Question:
If all of one’s shirts are dirty during the 9 days and one also has brand news shirts never worn. Is it preferable to wash the shirts needed and step on them a bit to remove the freshness or is it better to wear the brand new shirts with possibly stepping on the new shirts to remove the newness?
Thank you
Answer:
It is better to step on the new shirts, then to wash and step on the used ones, however you will have to step on the new ones until they are not going to have that good feeling of being a new shirt. The reason for this is because, to wash and step on the used shirts, involves two issues washing the shirts and wearing washed shirts during the nine days. In contrast, wearing the new shirt, since it anyways would not need a shechiyanu, then the only issue is making it not “new”, and that would be taken care of by stepping on it and making it not new.
Sources:
Poskim. It is noteworthy, that if you have to wash other things that are permitted to wash anyways, (for a child that doesn’t have any clean clothes) it would be better to include the shirt in the wash and then step on it etc. Poskim.
