If laundry is a chore, hand washing might feel like punishment. Who has the time, let alone the space, to soak and lay out to dry large, delicate garments? Running to the dry cleaner can seem like the best option. But the fabric-conscious experts below argue that hand washing the clothes you love is almost always better: It’s easier on fabrics, helping garments last longer, and it can be surprisingly low fuss. Here’s how they do it.
Read the care label before you do anything.
A “dry-clean only” tag doesn’t necessarily mean you must go to a dry cleaner, but it’s important to know what fabrics you’re working with. Some knits and semi-synthetic fabrics like rayon don’t respond well to water. If in doubt, wet a small, hidden area like an inner seam, let it dry and see if the color or texture changes. “In some cases, gentle hand washing can still lead to shrinkage,” says Corinna Williams, 39, a co-founder of Celsious, a sustainable laundry service based in Brooklyn. If the tag is too faded to read or missing altogether, proceed at your own risk.
Treat stains quickly.
“I live and die by Shout,” says the artist Laila Gohar, 36, a co-founder of the tablewares company Gohar World. She’s so confident in its powers that she’ll cook in an all-white outfit and spray the inevitable stains at the end of the night rather than washing whole pieces later. For her clients’ garments, Patricia Voto, 36, the founder of the New York-based women’s wear line One Of, which uses deadstock and vintage fabrics, recommends Grandma’s Secret Spot Remover, while Williams prefers Sonett’s stain removal spray, which is “safe for delicate materials,” she says.
Choose a gentle detergent.
Voto likes the fragrance-free baby laundry detergent from the luxury laundry company the Laundress, which relaunched last year; the formula “washes out of garments really easily,” she says. Likewise, Alissa Zachary, 41, the founder of the hand-washable women’s wear brand High Sport, based in New York and Los Angeles, uses Woolite for sweaters and Dreft baby detergent for everything else. Williams likes the Swedish brand Tangent Garment Care’s yuzu detergent for delicates, but also recommends a pH-neutral shampoo for hand washing silk, wool or cashmere.
Wash in lukewarm water.
Add your detergent to the sink while the water is running or, if you’re using a basin, add the detergent first, then pour in water and mix before adding your garment, to avoid direct contact. “Soak for 10 minutes, then very gently stir or massage your garment,” Williams says. Use slow and controlled motions, and avoid pulling or stretching. “Then continue soaking for up to 30 minutes. Drain and refill your sink or washtub with lukewarm water and repeat this step until the water runs clear.” To save water, wash as many garments as you can at once in the same sink or basin. And, reminds Zachary, “the beauty of hand washing is that you can also spot-treat something. If you want to wash the butt of some pants, you don’t have to get the whole garment wet.”
Dry with care.
“Squeeze gently and don’t wring out the garment,” advises Williams. Then “hang it nicely or lay it flat,” says Voto. For wool or cashmere sweaters, “roll them up in a clean towel and gently squeeze to remove excess moisture, then reshape them with gentle pulling before laying them flat to dry,” says Williams, who recommends using white towels to avoid color transfer. For small apartments, she suggests OXO’s collapsible sweater-drying rack.
Try doing your laundry in the shower.
Araks Yeramyan, 50, the founder of the New York-based lingerie and swimwear brand Araks, uses the same soap she uses on her body to wash her bras and underwear in the shower — a trick a friend taught her when they were traveling together — and she says even the hottest water you’re comfortable showering in is unlikely to shrink anything. “I was like, that’s brilliant, because it’s so stressful, the idea of hand washing everything,” she says. She uses the same technique for washing swimwear, which should never sit for long after contact with chlorine or salt water.
Pack less by washing more.
Xavier Donnelly, 32, the creative director of the Ash Hotels group, hand washes his clothes on any trip he takes that’s longer than four or five days. “I’ll fill the sink or bathtub with water and mix the hotel shampoo into it,” he says. (He finds shampoo is typically gentler on clothes than body wash.) Then he’ll soak, rinse and hang-dry his garments around the room. “The added benefit,” he says, “is that they often end up smelling really nice.”
Throw denim in the freezer.
Recently, Voto started freezing her jeans. “Maybe it’s an old wives’ tale, but it’s supposed to get the smell out,” she says. “I put them in a gallon bag and leave them in there for a couple of days.” Does it work? “They do feel fresher,” she says, “and also very crisp.”
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