Often, the cheapest way to make a fabric involves treatment with substances like lead.
But in a fast-changing industry with little regulation, it’s hard to tell what’s happened to your garments while they were being made.
This is especially concerning when it comes to toddlers and young children.
All fabric has always had factory contamination, that’s because looms use industrial lubricating oils.
Always wash clothes. This is very old advice, like 100 years old advice.
The article include a short term solution for buyers, while regulators get their act together. It’s good advice even outside Australia:
Dr Van Amber advises washing any new textiles before their first use — including clothes, sheets, towels and tablecloths.
“Wash everything that comes into your home before you use it, because we don’t know what sort of residual chemicals might be in garments or textiles when they’re being produced.”
I’ve been washing new clothes for years now already.
