Why you need to wash new clothes before wearing them

Portia Arthur

May 26, 2015 4:25 PM

Clothes contains lice and bacteria which cause skin itching

Pile of new clothes

Donald Belsito, a Professor of Dermatology at Columbia University Medical Center in New York has discovered new clothes should be washed thoroughly and ironed as the new clothing contains harmful chemicals that can cause rashes and itchiness.

The Professor, added that clothes which contains ingredients such as azo-aniline dyes which is used to prevent fabrics from wrinkling can linger in fabric or formaldehyde resin can cause skin irritation.

According to Belsito, the ickiest clothing culprits come from the stores themselves. He continued, that dressing rooms are breeding grounds for bacteria, lice and fungus and certain infectious diseases are passed through clothing.

“There is no way to really track who’s tried on the clothes before you did, so rather than take the risk of a possible allergic reaction, wash the clothes twice with running water, properly ironed before you wear them”, he added.

Portia Arthur