How Important Is It To Wash New Clothes Before Wearing Them?

Though sometimes you just can’t wait to rip the tags off that new shirt and wear it out for the world to see, you also may’ve had that moment of, “I should probably wash this before I wear it… oh well.” So how important is it to to give your new duds a dunk in the washing machine before it comes in contact with your skin?

The short answer: Pretty important if you don’t like itchy, scaly, red rashes. Due to varying laws from country to country on the allowable levels of chemicals in fabric, your clothing could be hopping around the globe carrying various substances that might irritate your skin, reports the Wall Street Journal.

According to Donald Belsito, a professor of dermatology at Columbia University Medical Center in New York with a specialty in contact dermatitis, sometimes you might even want to wash new clothing more than once before wearing it.

Many synthetic textiles get their hues from azo-aniline dyes, which can cause a severe skin reaction if you’re allergic to it and a less intense, yet still irritating reaction of itchy, dry patches of skin where it touches your skin.

More