# New clothes - wash or not? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 9, 2002, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-clothes-wash-or-not/102659 "2002-04-09T14:02:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-clothes-wash-or-not/102659/1 "2002-04-09T14:02:46Z")
I don’t like the smell of new clothes or the feel of whatever is on them to make them “crisp”. And I don’t like the idea of wearing something that may have been handled by who-knows-how-many shoppers. So when I buy clothing, except for socks and hose, I wash them before wearing. How about you? Wash or wear? ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-clothes-wash-or-not/102659/2 "2002-04-09T14:05:51Z")
I wear. ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-clothes-wash-or-not/102659/3 "2002-04-09T14:08:26Z")
Depends how they feel. If they’ve got that odd-smelling, odd-feeling “crisp” treatment on them, I’ll wash them. Bed linen seems to suffer from this more than clothes. I always wash towels first, as they are pre treated with something that makes them utterly unabsorbent. ---
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-clothes-wash-or-not/102659/4 "2002-04-09T14:48:08Z")
Wear. I’m usually too impatient to try out my new stuff to wait until the next time I do laundry. I have a very low fear of germs. What doesn’t kill me makes my immune system stronger. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-clothes-wash-or-not/102659/5 "2002-04-09T14:49:20Z")
I wear. Husband washes. I do always wash bed linens and towels first though. I’d heard (for what that’s worth) that clothes are often treated with chemicals that should be washed off before you wear them. ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-clothes-wash-or-not/102659/6 "2002-04-09T14:54:31Z")
Depends. (But wait, I don’t wear those…) (yes, you can hit me) Cottons I almost always wash first so they shrink and lose any sizing or softness coatings - important because I hate fabric softener. The exceptions are dress shirts, which I sometimes wear right out of the packet. Since they have a nice, pressed front, they look no different from boxed shirts from the cleaners. Dry-clean-only items I wear right away. I certainly am not going to pay 8 bucks extra for a suit that’s just come from the tailor’s. Washable synthetics - generally I’ll wear these without washing them first since they seem a lot less likely to have been treated first. ---
**Author:** ![katiekilldare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/838e76/32.png) [@katiekilldare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/katiekilldare)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-clothes-wash-or-not/102659/7 "2002-04-09T14:56:03Z")
Generally, I wear. Wash-first is a very good idea, but I’m Captain Impatient. ---
**Author:** ![super\_head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@super\_head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/super_head)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-clothes-wash-or-not/102659/8 "2002-04-09T16:29:18Z")
I wash everything I buy before I wear it - and I wash it alone just in case the dye happens to run in the first wash. I’ve no idea if that happens with today’s fabrics, but it’s a habit. ---
**Author:** ![Zappo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b3f665/32.png) [@Zappo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zappo)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-clothes-wash-or-not/102659/9 "2002-04-09T16:35:00Z")
If the item is washable, I wash it first. Taking Survey of Textiles in college and finding out what they put in sizing defnitely made me a washer. Zap! ---
**Author:** ![Novus\_Opiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/858c86/32.png) [@Novus\_Opiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novus_Opiate)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-clothes-wash-or-not/102659/10 "2002-04-09T16:41:03Z")
New pants, new shirt! Wearing them right now. Novus ---
**Author:** ![Pencepon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac8455/32.png) [@Pencepon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pencepon)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-clothes-wash-or-not/102659/11 "2002-04-09T17:11:16Z")
Wash. I have problems with various allergies and fabric sizings/softeners are high on the list. The one time I failed to wash a new pair of underpants, I was very, very sorry. Words cannot express how sorry I was. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-clothes-wash-or-not/102659/12 "2002-04-09T17:12:08Z")
I gotta tell ya, what prompted this thread was my shopping expedition with my Perfect Child[sup]TM[/sup] yesterday. As we wandered thru the lingerie department, there was much touching of undergarments. No, we’re not _that_ weird - but some of the fabrics were. Plus if you’re going to wear something right against your skin, you need to know that it won’t feel irritating. Anyway, while I did not buy the teeny-tiny little thongs, if I ever _did_, I’d have to wash 'em, lest I imagine all the grubby fingers that had caressed them as they hung on the rack. And lest some of you get wound up in weird fantasies about me and my undergarments, I prefer plain white cotton grannie-panties that come in hermetically sealed packages… So much for the caress factor. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dcordell1960](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d2c977/32.png) [@dcordell1960](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dcordell1960)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-clothes-wash-or-not/102659/13 "2002-04-09T18:28:38Z")
I usually wash first. Unless I am in a hurry ( rare) . My sweetheart thinks this is unnecissary, but I think clothes feel funny if you don’t wash them. And since I am the one who does the wash, I do it the way I want. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-clothes-wash-or-not/102659/14 "2002-04-09T20:22:00Z")
I wear, which drives my wash-first wife nuts. I can understand the item of worrying about who’s fondled the clothes before you did, but if I’m receiving a mail-order pair of jeans or a T-shirt, what’s the worry? ---
**Author:** ![Nortia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Nortia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nortia)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-clothes-wash-or-not/102659/15 "2002-04-09T20:50:57Z")
I wash unless I want to wear it right away in which case I obviously don’t 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Leifsmama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a698b9/32.png) [@Leifsmama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leifsmama)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-clothes-wash-or-not/102659/16 "2002-04-10T00:22:03Z")
Wear. They never look the same as they did before the first wash. ---
**Author:** ![parsnip](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parsnip/32/4564_2.png) [@parsnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parsnip)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-clothes-wash-or-not/102659/17 "2002-04-10T01:29:32Z")
Wash alone. Saves on the rashes. Also shakes out the bug parts in the big vats of things imported on big ships. ---
**Author:** ![Nightsong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightsong/32/3083_2.png) [@Nightsong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightsong)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-clothes-wash-or-not/102659/18 "2002-04-10T02:24:07Z")
Varies: Undies I’ll wash, and I’ll wash anything that has too much starch/whatever on it. Else, I’ll wear it. (I just love wearing a new silk shirt, and being able to smell silk around me all day! Or a new leather item. Although going around trying to sniff leather shorts while you’re wearing them isn’t a good thing to do in public.) * * * \<\< It’s tax time, and your friends at the IRS remind you to give, and give generously. \>\> ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-clothes-wash-or-not/102659/19 "2002-04-10T03:58:40Z")
I also wash everything washable before using or wearing, including socks. If I don’t, I usually find a lot of excess lint on myself afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-clothes-wash-or-not/102659/20 "2002-04-10T04:39:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Novus Opiate \* > **New pants, new shirt!** New service? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-clothes-wash-or-not/102659.md?page=2)