Laundry Tips for Washing Delicate Clothes

Nobody reads the garment care tags…

But, you should. Consider that your homework from us the next time you do some laundry. We know there’s no time do read every tag every time you do laundry. Start with just a couple garments. The goal is to become familiar with fabric types and care tag labels.

It’s easiest to do this when you purchase a new garment. Every garment has one of these care tags on it. And, nobody ever reads them! When you’re shopping next time, try reading the care tags before you checkout. Not only will it help you memorize the care instructions – it might just sway your purchasing decision.

If there are special instructions for washing a piece of clothing, it will typically be explained on a tag inside the garment.

Certain delicate fabrics, such as silk, synthetics, and fine knits, will have “hand wash” or “dry clean” tags. It’s best to follow these guidelines but this doesn’t necessarily prevent you from using your washing machine.

Modern washing machines come equipped with a variety of wash cycles pre-programmed. In fact, there are so many it can become overwhelming. Choose a delicate cycle and limit the number of garments inside the washer. 

Oftentimes, damage to delicate laundry comes from the agitation of garments against each other – not against the drum of the washing machine.

Hand washing sounds like…a lot of work.

You’re picturing an old fashioned wash board that takes some elbow grease and a big bucket of water. Not only is there no time for that, there is no space for that either.

Hand washing is glorified soaking. Soaking your delicates before doing a light scrub will help ease out any stains and will help get the fabric clean. You really don’t need to scrub it much if you’re using detergent. Next time you see a Hand Wash garment – don’t sweat. It’s quite simple.

Laundry that has been soaking in detergent for 45 minutes will be mostly clean. That’s about as long as a typical washing machine cycle.

Cleaning requires four things: time, temperature, chemistry, and agitation. 

Here are the cleaning requirements for hand washing your delicate laundry:

You’re more likely to damage your delicate laundry in a dryer than in a washer. And, that’s important for maintaining the integrity of the fit. 

Shrinking is the commonly know culprit for improperly drying delicate laundry. But, most often, it’s changing the integrity of the fit that is more of a threat.

Ruining how the garment fits can really change your perception of a good garment. That’s why it’s important to know how to properly dry your delicate laundry.

When drying your delicate laundry, there are two options that we recommend you use.