# Washing brand new clothes before wearing? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 29, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washing-brand-new-clothes-before-wearing/623478 "2012-05-29T20:29:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washing-brand-new-clothes-before-wearing/623478/1 "2012-05-29T20:29:29Z")
My girlfriend just bought some new clothes for work - Banana Republic, Jones New York, etc. Would you wash clothes like these before wearing them for the first time? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washing-brand-new-clothes-before-wearing/623478/2 "2012-05-29T20:29:50Z")
Guy, no. ---
**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:** [May 29, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washing-brand-new-clothes-before-wearing/623478/3 "2012-05-29T20:31:55Z")
Yes, because I have no sense of smell and I want to be certain I smell clean. ---
**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:** [May 29, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washing-brand-new-clothes-before-wearing/623478/4 "2012-05-29T20:34:34Z")
I always do. Who knows what kind of Chinese pesticides or whatever might be on them. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washing-brand-new-clothes-before-wearing/623478/5 "2012-05-29T20:35:24Z")
Male, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Il_Palazzo)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washing-brand-new-clothes-before-wearing/623478/6 "2012-05-29T20:36:25Z")
I’m male and the only clothes I wash before wearing are dress shirts that come tightly folded and pinned around a pieve of cardboard. It can be tough and time consuming to iron all the creases out, so I usually just throw them in with a load of laundry before wearing them for the first time. Everything else gets gets washed after I wear it. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washing-brand-new-clothes-before-wearing/623478/7 "2012-05-29T20:36:57Z")
No, I never wash my new clothes before wearing. Girl. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washing-brand-new-clothes-before-wearing/623478/8 "2012-05-29T20:37:08Z")
Many clothing manufacturers put formaldehyde as a finish on their clothes as a preservative and to retain that fresh smell as they are shipped exported overseas to the U.S. from China, Vietnam, the Phillipines, etc. Many people have an allergic reaction to formaldehyde, and thus many manufacturers recommend that you wash your new garments before wearing. ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washing-brand-new-clothes-before-wearing/623478/9 "2012-05-29T20:38:39Z")
Girl, yes would wash, because I have a way-too-strong sense of smell and think most new clothes reek. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washing-brand-new-clothes-before-wearing/623478/10 "2012-05-29T20:40:43Z")
I’m a woman who frequently purchases clothing from Jones New York and Banana Republic (in fact I’m wearing a Jones skirt today). I rarely wash clothes before wearing them; in fact I wash my work clothes very infrequently anyway (around every third wearing). Many of my work clothes are dry clean only – they go to the cleaner only if they are stained, smell, or seem really in need of a freshening. I’m wearing a new jacket today. I did iron it, because it was ordered online and came slightly wrinkled, but I haven’t washed it. It smells fine to me, and I haven’t gotten any comments. ::surreptitiously sniffs just to be sure:: ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washing-brand-new-clothes-before-wearing/623478/11 "2012-05-29T20:49:29Z")
Damn, do you know how many germy hands and chemical-y machines touch those clothes before you put them against your skin? I’m a girl, I always wash first. Of course, I have a laundry room in my own home and rarely purchase dry-clean-only items so perhaps my attitude would change if that weren’t the case. But for now…ick. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washing-brand-new-clothes-before-wearing/623478/12 "2012-05-29T20:56:34Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Many clothing manufacturers put formaldehyde as a finish on their clothes as a preservative and to retain that fresh smell as they are shipped exported overseas to the U.S. from China, Vietnam, the Phillipines, etc. Many people have an allergic reaction to formaldehyde, and thus many manufacturers recommend that you wash your new garments before wearing. > [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Damn, do you know how many germy hands and chemical-y machines touch those clothes before you put them against your skin? > > I’m a girl, I always wash first. Of course, I have a laundry room in my own home and rarely purchase dry-clean-only items so perhaps my attitude would change if that weren’t the case. But for now…ick. Female. And I used to work in a clothing store. Most of our customers were nice, clean people. Some weren’t. Plus the manufacturers put all kinds of junk on their clothing to help it stay crisp and clean. I wash my clothes before the first wearing, even things that I order by mail, because of those two factors. ---
**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:** [May 29, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washing-brand-new-clothes-before-wearing/623478/13 "2012-05-29T21:12:50Z")
Male, yes. I wash all my new clothes before wearing, other than socks. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washing-brand-new-clothes-before-wearing/623478/14 "2012-05-29T21:14:27Z")
Girl, I don’t wash because sometimes they never look as good again so you might as well get at least one wearing out of them at their best. I do wash underwear first. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washing-brand-new-clothes-before-wearing/623478/15 "2012-05-29T21:17:54Z")
Whenever I buy a new oxford-style shirt, I tend to do it on business trips where I can take the thing out of the package, give it a quick once-over with the hotel iron, and throw it on, knowing the shirt will never look as crisp again. 😉 ---
**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:** [May 29, 2012, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washing-brand-new-clothes-before-wearing/623478/16 "2012-05-29T21:20:11Z")
Male, yes. I wash any new textile before using: sheets, towels, clothes. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washing-brand-new-clothes-before-wearing/623478/17 "2012-05-29T21:55:16Z")
I usually do, think I should, but sometimes don’t. I get lazy. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washing-brand-new-clothes-before-wearing/623478/18 "2012-05-29T22:00:43Z")
Male. Everything gets washed first. Have you ever seen the dirty and dusty conditions that clothing is made, shipped and stored in? Not to mention the formaldehyde, fabric “sizing” and who knows how dirty someone else might have been that tried on that pair of pants yesterday? ---
**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:** [May 29, 2012, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washing-brand-new-clothes-before-wearing/623478/19 "2012-05-29T22:05:24Z")
> [@emmaliminal](#): > > Girl, yes would wash, because I have a way-too-strong sense of smell and think most new clothes reek. Couldn’t have said it better myself. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washing-brand-new-clothes-before-wearing/623478/20 "2012-05-29T22:09:55Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Girl, I don’t wash because sometimes they never look as good again so you might as well get at least one wearing out of them at their best. > > I do wash underwear first. This. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washing-brand-new-clothes-before-wearing/623478.md?page=2)