Walmart shopper warns why you should never wear new clothes before washing: "It smells like..."

Anyone would be excited about trying on a new dress as soon as they get home or the order is delivered. Most people end up wearing new clothes without washing, but Alexa, who goes by @alexasnakol0 on TikTok, posted a video telling people why they must wash dresses before wearing them. In the viral TikTok with more than 2.5 million views, she says that she was once afflicted by the nasty smell of mothballs.

The stench was actually coming from her pants which she realized after a long time. "PSA to wash your pants after you buy them before you wear them," the overlay text read, before Alexa shared how she just got her pants from Walmart and got the stench of 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 said, and added, "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 pointed her camera to show off the way she was seated. "And this is how I’m sitting. I’m sitting just like this,” she said. "I’m like mothballs, it smells like mothballs and I was done." She then stooped to smell her new pants and said, "Why do my pants smell like straight mothballs?” Alexa sniffed again before calling out the popular retailer, saying, "Walmart, do you put mothballs in y’all shipping containers or something? 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."

Many in the comment section were surprised that she chose to wear the pants before washing them. "I’m sorry but who doesn’t wash any clothing they just bought ??" one of the top comments by @ashleeyvaldez read. "I work in retail, and people fr be trying stuff on with no undergarments on. So yes pls wash your clothes lol," @witchyqueen added. "Wait...doesn't everyone wash new clothes before wearing them?" @tina_d80 asked, while another used admitted that she is not used to washing clothes after buying them. "I’ve never washed clothes after buying them omg," @livni revealed. "It be taking me like 3-4 washes to get rid of the mothball smell," @Michael._ wrote.

Time reached out to  Dr. Susan Nedorost, a professor of dermatology at Case Western Reserve University to talk about the importance of washing clothes after bringing them home from the market. According to the professor, dispersed dyes present inside of new clothing can “bleed” out onto people’s skin which can result in allergic contact dermatitis. "By washing new clothing, you might remove a little extra dye and so have a lower exposure," she said. In some rare cases, these dyes can leak into someone's bloodstream and they could cause a lifetime allergic reaction. 

You can follow @alexasnakol0 on TikTok for more lifestyle content.