BY TERRY MWANGI
Nothing beats the urge of wanting to wear new clothes straight off the rack. They are so perfectly crisp, colors so bright, and the whites are so white! Who would ever want to ruin that?
We get so excited that we never really give much thought about where these clothes have previously been before they found their way onto our bodies. Turns out there is a very important step between buying new clothes and wearing them that you have been missing – washing.
Do you really want to wash that new pair of jeans? The answer to that depends on how you feel about skin allergies, weird insects and rashes! Here are two main reasons why you should always pre wash;
Chemicals and Dyes
Before that cute skirt came to form, every yarn required chemicals to make it look that good. Furthermore, that same skirt was treated with chemicals before it was sold to prevent it from creasing and to prolong freshness. All these chemicals are skin unfriendly and some scientists even believe they can raise the risk of cancer.
For clothes to achieve the royal blues and the brilliant reds that you love so much, they have to go through chemical treatment. These dyes can cause allergic reactions to the skin. Pre-washing will get rid of the excess dye and prevent them from reacting to your skin.
Infections
How many people interact with a piece of clothing before it reaches your wardrobe? Are you sure that that dress you just bought is not a return item from a customer? Do you ever stop to think about the many pair of hands that have been through that same dress and settled for something different?
The string of people clothes come into contact with is unimaginable. From people who manufactured the clothes, to people who packaged it for shipping and finally to the shop owner (who you owe credits for making that dress/shirt get to you) there is no way to track how many hands have touched it. Lice, Scabies, bacteria and fungus can easily be transferred from one person to the other when clothes are tried on.
Wash before wearing is the most ignored instruction in many homes. We know that we should wash second hand clothes but we never really give much thought about the brand new clothes after all, they are brand new! Spending time washing your new clothes instead of showing them off to your friends is a buzz kill but it’s all worth it! Those clean looking clothes aren’t clean after all!
