do you wash new bedsheets before using them?

[selhars]

Nope. Never have. Never even thought about it.

[Brian_M]

Originally Posted by blktoptrvl

But also realize that it is the goal of the manufacturer to deliver as clean a product as possible.

To be fair, their Main goal is to make as much money as possible. And while "dirt" and appearance play into that, so do cutting corners on "cleaning" the solutions used during the chemical process from those fabrics. Mostly new fabrics are just Very dusty/linty, at least that's true of the bolts of fabric I buy for sewing projects (which are washed before sewing simply to shrink and set the fabric first, but it also decreases the lint by a Huge amount). Not sure how healthy it is to be inhaling those particles, but it's easy to fix with a quick wash.

Maybe my take on this is skewed because I had an uncle who worked in the textile mills of Georgia for 30 years and I'm just slightly more aware of what happens to fibers on their way to becoming fabric. It's not a yuck thing to me, it's just basic hygiene. I don't prepare food on unwashed pots, or eat it with unwashed utensils either. There's enough risk/discomfort in life, why invite more?

As for the "wasting resources" argument above, I'd ask that person how much packaged/convenience/fast food they eat (that was shipped probably half-way across the country), how often they drive, or get a "new" car.... running new fabrics through a rinse, usually with Other garments, is far less wasteful than having a leaky sink faucet.

The "don't wash" people boggle me. I'm not equipped to understand.

[chiluvr1228]

I saw something on 60 Minutes years ago about soda cans that are stored in warehouses with rats walking on the cans, pooping and whatever. I never drank anything out of a can after that. They also had something about those glasses in hotel bathrooms and how sometimes the maids just wipe them with the same rag they have been using to dust, clean the toilet, etc. Thanks to these types of shows I will never want to sleep in a hotel bed again. Sometimes ignorance really is bliss.


The more of this stuff we see on the news, the more paranoid and germaphobic we get. However I did read that a toilet seat in a public restroom has less germs that most people's desks at work.

[jteskal]

Originally Posted by blktoptrvl

The way I look at it...

I wouldn't take a brand new suit to the dry cleaners. The chances of it coming back damaged are not insignificant.

I take underwear and socks directly out of the plastic and put them on.

When I was working, I bought new shirts every few months, I certainly didn't take them out of the package and send them to the cleaners.

Dockers, the same...
New coats, the same...
New casual dress jackets, the same...

Shoes and sneakers, wear them out of the store...

Dress or casual Dress slacks, right to the closet, the cleaners will have them soon enough.

Those sheets are going to be on my skin as long as my other "new clothes." No, I wouldn't bother unless they smelled bad - but then in that case I wouldn't have bought them.

I agree. If new out of the package, I am good.

[ChessieMom]

Originally Posted by nickerman

Just wondering if it is a standard procedure to do that.

It certainly is for me.