Can clothes irritate skin? How do you know if you are allergic to fabric? - Dr. Urmila Nischal

Well, clothes can definitely irritate the skin, not each and every skin type, especially the skin which is atopic. By atopic I mean a kind of dry and sensitive skin. So you would definitely come to know if you have an atopic skin, as a kid you will have lot of rashes on the cheeks and then we grow and the rashes are limited to the elbow, and juts behind the knees . so it might not be always the cloth fabric, but might also be the detergent also. Sometimes what happens is we tend to wash the clothes in a hurry and if it is not rinsed properly, if the soap does not go off properly, then the soap laden fabric can cause irritation and cotton fabric is the least irritant one, and the light colors. So when the fabric is dyed with dark colours or it is synthetic fabric like nylon and polyester, then it can cause irritation on the skin. So what happens is after you wear on the clothes, after some time, especially when you sweat, so all the body folds, you may develop irritation and body rash and this may be consistently happen anytime you are wearing the same kind of clothes. There is going to be itchy red rashes especially in the body folds and it is not going to be like immediately. It will only happen only after you start sweating. If you are at home, you are okay and the moment you go out, you do some exercise and the moment sweat trickles the irritant from the fiber of the fabric leaches out and can cause irritation to the skin. So how can we avoid? By putting soft cotton fabric an put light colors and choosing a mild detergent and be sure the detergent is thoroughly rinsed off before you wear the clothes.

Dr. Urmila Nischal
Consultant Dermatologist & Dermatopathologist
Nirmal Skin & Hair Clinic, Vijayanagar Bangalore
Appointment booking number: 080 2338 0138

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