course not. What’s there to wash away? ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/5 "2010-12-28T16:19:49Z")
Usually not. T-shirts, underwear, socks, pants, nope…but dress shirts yes, because that’s the best way to get rid of the creases from how they are packaged. I just wait till laundry day and throw them in with everything else (I do laundry once a week, and rarely have enough for two loads unless I’m also doing towel or my sheets (yeah, I go more than week between sheet washes, what’s it to you? (also I’ve been traveling a lot so I’m only home 2-3 nights a week anyway)), so everyone all goes in one.) ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/6 "2010-12-28T16:26:51Z")
It depends where I stole them from. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/7 "2010-12-28T16:28:20Z")
I never used to. Part of me felt like, “Well, what if it shrinks when I wash it? Might as well get ONE wear out of it first!” But now … I dunno, I’ve seen some \*skanky \*hos trying on clothes sometimes. 🙂 I’ve heard that now with the bedbug issues in some parts of the country, you should wash any new clothes (used to be it was only thrift store stuff that came with a wash-before-wearing warning, lest you get crabs or something) but for the OP I think piling them onto your bedspread for a few hours may have negated any anti-bedbug washing you may do at this point! ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/8 "2010-12-28T16:34:19Z")
It depends on the article of clothing and the color. For example, if you’re in Victoria’s Secret and buy a pair of undies from the bin, you don’t know if someone has tried them on or not. They probably haven’t, but there’s a chance someone has. Or, if I’m wearing a particularly colorful shirt that has dye that could possibly come off on something I’m wearing (very uncommon, but I’ve had it happen with a magenta shirt and a white bra), I’ll wash it. Other than that, I don’t wash my own new clothes. For the kids, on the other hand, all new items get washed as a matter of course. Both have fairly sensitive skin, so we use fragrance-free, everything-else-free detergent. ---
**Author:** ![Chum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3ab097/32.png) [@Chum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chum)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/9 "2010-12-28T16:36:44Z")
I buy all my clothes second-hand (except underwear), and I very rarely wash them before wearing. I know this is kind of gross, but I simply don’t care. My general rule, for all laundry, is to wash it if it smells. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/10 "2010-12-28T17:47:18Z")
I don’t usually wash t-shirts, jeans and other stuff unless it feels stiff or weird in some way. I wash underwear, though. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/11 "2010-12-28T17:51:21Z")
If it’s bagged I don’t, if it’s not bagged I do. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/12 "2010-12-28T17:52:07Z")
Gross. Yes I wash 'em. They’ve been floating around dirty floors in back rooms and boxed and shipped and handled by filthy hands. People’s hands have often touched money and then they touch the clothes. Plus they’re being shipped from god knows where - a country with nonexistent cleaning standards of course. There was a thread awhile back where someone who worked in clothing retail said they sorted clothes in piles on the floor and their hands turned black before the end of the shift. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/13 "2010-12-28T17:55:56Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > **Mods: please close; posted in wrong forum. Sorry 'bout that.** I moved the thread to IMHO and merged it with the thread with the poll. All is well in Muddville. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/14 "2010-12-28T18:03:18Z")
If they smell. Meaning: almost never - I don’t usually buy smelly clothes. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/15 "2010-12-28T18:03:47Z")
It’s weird, I usually don’t, even though I probably should. I mean, I utterly hate the idea of buying from thrift stores, and people at regular stores have been trying on what I’ve just bought…maybe I’ll start. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/16 "2010-12-28T18:04:36Z")
I don’t buy enough new clothes at once to make a separate load, so they go into the normal laundry. The exception is socks - I figure my feet are worse than anything that goes on them. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/17 "2010-12-28T18:06:16Z")
Never, unless it’s underwear or used. ETA - sometimes the minute you wash something it no longer looks as nice. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/18 "2010-12-28T18:13:46Z")
The sizing on new shirts, or possibly residual dyes, make them ichy, so they need a wash before I put em on. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/19 "2010-12-28T18:20:10Z")
The chemical smell on new clothes bother me. New clothes require washing before wearing. ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/20 "2010-12-28T18:49:48Z")
I wash everything, just to get that new clothing feel off (odd smells, folds from packaging and overall stiffness). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609.md?page=2)