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There are many types of material that make for lovely clothing, but which require careful handling and cleaning. Most people believe that these clothes, commonly called delicates, need to be hand washed, but there is a much easier alternative in simply using a washing machine. To find out how to wash your delicates in the laundry without ruining them, read on.



  1. 1
    Understand what a delicate is. Clothes that are delicate need special washing as to not rip them or have parts fall off. A good rule of thumb is that if you're not sure whether or not something is delicate, wash it with the delicates. Being careful is better than ruining your clothes. Garments that have lace, ribbons or sequins would be considered delicate, as lace rips easily and ribbons and sequins will both fall off if you wash them on a regular cycle. Cashmere and thin knits should be considered delicates, but should also be washed separately from other delicates. All bras should be washed as delicates, as they will shrink and the straps will tangle when washed on a regular cycle. Silk would be a delicate as well.
  2. 2
    Separate your delicates by color. This is so that they do not bleed onto each other. Lace does not bleed, but it can be stained. In other words, if you have black lace it's alright to wash it with white lace, but you should not wash white lace with red cotton. Make three piles or color; a dark pile consisting of dark blues, grays and blacks, a white pile consisting of yellows, lighter grays, light blues and greens and white, and a red pile consisting or red, pink and purple.
  3. 3
    Make sure the settings on your washer are correct. Whenever washing delicates you should make sure that your washing machine is not set to wash with a regular cycle. All washing machines are different, and therefore have different settings, but as long as it is set on "cold/cold" and "delicate" or something along those lines you should be okay. If you aren't sure how to set your washer, look it up online by searching what setting to wash delicates on in whatever brand of washing machine you have.
  4. 4
    Use good brands, and use less of them. Using gentler and more natural detergents will help keep your clothes from being stained by the soaps. Sometimes it's worth putting in the extra dollar so that you can have clean clothes without them getting stiff with soap that has not washed out or soaps that will leave stains or not wash them out.
  5. 5
    Remove stains with a stain remover, instead of trusting that the washer will remove them. Using a spritzer bottle of stain remover works better than trusting that things like blood, paint, food stains or other stains will come out on their own. Spritz a little onto the stained area, rub it into the cloth, and wait five minutes before washing for best results. You won't need to use much, but keep in mind that the darker the color of the cloth, the more you'll need to spritz it.
  6. 6
    Do not wash delicates with other clothes. Keeping your delicates separate from your other clothes not only ensures that they do not get ruined, but also helps them clean up easier. Keeping your loads small makes it so that there's more soap and water per item. Consequently, the smaller your load the cleaner your clothes. Another benefit of not washing delicates with other clothes is that cottons and other materials similar to cottons bleed easily, and often delicates stain easily. Washing delicates with other delicates in their color group only will help eliminate staining while in the laundry.
  7. 7
    Hang dry at all times. When you remove your clothes from the laundry you should never dry them in the dryer, even if your dryer has a delicate or gentle setting on it. Shrinking and ripping is more likely if you dry them in a dryer, but that is just one of the many reasons you should never dry your delicates. Instead, hang them over the backs of chairs, hang them on hooks in your closet, or lay them out on a flat table. If they're not hung up so that both sides are getting an equal amount of air, flip them when you notice that one side is dry.
  8. 8
    Understand that sometimes delicates will get ruined. It's impossible to wash delicates, whether by hand or in the laundry, without ever ruining an item. Shrinkage, staining or tearing will occur, so realize that no matter how you wash your clothes there will always be a chance that you will ruin a piece of clothing.

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  • Wash similar materials with each other. Silk with silk, lace with lace and so on. Of course, at a certain point you've already made too many piles, separating my color and type and so on. Don't go overboard with the separating out of clothing.
  • Don't wash things by themselves. There will often be too much soap and they will come out stiff and not be sufficiently washed, as well as washing things over and over uses up electricity and becomes expensive.
  • You can wash bras with regulars if you would like, just make sure to hang bras on a doorknob to dry. Never put them in the dryer, as that's where they get tangled and shrunk.
    • If you have an item that is partially cotton and partially lace, dry with the lace side up so that the cotton does not cause the lace to dry slower.


  • Be prepared to deal with stains, ripping or shrinkage.
  • Not all washing machines have a delicate cycle.

Article Info

Categories: Washing Delicates

In other languages:

Español: lavar ropa delicada en la lavadora, Русский: стирать тонкие деликатные ткани в стиральной машине, Italiano: Lavare i Capi Delicati in Lavatrice, Português: Lavar Roupas Delicadas na Máquina de Lavar

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