When you buy new clothes or bedding for you or your family

[TheArcAngelTLV]

do you wash first before use, I know it sounds daft I was half and half and tended to wash dd's clothes when I bought for her, however about a month ago I was scratching like mad and my first thought was scabies (don't think it was) but I made sure the whole family got treated incase (probably just dust from all the building work making me scratch). It got me to thinking about clothes etc and how you don't know whos tried what on, soooooooooo I've been on a cleaning frenzy all week with everything I've bought for xmas ie bedding pjs etc

yeah i wash first-you dont know whose tried the clothes on. they may have been on the floor in the shop or anything!

bedding though, i dont do it as a rule every time. do more for ds's than for me and dp.

does that make me sad?!

Alwasy wash new bedding and towels.

Sometimes clothes.

God I never wash anything - does that make me scummy?!

I only do it because DH insists (think it comes from his mother). Personally I'm not that bothered. After all you wouldn't have a suit drycleaned first, would you?
And how can anything have got into the bedding? But I do it to keep him happy.

I always wash new bedding b/c of the treatment they use on it - it stinks. I tend also to wash clothes that come in plastic bags, again b/c of the smell, and all of baby ds' clothes regardless. I get most of our clothes mail-order so don't think too many have tried them on!

i'm just one of those people that is a bit unhealthy obsessed with cleaning i do believe!

i only wash bedding when it smells from bag or if its for ds's.

and i dont normally wash mail order, because like nearlythree said-no-one's been near it!

Yes I always wash things first. Dh and Dd both have excema and its really dusty in factories where they are sewing things all day. Its easier to run things thru the wash than try to fight a big outbreak of Dd's excema

I wash bedding and towels because they are stiff and scratchy when they are new.

I wash bedding and towels first. Not clothes usually.

I never wash things before first use.. (not even fruit and veg)

oh no, why make work?

I wash before , I usually think new things are a bit stiff.

LOL TrueToForm. If I am being honest I never wash clothes/bedding when I have first bought them and have only started washing veggies etc (unless they look really muddy) since ds came along.

Hmmmm not a good time to mention that I used to work in textile industry. Most items were made abroad....

The warehouse lads used to keep a "bug" chart
of all the nasties that crept out of the crates full of clothes....

Also about the time my friend at work received a sample of fabric from India that was full of fleas. The management dumped it on her desk and left her to sort it out (charming).

Unfortunately this is all true.

My guide is-if they have a funny sort of petrol smell about them I wash them. Also major high street chains are more hygenic than dodgy market traders, because the factories they use to manufacture items are of a reasonably good standard.

Also some of the factories where they manufacturer stuff abroad and in the UK are full of dust and fibres to put it nicely.

I think the same about conditions where fruit and veg are picked and packed. I wash everything before I prepare it, even oranges.

Clothes don't look as nice after they have been washed as when brand new - I would never pre-wash them and have never caught anything from new clothes either...well, as far as I know!