Our first child is now four and our second is due in a month or so. We stored the first baby's clothes so we could reuse them but due to damp in the UK and the clothes having been stored for so long (4 years), I am afraid of reusing them.
Are there any concerns or special washing that we should do or should we be buying new clothes for at least 1-month-old baby?
There is absolutely no reason not to reuse the clothes if they are not stained or otherwise unusable. Check the smell. Wash them carefully with the soap you find best for babies as you would new clothes and check them again to be sure.
My babies have been wearing clothes I used to wear as a baby - my mother kept everything in the attic for nearly 30 years! We went through them carefully and put them in the wash. Most turned out okay. Some had obvious stains and we threw those out.
For example, sometimes yellow spots appear in stored clothes that don't go away in the wash. Those I preferred not to use. But mainly they were okay!
I am allergic to mold, so I've had to educate myself on the stuff. Hopefully the baby clothes are machine-washable? You'll want to use a sanitizer rather than just laundry soap if there is any mold since mold can sometimes survive washing.
I stayed with a cousin several summers ago, and she ushered me out very quickly (I was homeless because of mold in my home), saying she would send my still-wet face cloth, sweatshirt, and a few other items to my parent's home. Instead, she drove around in 100° heat, with these things in a sealed bag in her car for over a month. My shirt was actively growing mold when it finally got to me. I would have thrown it away, but my smart Mom soaked it in Oxi-clean (a peroxide sanitizer/detergent booster) for a few days, then a regular wash in the washing machine. It looked great, and I didn't sneeze or itch. That mold was dead! So I really like that product, and there are many bleach-free things you can use on non -white clothing.
I really wouldn't worry about it, but I know we want to make sure our babies are extra safe! My situation was very rare, but if we could save that shirt? You'll be fine after a good wash - I only mentioned it because you mentioned damp. Congratulations on the addition to your family! I agree with everyone who said "hand-me-down" clothes are such a great idea, especially because babies grow so quickly!!
I am in the UK and stored everything in my attic which was rather damp and I didn't have a second thought about using my 4 year olds clothes for the new baby.
Everything was washed in Persil non-bio (a brand of washing detergent which doesn't contain cleaning enzymes, marketed as better for sensitive skin) at 60 degrees C and all checked for obvious mould spots or dirt that wouldn't come out - and thrown if they did.
My now 2 Year old had no ill effects from wearing second hand clothing and still continues to do so, even from charity shops and bought from random people. I very rarely buy anything new.
Mattresses are the main thing to worry about. It's advised definitely not to reuse them and I also replaced the Moses basket.
There is a link between mattress reuse and SIDS (cot death), so we are all advised in the UK it is best not to - although for a second baby in the same household, there seems to be debate on whether it is the same. (I cannot find evidence of that specifically but I remember from my own research previously there was a lot of discussion about it)
https://www.lullabytrust.org.uk/safer-sleep-advice/
I could not be certain my moses basket was clean as it had been in the damp attic and it's not washable, so changed that. I am still using the cot.
Echoing @Nimloth, there's tons of reasons to reuse the clothes. You just need to take the proper steps to clean them.
My aunt had six children and not as much income. She would take the baby clothes out, repair by hand any damage, and throughly clean and disinfect them using bleach (I remember the distinctive sodium hipochlorite smell) and laying them inside a plastic bag under the sun for a whole day. The next day she'd put the clothes in a regular wash, soften, and iron cycle. I am not advocating the use of the same materials she did though. There are friendlier ways to disinfect nowadays. Hipochlorite is rather aggressive.
If the clothes are clean and without mold or any contaminant, there's no reason to not use them.
Reusing the clothes is environmental friendly, economical, and character-building, I guess. She had a collection of pictures of all six cousins with the same clothes at the same relative age.
