I was in retail — gross reason you need to wash new clothes

A former retail worker has gone viral on TikTok for explaining the gross reason shoppers should wash their brand new clothes.

TikToker Dana shared her experience working at an unnamed clothing store, warning people to immediately wash their new items before showing them off in their next fit check.

“I don’t know if this is common practice but just wanted to share,” she started the video.

She explained that when she worked at the clothing store, her manager preferred that the workers modeled the store’s fashion and latest collections.

However, not all of the workers shopped at the store or owned the latest looks, so they would just borrow clothes from the rack for their shift.

“What ended up happening most of the time is that we would just go into the store, pick something out that wasn’t sold yet, take off the tag, put it on and work our shift,” she said.

“We would work all day. We were sweating. And at the end of our shift, we would take off the clothes, put the tags back on, and then put them back into the store.”

Dana admitted: “I always thought this was really gross. I did not know that some [other] stores also did this.”

“So, I guess this is my PSA to please wash your clothes after buying them. Because they are not as clean as you think.”

According to Wash.com, you should always wash your clothes after buying them as studies have shown that new clothes are actually dirtier than they look, sometimes carrying norovirus, bacteria including strep and staph and even fecal germs.

The video amassed over 21,300 views with other former retail workers commenting that their stores had a similar practice.

“The store I worked for steamed the clothes before putting them back. Which is nice. I did tell the customer once. wasn’t supposed to do that.. whoops,” AnannaOuw said.

“Customer asked for the size i was wearing, I ‘checked’ in the back just to change in a bigger size for me so she could try mine without her knowing..” user5834630022163 recounted.

“Yes this is the same as my work does!! I also work at a clothing store. I think most clothing stores do this though!” Luna Yin said.

Others were completely appalled that customers didn’t already wash their new clothing after purchasing.

“Some people don’t wash their clothes after buying them?” Coco11 asked.

“I always wash them because many people will have tried them on. But this is also now a new [factor],” Katie commented.