My 5-year-old daughter is notorious for telling my mom not to get her new clothes as gifts.
“Clothes don’t count, grandma,” she bluntly reminds my mom when asked what she wants for a special occasion.
Well, apparently, our other relatives didn’t get the memo because my daughter received a boatload of new outfits for Christmas (along with a ton of other requested playthings). And when I say “boatload,” I’m not exaggerating. Seriously, my kid scored enough clothes to easily fill a regulation size double scull. Her pile of new apparel was so large it wouldn’t fit into her hamper or the jumbo one that sits in the laundry room.
For a brief moment I considered bypassing the washing machine and simply allow my daughter to wear her new outfits as is. However, that idea was squashed after talking to a pal who was dealing with a similar situation. She and I both have children with eczema and she was quick to remind me about the evils that lurk in new clothes, including formaldehyde.
Formaldehyde is just one of many chemicals that are commonly used on new clothing to prevent bacteria from growing. According to health experts, formaldehyde can cause irritation to the eyes, nose, throat and lungs. What’s more, while the United States has imposed limits on the amount of chemicals that can be used to treat new clothing (such as formaldehyde), other countries don’t have the same rules and have been known to allow higher levels to be used on some apparel.
If an article of clothing has been treated with formaldehyde, and you allow your child to wear it without washing it first, he could suffer an allergic reaction. Health experts say rashes can form in areas of friction or sweating, such as under a child’s arms or around his neck. Experts further note that children tend to be more sensitive than adults to chemical irritants, so it’s important for parents to thoroughly wash garments before allowing their kids to wear them, especially if the clothes will be in direct contact with the skin. In addition, certain dyes in the fabric may leave a residue on the skin or rub off on other clothing items if they are not washed before wearing.
Besides the chemical element, my friend gently reminded me of another gross factor that comes into play with new clothes. The freshly tagged outfits may look nice, but who knows how many people have been handled them before they were gifted to your kid. It’s impossible to know who or what has touched the fabric. The outfits could have been tried on by other children, accidentally dropped on the department store’s floor, run over by a stray shopping cart, or handled by a store employee who is not fond of washing his hands after using the restroom.
Needless to say, while it took me a couple of days to wash (five loads!!), my daughter is now the proud (okay, oblivious) owner of a closet full of chemical-free clothes.
Do you make a habit of washing your kid’s new clothes?
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