Brand new clothes always look so amazing. They’re fresh, they look clean and they have that almost crackling unused feel. It can seem a waste to wash them. Yet those clean looking clothes can be coated in all kinds of dirt, bacteria and pollutants.
Off the shelf garments may have been touched and handled by many people in store. So it makes sense to wash them. But what about clothes bought online? Well, in some cases, these clothes are treated to keep them in their best condition while sitting in storage. These brand new clothes can be coated in preservatives, including formaldehyde. So it’s important to wash them, too.
Just follow the simple steps below and get clean brand new clothes while keeping hold of that crispy new freshness.
Washing new clothing
Remove unwanted objects
Remove all the tags from your clothes and set them aside. Don’t throw them away in case you want to return the clothes later.
Check the washing symbols label
Always make sure to stick to the recommendations. So never use a hotter setting than the label suggests. Our fabric care label article has more information on how to read those symbols.
Wash similar colours together
New clothes are more likely to transfer dye than worn clothes, so don’t put darks in with your whites. New dark items are especially prone to bleeding, so do a sink test before adding them to the wash.
Load your clothes
Load your washing machine, being careful not to overload.
Dose correctly
Add the correct dose of detergent for the wash. Check your detergent box or bottlefor the right doses. You can find more information on dosing here.
Set to Wash
Select the right settings, as per the laundry care label and start the wash.
Unload ASAP
Unload within 2 hours of the cycle’s end, preferably immediately.
Your brand new clothes may have been washed once, but they’re now even better than brand new. But when you inevitably spill down the front of your new top, Ariel is here to help remove those wine stains, chocolate stains and other tough stains. Your favourites will be back to their best in the 1st wash, just make sure to use a high quality laundry detergent like Ariel 3in1 PODS.