New baby clothes - wash or not?

[ruthieruthuk]

Bought some new outfits/sleepsuits for baby who is due Jan 2nd and was wanting opinions, would people wash brand new baby clothes or pack as they are?

Absolutely wash.

Wash everything first.

Yes definitely wash first!

Wash and check inside toe bits and built in gloves for loose loops of thread that could trap fingers/toes

Wash and check for those annoying little bits of plastic tag that can get left on.

Never washed a single thing, child is alive and well 6 months later.

I have never washed anything for my babies only if they were second hand or put in the loft but new ones my kids are ok..

We couldn’t be bothered, so nothing has been washed for baby.

We have removed all the tags though in preparation :)

Depends...

I did because whole family has eczema/sensitive skin and most new clothes are saturated in highly scented fabric conditioner which really irritates our skin.

But some families are better in this respect.

But at the very least air from plastic packaging, check for tags and pins and little bits of errant thread loops that can trap little fingers/toes.

Wash. Babies have sensitive skin.

Wash! Especially if purchased in a shop, I've worked in retail and shops are absolutely filthy.

Personally, I would definitely pre-wash clothes for a newborn. In-laws believe that all baby clothes should be ironed too (for sterilisation ) but I think that's a bridge too far - I did it for the first one (to please MiL) but after that I just pretended I'd done it.

Definitely wash! New clothes are covered in chemicals including formaldehyde.

It never occurred to me to wash brand new baby clothes. It's making unnecessary work for yourself IMO. But my DC are grown up. Maybe it's one of these new things

I only ever washed anything second hand

Wash. Clothes are sprayed chemicals to stop mould etc. I don’t wear anything without laundering it first.

I’ve washed all mine. It’s a long process but so worth it. I used fairy non bio and they smell so nice. I wash all my own new clothes before I wear them too because I hate the musty smell some of them have from the warehouses they’ve been sitting in. And some even smell abit like chemicals.
I’ve also worked in retail and there stock rooms can be so filthy.
But it’s personal preference. X

Definitely wash! It's effort but on the plus side the house smells amazing when they're all clean, dried and ironed

I never washed any of my new baby clothes, DD is now nearly 11 months and is absolutely fine. Lol.

Never washed and definitely never ironed any!

How can washing a batch of baby clothes be a lot of effort, it’s not even one load of washing if you do it all at once.

Babies have been in a protected environment for 9 months and have sensitive skin. Why risk them having a reaction to something because you were too lazy to wash it? Clothes are sprayed with chemicals to stop them wrinkling and going mouldy. It’s not worth the risk for the sake of 20 minutes work, if that.

The real work starts when the baby is here and keep pooing and spitting up on everything.

I didn’t because I didn’t know what size they were going to be and wanted to be able to return / exchange things. But they ended up in incubators and then needing preemie clothes I had to buy anyway - a few things weren’t washed as I ordered them and took straight to hospital when they arrived, otherwise I did wash them.

I'm washing everything, even new stuff. You just don't know what the factory conditions are where these clothes ect was made and packaged. Plus at least this new stuff smells nice once it's been washed. Downside to it is, some of the new stuff I've washed don't look new anymore because I've washed it but oh well!

If you think doing one wash of baby clothes before your baby arrives is too much effort you’re in for a shock when baby is here!