Which 'new' things do you wash before using?

Lullabelle said:
Sometimes new stuff can be a bit scratchy which is why I wash first, it isn't pleasant having an itch in public
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Yes - I get that. But a new T-shirt doesn't scratch in my experience. I think I may actually have clothes which I've never washed but have worn quite often. I now feel I'm shocking everyone....:laugh:
 
So I am curious - if you get a new coat or jacket do you guys get it dry-cleaned before you wear it? I think I've got a winter coat I've had for about 10 years but it never occurred to me to get it cleaned, let alone get it cleaned when I bought it new. I don't wear it very often (only when the weather gets sub zero).

Other clothes I've never washed are skirts which are for dressy occasions so I've worn them maybe half a dozen times - they haven't got stained or anything. Also jumpers which I seldom wear but I have to say I can't remember the last time I washed one. I don't think I'm alone in this - I'm trying to think of people I've lived with or know really well - and well, how I was brought up.

As a kid, washing was a big deal. No washing machine just a 'copper' which was used once a week. I didn't have many clothes either - we were quite poor.
 
I wash new towels before use. Nothing else.
But I do wash all new dishes, pots and pans, glassware, kitchen gadgets etc.
 
Kake Lover said:
I wash new towels before use. Nothing else.
But I do wash all new dishes, pots and pans, glassware, kitchen gadgets etc.
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New towels I don't wash - its probably my appalling washing skills but as soon as I wash a new towel it turns into a coarse, scratchy version of its former fluffy self. Is there a technique for preserving that fluffy loveliness?
 
Regarding washing fruit - it often states on the pack ( if you buy in the supermarket), 'rinse before use'. This phrase puzzles me - does it mean I should hold the fruit under the tap? If so, for how long? And should I be somehow be rubbing the surface of the fruit as I rinse it to ensure it is properly cleansed?

Does rinsing unde a tap really get rid of whatever it is I'm supposed to be rid of? It seems unlikely. I generally don't bother. I reckon a quick rinse is not going to make much difference if the fruit is sprayed with insecticide. And if its got a few germs from being handled, will rinsing make a difference?
 
morning glory said:
Regarding washing fruit - it often states on the pack ( if you buy in the supermarket), 'rinse before use'. This phrase puzzles me - does it mean I should hold the fruit under the tap? If so, for how long? And should I be somehow be rubbing the surface of the fruit as I rinse it to ensure it is properly cleansed?

Does rinsing unde a tap really get rid of whatever it is I'm supposed to be rid of? It seems unlikely. I generally don't bother. I reckon a quick rinse is not going to make much difference if the fruit is sprayed with insecticide. And if its got a few germs from being handled, will rinsing make a difference?
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If I buy apples, grapes or blueberries I put the in the colinder and give the a good soaking.
 
morning glory said:
I reckon a quick rinse is not going to make much difference if the fruit is sprayed with insecticide.
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No-one I know buys supermarket apples any more. I'm often told that there are around 60 different insecticides, pesticides and preservatives used from the inception of the apple tree through to the delivery of the apple to the supermarket. I guess there must have been a documentary on French TV about it. It seems a bit harsh on the poor old apple - I'm sure the same applies to lots of other fruit too.

It's good news for sellers of organic apples in France though - business is booming.

As you said @morning glory - washing the fruit won't make any difference ... but buying more selectively would perhaps.
 
Vegetables, fruits, new tools for kitchen (cups, teacups, various pots, towels, etc.) or clothes (T-shirts, underwear !!, etc,) I always wash everything before using or wearing. If I buy a new coat I do not take it to wash in the laundry but at least I put it out of the window and I pass a damp cloth just to remove residues .. the reason I think is quite obvious. In a store, the things exhibited or even just folded like t-shirts, are available to anyone, everyone opens things to see them, try them, touch them (who knows what hands!). In addition to this the dust. Every spring I bring in a laundry coat or winter jackets to be washed and kept in the closet clean and perfumed.
 
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Wandering Bob said:
As you said @morning glory - washing the fruit won't make any difference ... but buying more selectively would perhaps.
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I disagree..washing fruit always makes a difference. I always wash it, sometimes even with bicarbonate. But it depends above all on the reliability of the supermarkets. Some in my area have fruit that I do not even approach, others (like Esselunga) have my trust. It's true that I wash it anyway, just like vegetables, but I'm relaxed
 
MypinchofItaly said:
he reason I think is quite obvious. In a store, the things exhibited or even just folded like t-shirts, are available to anyone, everyone opens things to see them, try them, touch them (who knows what hands!). In addition to this the dust.
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I understand what you are saying - but if I was bothered by the idea of things or people or dust touching my clothes it would mean I could never go out! What if I sat on a bus seat where God knows who might have sat before me. Does that mean I have to wash my skirt or trousers? And as for using public toilets...well I guess I'd have to wash everything I had on when I got home in case it was 'contaminated'. I'd also never be able to eat in a restaurant again or have a take away cup of coffee - who knows what germs might be on the plates or cups from people's hands! Also, of course, if I went shopping for clothes I wouldn't be able to try any clothes on in case someone had already touched them or tried them on.

I am talking here as someone who once suffered from OCD regarding 'hand washing'. This was when I was a child (about 10 or 11). I became phobic about my hands being contaminated if I went outside the house. So, even if I simply stepped outside the door into the garden I'd have to wash my hands when I came back in. Apparently, obsessive hand washing is quite a common symptom of OCD.
 
morning glory said:
I understand what you are saying - but if I was bothered by the idea of things or people or dust touching my clothes it would mean I could never go out! What if I sat on a bus seat where God knows who might have sat before me. Does that mean I have to wash my skirt or trousers? And as for using public toilets...well I guess I'd have to wash everything I had on when I got home in case it was 'contaminated'. I'd also never be able to eat in a restaurant again or have a take away cup of coffee - who knows what germs might be on the plates or cups from people's hands! Also, of course, if I went shopping for clothes I wouldn't be able to try any clothes on in case someone had already touched them or tried them on.

I am talking here as someone who once suffered from OCD regarding 'hand washing'. This was when I was a child (about 10 or 11). I became phobic about my hands being contaminated if I went outside the house. So, even if I simply stepped outside the door into the garden I'd have to wash my hands when I came back in. Apparently, obsessive hand washing is quite a common symptom of OCD.
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Is not so peremptory, only small precautions and of course I refer to the "something new" so, once brought it at home, I want to "clean up" because it became mine and then something to adapt to my needs. There is also a psychological aspect: I do not know, because I really do not know, who touched and how, so in doubt I work because you enter my house and then what will be will be.
When I take the subway or the bus, for example, I see how many people crowd, breathe, touch and lean and sit each other and can not enter with a sterilizer (and not even wanting to do it, come on!) the habit and the good meaning they have their reason to exist. What then I avoid to lean completely because I feel the sticky on the hands and always have wet wipes in the bag to clean my hands, it's another thing.
Contamination is another thing as well as the obsessiveness in washing or cleaning. When I take the train to go to work, not taking a cattle wagon, there are some personal precautions that I prefer to implement. A colleague of mine has the bad habit - and I find it also offensive, in fact it was harshly resumed for this - to not to shake hands or she always she touchs things with a handkerchief after someone else has touched (or me) because who knows what germs there are. So, that is pathology and even a very bad life!
 
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Does anyone have a problem with sleeping on "used" mattresses in hotel rooms?
 
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