Not only the clothes we buy in stores, but even the clothes we order online need to be washed before we wear them. But what is the underlying reason for this?
We go to the store to buy clothes, we see a very stylish shirt or a t-shirt with cool patterns and we rush to the booths to try it on. We put it on, it fits, but we don’t like it, so we either leave it in the booth or we put it back and keep looking for other clothes.
Some people buy a tried-on outfit in the store, wash it as soon as they get home and then put it on, for others this is not so important. Perhaps we want the clothes we wear during the day to be clean and smell good.
But simply washing tried-on clothes does not clean them. The clothes we buy and want to wear need to be washed, even if they have just been taken out of storage or packaging.
What could be the reason?
The production process of clothes uses many harmful chemicals that can damage the skin.
Just because new clothes look clean on the outside doesn’t mean they can’t harm our skin. Lee W. Johnson, founder of the world-renowned menswear company Old But Lee, says that the majority of manufacturing and distribution factories in the garment industry are located in industrial areas with high traffic and commercial vehicles.
He adds that in the areas where these factories are located, the air quality is harmful enough to adversely affect human health, and harmful substances in the air are absorbed into these clothes.
Even if factories have adequate air circulation, the chemicals used in the production process can be quite dangerous for human health. Some of these chemicals are as follows:
Lead used in brightly colored paint pigments
Formaldehyde, a carcinogenic substance often used to prevent wrinkling of clothes
The chemical ‘PFC’, known as a fluorocarbon-based water repellent
‘Azo Disperse’ dye, a synthetic dye that is easily absorbed by the skin
How do these harmful substances affect our skin?
A specialist who treats patients with allergic contact dermatitis says that in this disease, redness, itching and flaking of the skin occurs due to direct contact of the skin with a harmful substance. He says that sweating and wearing tight clothes creates friction on the skin, and because of this friction, the harmful substances in the clothes cause damage to the skin. In other words, the clothes that cover our bodies come into direct contact with our skin and the chemicals damage our skin.
According to a textile scientist’s analysis, clothes are often bleached, coated with stain-resistant and waterproof materials. Due to these processes, the clothes pass very little air and the balance of the skin is disturbed. Especially in dark-colored clothes, the active ingredients that can damage the skin are even more concentrated.
Before wearing the clothes, they should be washed inside out in slightly cold water to preserve their color and remove chemicals. A washing time of at least 25 minutes means dirt-free clothes. If the clothes are delicate and not machine washable, hand washing with a little detergent is considered one of the healthiest methods. Traditional methods of washing clothes seem to be healthier at some point, don’t they?
As a result, no matter how clean they look, clothes should always be washed before putting them on. Harmful chemicals can cause damage to the skin, which of course we don’t want.
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