‘I thought I was going clinically insane’: Walmart shopper issues warning on why you should wash your new clothes before you wear them

Alexa (@alexasnakol0) learned firsthand why it’s important to wash new clothes before wearing them. In a viral TikTok with over 2.5 million views, she says she was afflicted with a nasty mothball smell.

The stench, she learned, was from her pants. She shared her experience to warn others about the stinky dangers of putting on brand-new clothing.

Pants-washing PSA

Alexa begins her video by saying, “PSA to wash your pants after you buy them before you wear them.”

She shares how she just got her pants from Walmart. However, she began to smell “mothballs” while walking around.

“And like all day I just been smelling mothballs and I just thought I was going crazy at this point,” she says. “I was like, I don’t know these moths must be following me. So I’m sitting here and I’m like, bro, there’s no way like the smell is just crazy.”

She then re-positions her camera to show off the way she’s seated. The young woman is cross-legged on a chair.

“And this is how I’m sitting. I’m sitting just like this,” she says. “I’m like mothballs, it smells like mothballs and I was done.”

The TikToker then cranes her head down towards her pants and takes a few sniffs. “Why do my pants smell like straight mothballs?” she says, sniffing again before calling out a popular brick-and-mortar retailer.

“Walmart, do you put mothballs in y’all shipping containers or something?” she asks. “‘Cause…I thought I was going clinically insane. And like, I get it, sometimes you know, I wash my clothes before I wear them but this just wasn’t one of those days and it probably should’ve been.”

Should you always wash new clothes?

Several outlets have shared why washing brand-new clothes you just purchased is a good idea. Time said that customers “should always wash new clothes before wearing them.”

The publication spoke with Dr. Susan Nedorost, a professor of dermatology at Case Western Reserve University. Nedorost is also the director of the dermatitis program at University Hospitals Medical Center. According to her, disperse dyes present inside of new clothing can “bleed” out onto people’s skin, causing allergic contact dermatitis. This immune system-related reaction, the doctor says, is usually a direct result of coming into contact with these dyes.

“Sweating and friction” are the greatest agitators when it comes to these dyes being released. Consequently, it’s not difficult to see why tossing new clothing inside of a washing machine would then release these dyes. Soaking them with water and agitating them would ultimately result in these dyes being released. Nedorost says, “By washing new clothing, you might remove a little extra dye and so have a lower exposure.”

In extreme cases, if these dyes leak into someone’s bloodstream, they could cause a lifetime allergic reaction. So washing one’s new clothes before putting them on could be a relatively simple precaution to mitigate this from happening.

The human element

Self also published that new clothing often “contain[s] leftover dyes and chemicals”, echoing Time’s stance on wash-before-wear.

The New York Post, however, writes that there’s another reason one should wash new clothes: Other people. Think about the throngs of folks handling and shipping your clothing and others who may have tried on those pants or shirts at the Macy’s you’re shopping at. A Procter & Gamble employee quoted in the article says, “The human body naturally produces body soils throughout the day. On average, this adds up to about one liter of sweat, 40 grams of sebum [oils from the body], 10 grams of skin cells and 10 grams of salt.”

Not washing your clothes could put you in contact with all this grossness.

TikTokers agree

One commenter who responded to Alexa’s video said they were gagged she didn’t immediately wash her new clothing.

“I’m sorry but who doesn’t wash any clothing they just bought?” they asked.

Someone else echoed this sentiment, writing, “I’m afraid washing ur clothes after buying them is common knowledge.”

One person who said they were a retail employee highlighted why washing is a good idea: “I work in retail, and people fr be trying stuff on with no undergarments on. So yes pls wash your clothes lol.”

Others have said that they’ve purchased clothing from Walmart that has smelled like moth balls.

“I had to wash my Walmart jeans 3-4 times to get rid of the mothball smell,” one penned.

The Daily Dot has reached out to Walmart via email form and Alex via TikTok comment for further information.

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