I’ve been thrifting for almost 14 years. Never had an issue with bedbugs or any other bugs.
You are more likely to bring home bedbugs from a vacation than a thrift store.
And to the PP with the exterminator, just because one person says it doesn’t make it true.

I don't but if I did Inwoulf obviously send them to a dry cleaner.

Nobody can help you with the ick factor. Ick and similar issues come in dozens.
Used clothes or new are the least of your problem.

Absolutely. 75% of my clothes are thrifted. I have found really expensive items for very little.

I wash them as one normally does. I rarely buy from straight thrift stores (I prefer more curated consignment stores for myself), but wash the stuff my kids get from Goodwill and the like in hot water with a laundry deodorizer because I can’t stand that thrift smell.

I recently bought a beautiful Reiss wool coat from eBay that needed a little TLC in the form of sewing a pocket tear, treating a small stain on the lapel and shaving off fabric pills. For $45 plus dry cleaning, I thought the effort was worth it.

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been shopping secondhand since I was a kid and I am 51. I don’t love goodwill anymore mostly that perfume smell gets to me but I shop secondhand and on eBay all the time. There are also some nice and some very nice vintage and used clothing stores in my area I shop at regularly. I just wash, have never had an issue.

I was told sometimes they spray the clothes with febreeze or something similar to mask smells. I believe it because notice how it's always the same smell? I've purchased items where the smell refused to get out no matter how many times they are washed or how long they are aired out. Some items are unworn and still have price tags on them. I've slowed down since covid because thrifting has changed. It's become so popular that prices have gone way up especially around here. Some places only want cash or they separate the good stuff, or what they think is the good stuff (mid level mall brands) because I've found way better on the regular racks.

So if something is washable you use this amazing home contraption called a washing machine. If something is not washable in water, or delicate like silk or wool, you pick up yoir phone and Google "drycleaner near me". Google will even route you there in case you get confused or lost. Good luck.

No.
One of our adult kids does though.

I knew someone in college who would buy new clothing, wear if for a couple months and then reattach the tags and take it to the store and get a full refund. My sister worked at a mall in the 1990s and said this sort of thing was common. So, some of us are purchasing new clothing that should actually be going to a thrift store. Additionally, I know people who just love to impulse shop--and then they never wear the items they buy. They donate the unworn items, tags still on, to the thrift store or send it in to an online consignment shop.

Whenever I buy new clothing, I assume there’s a good chance at least one other person has tried them on. I have no idea whether they had body odor, sweaty feet, or how long they were wearing the item in the dressing room that I'm about to purchase.

When I stay in a hotel, I try to not think about how many strangers have slept in the bed, used the towels, or laid on the mattress before me---otherwise the ick factor sets in.

The same goes for restaurants. I try not to think about how many people have eaten off the same plates, used the same utensils, or wiped their mouths with the same cloth napkins. Many of them I'm sure probably were sick with something when they were eating.

Movie theater seating--how many strangers were sitting in the used seat before me? How clean were they? And were they feeling sick at the last showing?

Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.

I’ve been shopping secondhand since I was a kid and I am 51. I don’t love goodwill anymore mostly that perfume smell gets to me but I shop secondhand and on eBay all the time. There are also some nice and some very nice vintage and used clothing stores in my area I shop at regularly. I just wash, have never had an issue.

I keep things double bagged in the car and wash immediately.

I don't thrift anymore because it grosses me out. Is it rational? Maybe not, but the quality of Goodwill near me has gone way downhill. I buy online and wash normally.

Adding to the chorus. I buy a ton of stuff from eBay and thrift stores, and I just wash them when I get them home.

I’ve bought and sold on eBay hundreds of times over the years. I just wash it as I would any new clothing. I’ve never had a problem.

Anonymous wrote:I'd like to buy from thrift stores but am worried about bed bugs. Maybe that's irrational?

It’s not irrational. I had an exterminator tell me there are live bed bugs at pretty much any given time at all the thrift stores (in my area) and Goodwill. Granted, it’s unlikely the one item you picked would have something. But I seal anything I buy second hand in a bag and threw it in our deep freezer for a week. Then I wash it on hot or dry clean.