JACKSONVILLE, Fla – Most of people are no stranger to doing laundry. But when it comes to new clothes, do you just wear the item, or wash and then wear?
Most people News4Jax spoke to said they don't wash first.
"Well actually I just put them on," said local Stephen Kelly.
Greg Williams said the same thing. He doesn't even think about it.
"Typically I wear them right away," said Williams.
News4Jax did find one person who said she always washes her new clothes.
"I usually wash them before I wear them," said Christina Walker.
Dermatologist Dr. Christopher Crotty advises wash first.
"When you think about it, you really should wash your clothes," said Crotty.
Crotty said when it comes right down to it washing your new clothes shouldn't be an afterthought.
"It’s kind of alarming, how many people have tried them on before you. There could be anything from bacteria to fungus to lice even somebody who's got an infection, and somebody with an infestation. They're at the store trying on clothes and the clothes are going back on the shelf," Crotty explained.
The dermatologist said even if you wear clothes with natural fibers, scabies or lice might actually attach better to those than synthetic fabrics.
"Has it happened, yeah. Does it happen every day, absolutely not," Crotty added.
It's not just the germs and parasites to watch out for, different fabrics can be a problem because of chemicals. Crotty said it's important to wash your clothes first because those chemicals could irritate your skin.
"Some people are sensitive to some of the chemicals like dyes, formaldehyde resins that are in some of the clothes are of concern for some," Crotty said.
That formaldehyde is used to make clothes wrinkle resistant and to help limit mildew. Clothes made in other countries might also allow more chemicals during the manufacturing process that are allowed in the U.S.
Crotty said all of that can cause mild to severe rashes. And, you may not realize at first these rashes are coming from your clothes.
"Sometimes we overlook the fact that clothing, new clothing, might be causing some of that. You have to be really thinking about that, when you see someone with certain characteristic distribution, areas of friction, underneath the arms, waistline," Crotty explained.
If that happens, Crotty said you're really going to want to wash and rinse those clothes thoroughly before wearing. You can get an over-the-counter anti-itch cream, or avoid that type of clothing altogether.
"There's a lot of good reasons to wash your clothes," said Crotty.
It's something some people said now they'll at least consider.
"If I buy a dress shirt, or whatever, if it's not pre-packaged what I do is pop the tags and take it to my dry cleaner and then I put it on. No I'm only kidding, but I'm going to have to look into that I never thought about that," said Kelly.
Also, it's recommended if your clothes are dry-clean only, you should really take them to the dry cleaner to get them professionally cleaned before you wear them as well.