Washing new clothes

My DD does this, mainly the children's things to get rid of any 'dressing' in the fabric. I don't though and can't quite understand why she does it!

I always wash bedding and towels to get rid of the ‘newness’ but not clothes unless they’re from a charity shop. I help in one behind the scenes & know what state some of the donations are in and everything gets mixed together ? Anyway, I like my clothes to smell of my preferred washing powder! My DD doesn’t bother .......

I always wash everything first. Having seen a programme about the amount of chemicals your clothes are treated with, the manufacturer recommended you alway wash everything before wearing and so I do. I also think that having been pushed through machines and possibly picked up from factory floors, I’m happier to know that anything that touches my skin is washed before wear.
And no, I’m not OCD about anything.

I don't do that. Think my daughter does and washes things worn once. Think she's creating work for herself, she always seems to have piles of washing

I do not wash new clothes before wearing them.

I accept that people with allergies or health problems may have reason to do so. I didn't wash my children's clothes before they wore them either, not even when they were babies.

It just wouldn't occur to me.

I bought new fitted sheets that came with the instruction 'Wash before use' and find that washing new tea towels before using them makes them dry things better. New clothes? No, I just wear them first and then wash them when I've got toothpaste or food down the front

No, I don't wash anything new! A friend of mine does, but she is quite obsessive - she washes her bedding, towels, cushion covers, with a whole bottle of Zoflora disinfectant in with them! Then she wonders why her kid had got rashes, sore skin, etc.

I don't do this, things never look as lovely and new after they are washed. If I'm dressmaking I wash the fabric before I start as some types can shrink.

No never

I wash the DH's and DS's shirts when they are new as they need softening up because men are such fusspots.

BlueBelle body lice can live on clothing for a month.

Always!

Nope!

Only underwear and bedding as there is always a packaging smell.
Also washed my children's baby clothes... But otherwise no.

Yes my husband does but I don't bother.

I wash new towels to improve their absorbency, otherwise I don’t wash anything new before wearing.
My Mum used to wash new bras to soften them, but they were much stiffer then.

I never bother to wash new clothes, apart from men's shirts. That's only because they appear to have a 'finish' to the fabric and all those lines from where they've been folded in the packets - same with children's school shirts.

I also insist on washing new bedding (same reason as the shirts) as well as towels, tea towels and flannels. I feel that towels and tea towels don't dry you, or dishes, properly till that 'new finish' is washed off them.

Tillywhiz odd that you had that happen too - I had T shirts advertised as having 'Staynew' from M and S - I think the clothes were given some kind of chemical finish and I felt slightly itchy until they were washed a few times. I'm not allergic to anything - tough as the proverbial old boots - but I did think the finish might have aggravated my skin. Come to think of it I haven't noticed this particular 'benefit' being advertised on any clothing recently, so perhaps others have had the same experience.

ecci53 I wonder if that’s what the horrid chemical smell on a load of shirts my OH bought was. I had to wash them, and I wouldn’t normally do more than iron a new shirt before he wore it.

Bedding, towels and underwear are always washed first. I hate the plasticy smell of packaged bedlinen. I don’t wash other items first though.

Yes. Anything fabric and made in China is finished with formaldehyde, to stop insects living on it. This is a very nasty chemical which irritates the skin, eyes and lungs.

Never! - life is just too short!

Yes I wash all clothes, bedding, towels etc.,

Only towels and baby clothes. I love the feeling of wearing a new dress or top, and it never looks as nice after washing

I never have, and never will. I suppose it would be different if I had a skin allergy or something.