# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/21 "2010-12-28T18:57:41Z")
I can’t stand the rough feeling of sizing on me, so I absolutely wash clothes before wearing them. Sheets and towels, too. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/22 "2010-12-28T18:58:16Z")
I wash all clothes before wearing. To not would be…icky. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/23 "2010-12-28T18:58:46Z")
If I buy them at the thrift store, yes. If I get them out of the underwear bin, yes. If they have visible stains, yes (plus I will ask for a markdown, and usually will get it) (obviously, some stains will eliminate the item from consideration; I’m talking about makeup, mascara, and other things I can get out). Otherwise no. Love that new-clothes smell. ---
**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, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/24 "2010-12-28T19:02:51Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > If I buy them at the thrift store, yes. If I get them out of the underwear bin, yes. Is this underwear bin at the thrift store?! That’s too horrible to contemplate. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/25 "2010-12-28T19:52:02Z")
I wash them before using them for everyday use. I however do wear them when trying them on for fit, so none of your answers are relevant except the last. The biggest reason I wash them is I don’t need to turn the color of the fabric dye or have an allergic reaction to the manufacturing residues in the clothes. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/26 "2010-12-28T19:57:39Z")
I always launder machine-washable clothes before the first wearing. Dry-clean-only and hand-washables are another story for obvious reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/27 "2010-12-28T20:09:47Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > If they smell. Meaning: almost never - I don’t usually buy smelly clothes. New clothes smell of well, new clothes. I launder to get rid of it. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/28 "2010-12-28T20:21:59Z")
Underwear. My mother is near-hysterical about wearing new underwear without washing it first, and it had never occurred to me that I could just wear it out of the pack until similar previous threads. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/29 "2010-12-28T20:28:22Z")
Yes. So much stuff comes from China these days and they seem to be careless with toxic materials. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/30 "2010-12-28T20:46:08Z")
Underwear and socks, no (there are, to me, few greater pleasures than wearing brand-new never-been-washed white tube socks). Everything else: yes. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/31 "2010-12-28T20:49:35Z")
Underwear, yes. I’m never sure if there might be some packaging chemicals on it or whatever, and since _that area_ is particularly sensitive to such things and I don’t want any infections or nastiness, I wash it. Everything else, whatever. Though I did see an episode of House where 2 boys nearly died because they bought cheap jeans that turned out to be covered in a pesticide that was absorbed through their skin. That gave me pause. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/32 "2010-12-28T20:52:10Z")
I wouldn’t use _House_ as much of a barometer for reality. I never wash new clothes before I wear them. There’s nothing on them. Second-hand clothes are always washed before they’re put on the racks, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/33 "2010-12-28T20:56:26Z")
I don’t have any sense of smell, so I wash things for my own peace of mind. I would anyway, just at the thought of all the people who touched my new clothes before me. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/34 "2010-12-28T21:01:14Z")
I never used to, and frankly still wouldn’t, but my wife insists on washing new clothes. “You don’t know how many people have tried that stuff on…without underwear!” Ok, dear. ---
**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, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/35 "2010-12-28T21:24:40Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Second-hand clothes are always washed before they’re put on the racks, by the way. How is it that you know this? Walk into Plato’s Closet sometime — there’s an odor. A great, big “unwashed clothes” odor. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/36 "2010-12-28T21:28:06Z")
If I buy it from a website, no. Otherwise, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/37 "2010-12-28T21:32:36Z")
Do people _actually_ try on underwear in the shop? :eek:. Also, what is this “sizing” you people are talking about? I’ve never washed new anythings before use (unless my husband sneaks it into the laundry basket while I’m not looking) and I’ve never had any ill effects from this, so I’m pretty much going to keep doing it. I mostly buy from second-hand shop, and I blithely assume everything’s been washed before donation (I’m sure there are icky people who donate unwashed clothes now and again, but I’ve never encountered any making it as far as the rack - I think you could tell fiarly easily!) And since I’m quite comfortable touching floors, or other people, it doesn’t bother me in the slightest that my clothes might have done so too. ---
**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, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/38 "2010-12-28T21:37:42Z")
“Sizing” is the starch they put in new clothes, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Dunkelheit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dunkelheit/32/248_2.png) [@Dunkelheit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunkelheit)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/39 "2010-12-28T22:15:34Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Of course not. What’s there to wash away? Chemicals, dust, excess dye that can rub off onto your skin, that sort of thing. Also, new clothes often feel stiff and uncomfortable to me until they’ve been washed the first time, probably due to the chemicals and excess dyes and such. ---
**Author:** ![Dunkelheit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dunkelheit/32/248_2.png) [@Dunkelheit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunkelheit)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609/40 "2010-12-28T22:17:22Z")
> [@Chum](#): > > 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. Doesn’t it smell like Thrift Store when you bring it home, though? I always try to wash that off before wearing stuff. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-them-for-the-first-time/565609.md?page=3)