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Original poster

Do you wash all new clothes before putting DCs in them?

26 replies

maxijazz · 09/09/2012 20:10

More of a what do you do, rather than what would you do. My friend said she washes all new clothes for her son before he wears them and talked like this was the norm. I was a bit embarrassed that maybe I was missing something obvious and was being a terrible mother (my PFB was only a couple of weeks old at the time), that i didnt ask why she does this.

Is it common knowledge that all new clothes should be washed before being worn? How many months/years do you do this for if this IS the norm?

Thanks all!!

OP posts:
Trills · 09/09/2012 20:12

Nope.

Lots of people do, stating dirty warehouses etc.

I don't wash clothes before wearing.

Bunbaker · 09/09/2012 20:12

No. It has never occurred to me. I didn't even when DD was a baby. She is 12 now.

ginmakesitallok · 09/09/2012 20:13

Nope - not the norm here

CatOnAHotTinFoof · 09/09/2012 20:15

No. I do if it comes from a charity shop or looks dirty (like it's been returned or trodden on in the shop), but not normally. I did when dd2 was a baby.

Cwm · 09/09/2012 20:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

AuntPepita · 09/09/2012 20:16

Definitely yes, I thought that was normal. They smell horribly chemically when new to me.

Pascha · 09/09/2012 20:17

Newborns I did/will. Second hand I do. New for children older than about 3 months? - Not unless there is a really good reason to.

MissFenella · 09/09/2012 20:24

Yes, there are chemical residues left on new clothing, they are not clean.

lancaster · 09/09/2012 20:27

No, they look a lot nicer before they are washed.

GodisaDj · 09/09/2012 20:27

I did for DD (washed all before she arrived!) and still do but I also wash new clothes I buy for myself or DP! Grin

Its a weird thing I have always done for new clothes for me - clothes are tried on in shops by several potentially smelly people, handled by many whilst hanging in the shops (people feel clothes, material etc all the time), they're handled by staff on delivery, might have been on the floor and by put god knows where and handled by anyone in the manufacturing warehouses.

My view is that the clothes in the shops are not clean or hygienic when I bring them home. Just a personal potentially OCD thing to me and I've been told in weird, but that's my logic above Wink haha

Original poster
maxijazz · 09/09/2012 21:17

Thanks for all your responses, very valuable thoughts and opinions. I can understand why people wash clothes before wearing them now and think I might wash them from now on for my DS. Those that come in packets I might not though as they'd be less likely to be dirty/handled etc. Had never really considered what happened to the clothes BEFORE they hit the shops!

Thanks!

OP posts:
Sparklingbrook · 09/09/2012 21:21

I always do. I want them to smell nice. Blush

biddyofsuburbia · 09/09/2012 21:21

No. Only person who had this treatment for new clothes was DS 1 when he was PFB. I know I should. I know they are not really clean but I sort of think that they make them dirty with regular dirt so quickly they won't be in them for long.. [lazy].

invicta · 09/09/2012 21:28

Never. I love that 'just new' feel and look, and washing diminishes that (and creates more work).

SrirachaGirl · 09/09/2012 21:34

I didn't until I saw a movie where a teenager died from being poisoned by a pair of brand-new jeans ( it might have been a book, actually. Anyone remember it?).

SpitTheDog · 09/09/2012 21:40

All our new clothes get washed before wearing. I don't like the smell or feel of new clothes, and I think I remember reading somewhere that some are treated with formaldehyde (sp?) - although I may be wrong!

LetsKateWin · 09/09/2012 21:40

When I was at uni a friend told me that she's seen someone trying on jeans and she wasn't wearing undies. I washed them for years after that, but I've stopped now.

I washed them for PFB because of the chemical smell. I can't remember how old she was when I stopped doing this.

Original poster
maxijazz · 10/09/2012 07:55

Eeeew trying on jeans with no knickers, that's truly foul.

OP posts:
WandaDoff · 10/09/2012 08:18

SrirachaGirl I think the book you read was "The Medical Detectives" by Berton Roueche.

There was a House episode where someone died from wearing new jeans without washing them as well.

I always wash new stuff, because I don't know where its been. Smile

DisabilEightiesChick · 10/09/2012 09:56

Yes I remember the House episode! Don't buy dodgy knock off jeans, kids...

I washed all my DS's stuff when he was a baby as had been told (cab't remember who by!) you should. I sometimes let it go now, but I still like to if I can as then they are softened up if stiff and have nice freshly washed smell not shop smell.

SrirachaGirl · 10/09/2012 11:17

House! That's it! Thanks .

purplehouse · 10/09/2012 11:22

DCs are 6 and 4. I wash and tumble everything before they wear it. Actually I do it for the majority of my clothes as well.

Reasons:

  1. Clothes can be sprayed with stuff when they are in transit. You can sometimes smell this and it can be more apparent for packeted clothes.
  2. They might look nice on the shop floor but they have probably been on warehouse floor etc
  3. I was shopping the other day and the first item hanging was not my size. I nudged it to check the size of the item behind it and a little insect flew out.

OMFG at the jeans tryer on with no knickers!!

purplehouse · 10/09/2012 11:23

Oh but that has reminded me of a horrible story my late granny told. She went to try a pair of trousers on in a shop, opened up the waist part to put her feet in and saw BLOOD in the crotch!!!!!!!!!!! She left!

ByTheWay1 · 10/09/2012 11:34

ALWAYS - clothes are routinely treated with formaldehyde in Asia to prevent mildew getting into them in a tropical, humid climate before shipping long distance... even packaged clothes.

Bunbaker · 10/09/2012 17:27

I washed my M & S linen trousers before wearing them because I bought a pair last year from somewhere else and they shrank so much that they were flapping round my calves. These ones passed the shrink test with flying colours and have even survived a tumble dry.

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