This is the time of year when college students are furnishing their new apartments. Understandably, they are looking for bargains. Most college students have very little money, if any at all, set aside for home furnishing budgets. Nevertheless, even if you have very little money to spend on home furnishings, there are some things that you should always buy new, never used. Here is a list of things that you should never buy at a garage sale, flea market, or off Craigslist.
- Mattresses. It is illegal to sell used mattresses at thrift stores in California. I think it should be illegal everywhere. You can get very sick from sleeping on a used mattress. Suppose the last person who on slept on this mattress had a contagious disease. You could get that disease yourself just by sleeping on that mattress. Also, the mattress could have parasites in it. When you bring a used mattress into your home, you could be bringing in a long list of undesirable critters that might be hiding inside it, including bedbugs, fleas, lice, ticks, and spiders. Finally, the mattress could have mold in it. Sleeping on a mattress with mold in it can make you very sick.
- Couches, sofabeds, pillows, and upholstered chairs. You don’t want these in your home either, and for the same reasons that you don’t want a used mattress.
- Sheets and blankets. Yes, you can wash used sheets and blankets in hot water, and that will kill most of the bad things that might be in them, but it may not wash everything out. For example, bedbug and spider eggs can survive washing in hot water.
- Hats and shoes. All used hats and shoes contain dried sweat, particles of hair, and dead skin from its previous owner. If the last person who wore a pair of shoes or a hat before you had a contagious skin disease, you could catch that disease yourself just by wearing that person’s hat or shoes.
- Cookware. Don’t buy used cookware if it shows any sign or rust or other damage. Worn out nonstick cookware can leach chemicals into your food, and rust can leach toxic metals.