# Why do almost all new clothes smell like chemicals now?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-almost-all-new-clothes-smell-like-chemicals-now/1010065>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [November 11, 2024, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-almost-all-new-clothes-smell-like-chemicals-now/1010065 "2024-11-11T05:12:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\
**Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-almost-all-new-clothes-smell-like-chemicals-now/1010065/22 "2026-01-29T04:29:28Z")

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> [@WildaBeast](#):
>
> Echoing what other have said, I haven’t noticed anything different about how new clothes smell. As far as I can remember, new clothes have _always_ had a funny smell, ever since I was a kid.

Yes, new clothes almost always smell unpleasant, but the smell usually goes away when i wash them. (Although, i have a newish washing machine that doesn’t remove anything, it just sloshes dirt around. I should probably start a pit thread, if i haven’t already…)

If things smell different to you “since the covid lockdown”, it’s almost certainly you that has changed, not the rest of the world. Probably you had covid and it damaged your sense of smell.

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**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\
**Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-almost-all-new-clothes-smell-like-chemicals-now/1010065/23 "2026-01-29T15:07:37Z")

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I haven’t noticed “chemical” smell of new clothes, though the great majority of the ones I acquire these days are jeans-type pants, t-shirts and the occasional sweatshirt.

The most noteworthy stink I’ve encountered in recent times was that of a batch of black plastic plant pots, which had an industrial reek so strong I had to leave them outside for months to air out.

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**Author:** ![Nightaudit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightaudit/32/17181_2.png) [@Nightaudit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightaudit)\
**Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-almost-all-new-clothes-smell-like-chemicals-now/1010065/24 "2026-01-29T18:55:38Z")

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A lot of the dyes used in clothing and pretty much everything else are petroleum based so maybe that’s what you’re smelling… have you recently stopped smoking? I noticed that after I stopped smoking, that smells were more vibrant than before.

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