Get an STD from new clothes? Impossible you say?

[bbarnsworth]

We've seen a few threads lately of people feeling threatened with the idea of getting an STD if they get involved in swinging. I want to emphasize that this is a perfectly legitimate concern and fear. None of what I'm about to say should be interpreted to detract from that.

It often amazes me how little people understand about microorganisms. I'm far from being an expert, but I'm boggled at people's lack of understanding even to my amateur level.

Let's face it; humans are disgusting, disease ridden creatures. We're constantly sneezing, coughing, breathing, and crapping on each other either directly or indirectly and coming in indirect contact with hundreds if not thousands of people per week.

Grocery carts. Door handles. Toilets. Sink handles. Paper towel dispensers. Money. Fruits and veggies you're checking out at the store.

The sanitize-every-friggin-surface-in-your-home-or-else-you-are-a-bad-parent industry is making millions off of us on our fear of things unsanitary. Yet, we're still coming in contact with these things all the time, regardless of our efforts. YOU CAN'T STOP IT.

Growing up, we are (almost) all instilled with a dread fear of STDs. This is tightly wound up in the moralistic views of society. If you're "loose", you'll get an STD! It's driven into us so hard that STDs have taken on the same level of irrational fear mongering that the term "nuclear" has (yet we're bombarded with nuclear particles every day from the sun).

STDs are real. There's no questioning that. It is a threat to our health, perhaps even our lives. But keep in mind there's a huge, massive, dizzying array of threat vectors for bacteria and viruses. Don't believe me? Ready to get sickened? Watch this...

Could your clothes make you sick?

NEW clothes bought in store being tested in the lab. Shocking results. On a shirt, ""we found representation of ... fecal flora". On a silk blouse, "we found some representative vaginal flora". They go one to say ""organisms can survive weeks, even months" on the clothes.

STDs are a threat. But, you need to treat it rationally. If you can't, you might as well live in fear of every surface, every thing touched by anyone, and don't get too close to any other humans for fear of them sharing air with you.
Oh really?

[CXXC]

I am sure I am not the only person here that does this. I take my dress shirts/pants/suits to the cleaners before I wear them. We do the same with any dreses Mr. CXXC purchases. As for the jeans and casual clothing, well, we wash them at home before they ever go on our bodies.

As most clothes we purchase are made in other countrie with limited health concerns, it is only smart to do this!

[bbarnsworth]

Originally Posted by CXXC

I am sure I am not the only person here that does this. I take my dress shirts/pants/suits to the cleaners before I wear them. We do the same with any dreses Mr. CXXC purchases. As for the jeans and casual clothing, well, we wash them at home before they ever go on our bodies.

As most clothes we purchase are made in other countrie with limited health concerns, it is only smart to do this!

Due to military training, I've always washed my clothes before wearing them (you can NOT pass inspection with a brand new item of clothing; it must be washed, and yes you can tell). My wife jokingly gives me grief about this, saying "But it's new! It's already clean!". Now I'll have her watch that video. I think she'll change her mind

[NCfuncouple98]

Nothing in our home is worn without being washed. (Well, my teen boys may choose otherwise). Years ago our young daughter would break out horribly if she wore anything not washed first, in the detergent we use. So we just made it a habit to wash anything new bought for any of us so she didn't feel "different". Damn glad we do!

[N8ture Girl]

Originally Posted by bbarnsworth

We've seen a few threads lately of people feeling threatened with the idea of getting an STD if they get involved in swinging. I want to emphasize that this is a perfectly legitimate concern and fear. None of what I'm about to say should be interpreted to detract from that.

It often amazes me how little people understand about microorganisms. I'm far from being an expert, but I'm boggled at people's lack of understanding even to my amateur level.

Let's face it; humans are disgusting, disease ridden creatures. We're constantly sneezing, coughing, breathing, and crapping on each other either directly or indirectly and coming in indirect contact with hundreds if not thousands of people per week.

Grocery carts. Door handles. Toilets. Sink handles. Paper towel dispensers. Money. Fruits and veggies you're checking out at the store.

The sanitize-every-friggin-surface-in-your-home-or-else-you-are-a-bad-parent industry is making millions off of us on our fear of things unsanitary. Yet, we're still coming in contact with these things all the time, regardless of our efforts. YOU CAN'T STOP IT.

Growing up, we are (almost) all instilled with a dread fear of STDs. This is tightly wound up in the moralistic views of society. If you're "loose", you'll get an STD! It's driven into us so hard that STDs have taken on the same level of irrational fear mongering that the term "nuclear" has (yet we're bombarded with nuclear particles every day from the sun).

STDs are real. There's no questioning that. It is a threat to our health, perhaps even our lives. But keep in mind there's a huge, massive, dizzying array of threat vectors for bacteria and viruses. Don't believe me? Ready to get sickened? Watch this...

Could your clothes make you sick?

NEW clothes bought in store being tested in the lab. Shocking results. On a shirt, ""we found representation of ... fecal flora". On a silk blouse, "we found some representative vaginal flora". They go one to say ""organisms can survive weeks, even months" on the clothes.

STDs are a threat. But, you need to treat it rationally. If you can't, you might as well live in fear of every surface, every thing touched by anyone, and don't get too close to any other humans for fear of them sharing air with you.
Oh really?

Can't top that, great post!

[TheLorax]

There is, however, a very large body of evidence that says that constant low level exposure to pathogens keeps the immune system working at top form. Obviously this is not the case for someone who is immune compromised in some way, but for otherwise healthy individuals that low level exposure is beneficial at enabling the body to react more quickly to more serious pathogens.

Being too clean is unhealthy. Being too dirty is unhealthy. Trying to sanitize every surface and failing is breeding better germs. Any microbicide that advertises that it kills 99.9% of all germs is telling you that .1% survive and could be stronger for it. One of my spouses works as a microbiologist in the QA lab of a major medical device manufacturer where the environment, the air, everything, is made as clean as is possible, Yet she regularly cultures bacteria from supposedly super sterile items.

[bbarnsworth]

Hmm. There's a spurious "oh really?" on the end of my original post in this thread. No idea what it's doing there, and now I can't edit it out