SO underwear - wash first?

Yes, even if it comes to me packaged. The fabric all that stuff is made from may be sprayed with starches, formaldehyde, PFAS / PFOS, pesticides, mold inhibitors, phthalates, dyes and lord only knows what else. I don’t want all that crap touching my skin for an extended time, so it all gets washed with free and clear detergent before I will wear it. My kid gets eczema from some of that stuff so I got in the habit of washing everything before we wear it.

Even when I was in high school, I washed all my stuff before wearing ... mostly because my best friend did, and I thought she was so sophisticated!

I went to Australia as an exchange student the year after I finished grade 12 and took a year eleven legal studies class (because my tiny little home town didn't have any cool options available, just the boring required stuff, so I was totally taking all the fun things that wouldn't help my university applications at all!). One of the legal cases we looked at involved a guy who wore his new underwear right out of the sealed package and ended up with some "issues" because of the chemicals left on the undies after manufacturing I remember calling my mom to tell her all about it and how I had been justified in my new clothes washing all along!

Then, when I was working between university years, I ended up at a formal wear/tux rental store. The number of truly disgusting things I saw in dressing rooms and on clothes after people tried them on was horrifying! And these were people trying on tuxedos and wedding and bridesmaid dresses ... my imagination does not want to tackle what might go on in mall changing rooms

So, I wash everything as soon as it gets home--clothes, undies, socks, towels, sheets, the whole shebang!

And everythinf is sprayed to deter pests while in transit. No way in hell Im putting unwashed clothes on my body and certainly not on my bits.

Speaking of thrifted stuff, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. OMG the scented detergents, fabric softeners, and “scent boosters” that people use on their clothes is so overwhelmingly gross! Why do people love that stuff so much?  I don’t think people who use those products realize how strong the soap smells are and how long they linger.

While DD sometimes still will pick up the occasional thrifted item, I’ve gotten away from buying thrifted clothing for myself simply because it takes so long to get the soapy stink off of them even after repeated soaking and washing with unscented detergent and white vinegar. And the worst part is that scented crap embedded in the thrifted clothes will contaminate any other clothing that is also washed in that load so now EVERYTHING stinks, even the stuff that previously didn’t. 🤮

Having grown up in an unscented household for the most part, DD is particularly susceptible to anything with an overpowering smell. When she has certain friends over, she hesitates to let them sit in her upholstered recliner or on her bean bag, because the soap smells from their clothing gets into the furniture. She will keep smelling it for days afterward and it gives her headaches.

IDK, some of her friends do leave a trail of scent in their wake. 🤷🏻‍♀️ When you don’t live with scented products like that day in and day out, it really is much more noticeable when you are around someone who does. She gets eczema from scented detergents so I stopped using anything scented when she was a baby. I don’t always notice it but she definitely does and it gives her headaches. I also get raging headaches if I’m around someone wearing certain perfumes for too long. She does have friends over, but when it’s her ‘soap factory’ or Axe Body spray friends, they all hang out in what was the formal living room where they can sit where ever they want because “her” chair is in another room.

A few weeks ago her friend from the lake wanted to have a sleep over at the cabin (DD has two beds in her room). The friend has multiple toddler younger siblings that she has to take care of regularly, so when she was at our place she was wiped out from chasing all those kids around all day and crashed early at like 9:30 pm. DD went in her room a while later to change into pjs, came out and whispered to me, “I can’t sleep in there. (Friend)’s clothes reek of detergent.” I was like, 🙄 whatever, sleep in the guest room then. So that’s what she did. Well the next day after her friend left, I went in there to strip the bed and I’ll be dipped. The room DID smell like I walked into a Plato’s Closet! 🤢 Totally smelled like laundry soap and dryer sheets. 🤷🏻‍♀️

We don’t burn candles, rarely use wax melts (and even then only citrus, vanilla or cinnamon ones that dissipate quickly), no plug ins or room sprays ever. I also avoid cleaning products that have strong smells. I can see how she might still notice it one or two days later since there aren’t other competing smells in the house, especially if their family uses that scent booster stuff. I mean, if it keeps stuff smelling “fresh” for up to 12 WEEKS after using it, it’s going to leave some residual scent behind when a warm human is wearing the clothes and sitting in an upholstered chair.

FWIW, years ago when I worked retail, I would notice a faint natural gas smell every time I would first enter my building but not later on in the day. Said something to DH about it and he couldn’t smell anything. I kept noticing it over and over and finally one day he went in first and said he noticed it too. We had a furnace guy come to check and clean the boiler. That guy said, “Women will almost always notice the smell first. If she says she smells it, believe her and have someone come out to check it.”

And another FWIW, my sister used to have a job as a “super smeller.” Her job was to smell things like pet food and then describe what she thought it smelled like. They wanted to know if the food smelled appealing to people. It’s a thing! It was a contract position though so she only worked there for three years. Apparently it’s a pretty rare ability so maybe it’s genetic. 🤣

It’s not like she can smell it if she’s just walking past the chair days later, more like she can smell it when she is sitting IN the chair, KWIM? 

And I do know what you mean about cigarette smoke and musty/moldy smells because I pick up on those things right away too, way before anyone else can smell it. Also dead mouse smell. I can tell when there is a dead mouse hiding somewhere and it’s so nasty!

I only wash towels before using them because it makes them 'work' better. My arse and related areas have never suffered any ill effects from wearing unwashed new knickers 

Ugh, I hate how they pack everything in the bags, too, BUT, having worked retail in my late teens/early 20s, I get why they do it. So many products are ruined before they have a chance to be sold.

I can't tell you how often boxes would arrive wet. And if the products were not in bags, then they got wet, too, and stuff would arrive smelling bad, or even be moldy. Colors would bleed. Ugh.

Even when I buy second-hand items online they tend to be packed into new plastic bags before being mailed in a plastic mailer.

I wonder if this is literally how my dog feels. Fascinating!

Yeah, I get it too...  you know its coming over on some boat I am sure.... and it protects the item....  And I know it comes to the stores the same way. Actually having been in one of the warehouses from a large named store I am glad that everything comes wrapped....  The bug/critter factor alone makes me understand it.  I just feel wasteful with it...