Washing baby's things

[Lixxie]

Hi am after some advice - am due to give birth in a week and a day and have pretty much everything ready. Only thing is, having discussed babies things with my friends, they all seem to be washing the clothes, bedding etc before the baby arrives. Is this due to being worried about the finishes etc on stuff bought from shops?
Thanks

It's because shop bought things have chemicals on them to keep them fresh in transport. Those chemicals can irritate a baby's sensitive skin.

I washed mine, just wanted to make sure everything was clean for Lo.

That's great, thank you. Will get the washing machine fired up!

I found washing them softened the clothes and sheets and I wanted them to smell nice! I think they use starch to stiffen them in the packs so they look good. They aren't dirty so I just use a quick 30 minutes cold wash to freshen them up, save on the water and electricity.

Apart from the chemicals it's also helpful because most stuff shrinks a bit, so then you know what the ACTUAL size is, rather than having clothes that look miles too big but actually aren't once they've been washed.