I have a confession to make: I was wearing new unwashed clothes regularly until I found out the shocking reason why so many people warned me against it.
And this discovery is way deeper than it sounds, because It also made me ditch my liquid laundry detergent for good.
It all started one day when I was at the mall with my friend Amy, we were looking for some Christmas gifts for friends and family.
As we were browsing the stores I found the cutest sweater I have ever seen, and it fit me perfectly, you know the feeling when you find something that is exactly your style and it fits like they made it for you…
So of course I bought it.
Later that day, Amy came over to my place and I was wearing the new sweater, she just stopped and asked: “How did you have time to wash it?”
I replied: “Well, it’s new so I didn’t bother washing it at all”
She was shocked, and told me “Didn’t you hear about the chemicals that they found on new clothes?”
I just smiled, because come on, how bad can it be, right? But she insisted that I research it for myself, so I went online and started digging…
And now I can confidently say:
I will NEVER wear new clothes before washing again, and I DITCHED all of my liquid laundry detergents.
It turns out that new clothes can contain chemical residue and carcinogens like:
- formaldehyde
- phthalates
- lead
- optical brighteners
But don’t throw them in the washer just yet, because there’s a big catch!
If you wash those new clothes with traditional liquid detergents you can end up adding even more chemical residue.
Because almost all leading liquids have optical brighteners in their formulas.
This might sound harmless, but it’s worse than you think. Scientists have proven that optical brighteners can enter the human bloodstream. Yes, if your clothes have optical brighteners on them, they can transfer from your clothes into your skin, and straight into your bloodstream.
I was furious when I found out about this.
But it doesn’t end there, I have some more news for you… Many traditional detergents also contain hormone disruptors. Those chemicals can mess with hormones, especially in women.
But this fact truly blew my mind and sealed the deal: almost all leading liquid detergents contain 1,4 Dioxane which is a cancer-linked chemical.
There was no way I could ever use these detergents again after seeing this, so guess what I did? I went to my laundry room and threw all my liquid detergent away.
I asked my friend Amy: “What do you use instead of liquid laundry detergent? Because I still need clean, and fresh-smelling clothes!”
She grabbed her bag and pulled out a little sheet of something and said:
“Here, just put this in your washer with your clothes”
Wait… What?