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Why & How To Wash New Clothes Before Wearing Them

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Why & How To Wear New Clothes Before Wearing Them
Why & How To Wear New Clothes Before Wearing Them

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You may have seen your elders wash new clothes before wearing them. If you don’t understand why they did so, we have all the right answers for you. In this article, we have shared: 

  • Why you should wash new clothes 
  • Things to do before you wash new clothes
  • How to wash new clothes 

3 Reasons Why You Should Wash New Clothes Before Wearing Them

Let’s quickly bringing them home.see three legit reasons why it makes sense to wash new clothes after

They may transfer colour

In a lot of garments, the colour isn’t set properly. They often contain extra dye/colour that may transfer to your skin once you wear them. And the fashion industry is obsessed with using Azo-aniline dyes which are neither eco-friendly nor good for your skin. It can cause allergic reactions, especially in children and people with sensitive skin. Hence, it is always better to wash new clothes to get rid of the extra dye. 

They might have bacteria, fungi and insects

New clothes may carry bacteria & fungi
New clothes may carry bacteria and fungi

In a shopping area, many people try the same garments. Hence, there is always a high chance that bacteria, scabies, fungus, and insects like lice may transfer from one person to another person while they try the same clothes. Hence, it is always recommended to wash new clothes before you wear them.

They might contain chemical

Manufacturers often put chemicals like Urea-formaldehyde on the garment to make them look crisp, and wrinkle-free and enhance their texture. It also helps in preventing the growth of mildew while clothes are in transit. Even though such chemicals are mild, they may irritate people with sensitive skin or people who have a skin ailment. They may develop rashes on collars, waists, thighs, armpits, and other such parts of the body. Also, there can be a smell of the chemical, it often does not leaves until you wash the garment.

Things To Do Before You Wash New Clothes

Things to do before washing new clothes
Things to do before washing new clothes

Check whether a garment can be washed when it’s brand new

Some clothes don’t need to be washed before you wear them, such as heavy jackets, and party-wear clothes like Tuxedos and structured dresses. Because, they are often labelled as “Dry clean only”, and a normal wash may ruin their structure or embellishments (if any). Whereas, other clothes like shirts, trousers, T-shirts, sarees, etc. should be washed before you wear them. 

Remove the extra tags

In general, a garment has multiple tags including label tag (describes the brand or product), security tags and label care tags. Remove all extra tags except for the garment care label. You can cut the extras off using a regular scissor easily. They are often affixed with a plastic thread or clip. Make sure you get such clips or threads out of the garment too. 

Pro-tip: Don’t throw the tags right away. In case you wish to return the garment due to any reason you will need these tags later. 

Read the garment care label

Garment care labels always have washing instructions on them. Don’t forget to check it out to know which washing method is suitable for the clothes. For example, some fabrics can only be dry cleaned, some can be washed by hand only. Some clothes can be washed with hot water, whereas some cannot tolerate hot water. To know what is best for your clothes, you must read the garment care label.

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Carry out a colour bleeding test

New clothes often bleed the loose dye they contain. While in most cases the garment care label carries colour bleeding-related information. However, some labels may not have any such warning or information. 

You should take a piece of cotton, dip it in your regular detergent and rub this cotton on a hidden area of the garment. This hidden area can be inside the collar or inside the hem. Keep rubbing gently in a circular motion for 2-3 minutes. Now, check the cotton, if the colour of the fabric has lifted up on the cotton, then the garment is prone to bleed colour. In general natural fibres like silk, cotton, and wool bleed in colour. Make sure you wash such clothes separately using cold water and a gentle cycle. 

Sort your laundry

If you have a lot of brand-new clothes and you are planning to wash them along with your old clothes, sort the laundry before washing them. The laundry is sorted on different levels. 

  • First, you should separate heavy clothes like jeans and jackets from light-weighted clothes like skirts, t-shirts and shirts. 
  • Then, you should separate the white coloured clothes from the coloured ones. 
  • Now, refer to the garment care label, and sort clothes as per their washing method, i.e, “hand wash”, “machine wash”, “dry clean” or “dry clean only”. 

Prepare the new clothes for wash

  • Turn the clothes inside out: It is always best to turn the clothes inside out before washing them. Especially if you are washing multiple clothes together. This is a precautionary step to avoid colour-bleeding stains. Now, even if any garment will bleed colour your brand-new clothes are less likely to get stained.
  • Open the buttons, close the zippers & Velcro: If you’re washing any brand new clothes that are buttoned, unfasten the buttons. This will prevent the clothes from tearing inside the washer. If you have any brand-new clothes with zippers, zip them up. Unzipped zippers might snag other clothes as they tumble about the washing machine. 

What if we say you can get clean and wrinkle-free clothes without any effort?

Know More

Steps To Wash New Clothes Before You Wear Them

Wash new clothes before you wear them
Wash new clothes before you wear them

Load the washer: Make sure you do not overfill the washer as clothes need enough space to move around. If your clothes will be roughly cramped up the chemicals or dirt from your older clothes may settle in them. 

Put detergent in the machine: You can use any mild detergent to wash new clothes. Make sure you are not using any detergent that contains bleach. Because your clothes aren’t dirty either they have lost their shine. Keep it simple and pour 1-2 tablespoons of detergent into the dispenser.

Run the machine after choosing the right settings: The main purpose to wash new clothes is not to extract heavy dirt or dust. Hence, even if you are washing a heavy garment such as jeans, you can run the machine on the most gentle cycle and keep the water temperature cool. Now, run the machine. 

Take out the clothes and leave them to air dry: Once the wash cycle ends, take out the clothes from your machine and put them in a clean tub. You can squeeze the garments gently to get rid of excess water. Then, hang them on a clothesline or a clothes-drying rack. Do not hang dry woollen clothes as they can lose their shape. It is best to lay them flat on a clean surface and let them air dry. 

To know why you should line dry clothes instead of using a clothes dryer machine, read 6 benefits of line drying.

In case you don’t want to use a washing machine or your clothes are labelled as “hand wash only”, you can refer to this article – How to hand wash clothes.

Key Takeaway

If you are new clothes are labelled as “hand wash”, “machine wash” or “dry clean” (Not “dry clean only”), you can wash them at home carefully. It is crucial to wash new clothes to get rid of chemicals, chemically-loaded dyes and bacteria, fungi, lice, etc. 

You can simply wash new clothes on the most gentle cycle using cold water. If you want to know the details of laundry, you can refer to our article – The perfect way to do laundry. 

If you need more information on washing clothes properly, or you need insights about dry cleaning, you can keep visiting Tumbledry as we post a lot on these topics. 

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