Title: I love thrifting but I’m OCD af about germs/contamination — how do you ACTUALLY sanitize thrifted clothes without destroying them?

I love thrifting, especially sweaters, dress shirts, suit pants, etc., but I’m an absolute germaphobe/OCD about wearing someone else’s clothes.

I’ve always washed thrifted clothes in cold water because I don’t want them to shrink. My current idea/routine is:

Cold wash with a strong fragrance-free detergent like Tide Free & Gentle

Lysol Laundry Sanitizer Free & Clear

Dry according to the garment label

I recently learned I’ve apparently been using the Lysol sanitizer wrong because I was just pouring it into the wash instead of using it in the rinse cycle, so that sent me down a rabbit hole lol.

My biggest irrational(?) concerns are warts/HPV, fungus, bacteria/viruses, lice/nits, scabies, bedbugs/eggs, and even possible drug/chemical residue (fentanyl, weed oils, unknown powders, etc.) from whoever owned the clothes before.

I started brainstorming increasingly insane solutions: leaving clothes in my car trunk during the Charlotte summer, sealing them in garbage bags for months, freezing them for a week, putting them through 70 minutes of high dryer heat, literally baking them at 200°F, soaking them in hydrogen peroxide… 😂

So my actual question is: Is there seriously no reliable way in 2026 to completely disinfect/decontaminate thrifted clothing—including resistant viruses like HPV, parasites/pests, and potential drug or chemical residues—without using temperatures or chemicals that shrink or destroy the clothes?

For normal washable clothes, is cold wash + good detergent + correctly used laundry sanitizer + normal drying realistically enough that I should just consider them clean and stop thinking about it?

And what do fellow germaphobe thrifters do with wool/cashmere sweaters, suits, and dry-clean-only clothes? Is professional dry cleaning enough that you consider them completely clean afterward?

Thrifted this crew neck I can use for work because my store Sells no Name

Earlier today, I was with my Mamaw, picking up some pool chemicals, and we went thrifting, and found this absolute 'Beaut!

It's brown, by the way, lol.

Full story here.

I just bought doc martens shoes and I’m not entirely sure how to wash thrifted shoes especially this one as I never bought second hand shoes before. Please give me any tips!!🙏

Bookmaxxing

Very true 🤣

Hi, everyone! I get almost all of my clothes secondhand because sustainability is really important to me and I love finding unique vintage pieces for very little money.

The only downside is that many thrifted clothes come with very strong fragrance and detergent smells that are incredibly stubborn to remove.
I have a fragrance allergy, so even a faint lingering scent can trigger a reaction for me.

I’ve tried several methods to get the smells out, but I haven’t had much success. I’ve soaked clothes in white vinegar for 24 hours (which honestly seemed to make the smell linger more), tried washing with baking soda, and tried Scent-A-Way hunter’s detergent, but that unfortunately didn’t make much of a difference either.

The only thing that has helped somewhat is leaving clothes outside on my balcony for a week or more — and even then, the scent often isn’t completely gone. I’ve heard about putting clothes in a garbage bag with baking soda, shaking it around, and leaving it overnight, but I’m not sure if that actually works.

Has anyone had success removing stubborn thrift store fragrance smells? Are there any methods, products, or techniques that have worked for you?

I’d really appreciate any suggestions because it’s frustrating to have to wait weeks before I can safely wear my thrifted clothes. By the way, all the clothes I get are 100% cotton and mostly vintage, if that’s helpful to know.

My collection ive found while thrifting over the years

Front & back of a hand-painted welcome sign I found while thrifting. No idea who Carol is, but she did an amazing job! Signed and dated ‘84, which makes it 14 years older than me, and it’s still holding up beautifully.

Paid just $2 for it, and I think it fits my little country home perfectly!

Thanks, Carol - you made something that found a second home 40+ years later😊

Im a man, and if i were to buy womans clothes (for reasons) from a thrift shop would it arise any questions? Or would it be fine.

Edit: thank you all, should be fine :)

Edit 2 had no issue :D thank you all

this is just some interesting stuff i saw at the mall. my bf got me the loretta lynn vhs and the knock off my little pony it reminded me of the mlp (gen 1) pony’s i had when i was younger. i got myself hello kitty necklace and ear rings but it broke as soon i opened it :( i saw the most perfect vintage baby phat purse but sadly it was falling apart and i didn’t have much money so i passed. i saw a barbie with my birth year as well.

I am so sorry if this is not the right place for this (redirecting would be extremely helpful if so!) but I recently got a sturdy green fabric belt. Metal hardware. It smells like an old person’s house, I’m not really sure how to describe it. But it was an incredibly strong smell and even made my room smell bad. So I threw together a load of laundry and tossed it in the washing machine. Couple hours later my father comes in asking if I’ve been working with chemicals, saying that the downstairs neighbour was complaining about a weird mothball-like smell.

So I head downstairs and open the washing machine and EVERYTHING in there smells NASTY. it all picked up the smell from the belt as well as taking on a kind of burnt chemical stench. The smell didn’t decrease at all, everything else just picked it up and shared it.

The belt is currently hanging on the clothesline, not sure if my father put the rest of the load back on in the washer, and we have all our fans in the house trying to pump the smell out. Everything smells like it now because of the fan that’s moving it out of the laundry room, I feel so bad for my downstairs neighbour :(

I have no clue what this is. Any advice on how to proceed with the belt, the rest of the load of laundry, and likely the washing machine too would be GREATLY appreciated, or just any possible explanation.
I don’t mean it in the prohibited way of “what brand is this? What is its dollar value?” I mean “why is this thing I brought home making my everything smell INCREDIBLY musty and manky”
Please help or redirect me to help I am desperate!!!!! Looking this up is not giving me any info.

Found at the goodwill bins, Hand painted by an amateur/hobbiest and I love it so much ❤️

Sometimes I go several times a week, and not even buying anything most of the time I go.

Is it weird to go in regularly just to browse? I enjoy just popping into a thrift store for a quick 10-15 minutes to see if my go-to aisles have anything good, but sometimes I feel weird when I see the same employees like I'm the only one that does this haha

I pride myself on a 90% thrifted wardrobe. These are all of my thrifted shoes. I have probably paid ~$100 for all of these. Mostly found at goodwill bins, but also at goodwills or my local shops! Some are a half size or size too big, but depending on the shoe that’s more comfortable anyway. I prefer a roomier fit :)

Just moved from the Midwest to Oregon with literally nothing so I’m very happy to have scored :)

Found this in a small town thrift store. I wish I could go back and buy it.

Picked this gem up for $110 (priced at $160)
Absolutely nothing wrong with it. It only needed a cleaning. 😁

I work in a nonprofit thrift store and I’m always coming across unique clothing & accessories & this just happened to be one of those 😆 I think it’s from the 70’s/80’s…my mind went to, I wonder where this has been & who wore it & how many clubs it’s been worn in 😅 I loved it so much, I had to put it on the male mannequin to display it and I wish I had gotten a pic of it cause I combined it with tall red stripe socks, a patriotic tote bag pack and a red visor.