I do not wear items or use items such as bed sheets and throws for instance, straight after buying them. I always put them in a wash first (unless I am super eager to wear something or need the item straight away).
I worked in retail for years, and not only do you not know the condition the items were made in, but they are hardly ever handled well before being displayed on the shop floor.
I remember working for one high street store in particular (a certain lingerie store with a naughty back area and pink shop front, famous for an electrical item named after a carrot munching furry animal), that handled intimate items in rat infested stock rooms (that occasionally flooded through from the roof in my branch) in open cardboard boxes with items spilling out all over the stock room floor. Stock checks were also counted out over old dirty carpeted floors in damp rooms etc, this shop was the worst IME although I do wonder if Primarni could beat them.
There has only ever been one store I have worked in that did not handle merchandise at all like this but the majority do.
So after working in retail, I never wear things without washing first, surely other people must be the same, or am I just being neurotic?
AIBU?
to almost always wash items straight from the shop?
LDNmummy · 09/09/2011 19:11
I feel it's a shame to wash before wearing as it's the last time the clothes will look ironed (there's no way it'll get ironed in my house
). DH always washes socks before wearing though.
I can't remember ever having washed anything before wearing - unless it was something that was visibly dirty/marked (and in that case I'd only have bought it if it was the only one left - I generally tend to have a rummage on the rail when buying clothes to make sure I get the least creased garment in my size and with no marks).
I only ever washed bedlinen first with one Ex who used to get an allergic reaction new fabrics (he always had to wash all his clothes before wear).
I never washed the DC's stuff first either when they were babies 
I am a bit rubbish at laundry and seriously shit at ironing, so nothing I have ever looks as good as the first couple of times it's worn. If I washed it all first I'd never get the enjoyment from a first wear!
Just out of curiousity, to the 'washers' what do you do with clothes that are dry clean only? Do you get them cleaned first before wear?
Newsletters you might like
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.