# Do you follow the care instructions on your clothes? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 17, 2018, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-follow-the-care-instructions-on-your-clothes/821489 "2018-09-17T20:02:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-follow-the-care-instructions-on-your-clothes/821489/21 "2018-09-18T03:54:45Z")
I pretty much have my own system/standards. Underwear in hot-cold, t-shirts and jeans and the like warm-cold, woolens cold. Sometimes this matches what the maker recommends; sometimes not so much. But considering I can still wear some stuff bought prior to the first Bush POTUS, and had to reject almost nothing due to damage from washing or drying, I’m thinking I’m doing OK. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-follow-the-care-instructions-on-your-clothes/821489/22 "2018-09-18T04:19:39Z")
If you know something about fabrics, you can bend the rules a bit. E.g., a lot of things that say “dry clean only” are actually hand washable, with the proper care. Takes a little more time but saves a boatload of money. Best single thing I ever did for increasing the longevity and durability of clothes was to stop machine-drying them. Any of them. Everything gets shaken out from the spin cycle and hung on a rack or hanger (or blocked flat) to air-dry. Why break down the fibers in the clothing any faster than you have to? (ETA: btw, **Kiwi Fruit** , it was an NZ friend from whom I picked up that “bring back hanging” mentality!) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-follow-the-care-instructions-on-your-clothes/821489/23 "2018-09-18T04:25:46Z")
Stuff that gets dry cleaned get dry cleaned, whites and colors separated, that’s it. ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-follow-the-care-instructions-on-your-clothes/821489/24 "2018-09-18T07:19:23Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > If you know something about fabrics, you can bend the rules a bit. Yes, also the labels are sometimes misleading, insisting that something is handwash only when you can wash it on a delicate cycle. I think they assume that everyone has washers that eat laundry. If you have a washer with a gentle (gentle by nature, not just by description) cycle, you can wash just about everything. I do. Nothing gets eaten or wrecked. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-follow-the-care-instructions-on-your-clothes/821489/25 "2018-09-18T08:12:35Z")
Something else. I often go one step “up” from the instructions. If it says to wash in cold, I’ll use warm, but not hot. If the garment looks sturdy, I’ll dry it to “damp” in the delicate cycle, and then put it on a hanger. If something looks like the colors will bleed I might wash it alone once it twice. I usually do two loads: 1. sturdy whites, lights, and all socks and underpants on hot, which then get dried on regular. 2. darks and anything delicate on warm. Remove the bras to hang dry. Dry everything else on delicate. Remove the actual delicates, and toss the rest back into the drier to finish drying on regular. I try to avoid buying clothes that need to be dry cleaned, and have sometimes gambled on washing things with a dry clean label. But i have a few items that I dry clean, like wool suits. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-follow-the-care-instructions-on-your-clothes/821489/26 "2018-09-18T11:32:12Z")
Everything gets washed cold, tho occasionally I’ll do a white load with hot water and bleach. If I can’t hang the laundry out due to weather or time constraints, it goes in the dryer on medium in the moisture sensor cycle. Jeans/shorts, etc washed together, then shirts/socks, whites, towels, sheets. I’ll have from 2 to 5 loads a week. I refuse to buy dry-clean-only garments. I have a couple of things that I will lay flat to dry. But mostly, it’s toss in the dirties, take out the clean. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-follow-the-care-instructions-on-your-clothes/821489/27 "2018-09-18T12:22:29Z")
Oh, and i put my delicates in a mesh bag in the wash. I think that makesa huge difference. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-follow-the-care-instructions-on-your-clothes/821489/28 "2018-09-18T13:21:47Z")
Really, my biggest care instructions for washing my clothes is “don’t let (my wife) wash my clothes.” ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-follow-the-care-instructions-on-your-clothes/821489/29 "2018-09-18T13:22:06Z")
“Dry Clean Only” = “single use item” ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-follow-the-care-instructions-on-your-clothes/821489/30 "2018-09-18T13:32:06Z")
Every Saturday morning I go to the laundromat and wash everything in warm water, and dry them on hot. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-follow-the-care-instructions-on-your-clothes/821489/31 "2018-09-18T13:48:24Z")
No separating at all, everything washed in cold water and dried on the “Cottons” dryer setting. As far as I’m concerned, the laundry room is a “no thinking” zone. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-follow-the-care-instructions-on-your-clothes/821489/32 "2018-09-18T13:54:47Z")
I put a lot of money into my personal appearance, and clothes are a very big part of it, so I want to keep them looking their very best. In the movie, “Atomic Blonde”, a fellow allied agent who was really working for himself betrayed her, and there were 8 East German police officers at the place she was at. In her debriefing, she commented, “If I had known they were coming, I would have worn a different outfit.” It was definitely the best line in the movie! LOL ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-follow-the-care-instructions-on-your-clothes/821489/33 "2018-09-18T14:12:04Z")
I chose something else. Typically I sort my own laundry into 3 categories whites (hot), cold water darks, and warm water darks (typically jeans, socks and underwear). Occasionally if I have a particularly stained shirt or something, it’ll go into the warm water load, despite the labeling. If for some reason I need say… a pair of pants (typically warm water), a pair of socks and a shirt (usu. cold), I just round down, so to speak, to the lowest temp in the load. Everything pretty much gets dried on high if I’m in a hurry, or on my dryer’s eco-mode (low heat) if I’m not. I generally don’t buy stuff that can’t handle standard dryer temps. If I’m washing my children’s (7 and 4 year old boys) clothes, they get the full panoply of extra detergent, oxiclean, heavy duty cycle, auto-soak, and warm water. Same drying plan. My wife’s clothing seems to be made from spun sugar and other delicate stuff- all her clothes get cold water and low drying, IF they don’t have to be taken out and hung or laid out to dry. ---
**Author:** ![Mumberthax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea5d25/32.png) [@Mumberthax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mumberthax)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-follow-the-care-instructions-on-your-clothes/821489/34 "2018-09-18T14:31:46Z")
Hot water for clothing (except one pair of pants which requires cold water and delicate cycle for some reason). High heat in dryer. Warm water for bath towels and bath mats. Delicate cycle in dryer. Cold water for bedsheets and comforters. Again, delicate cycle in dryer. Cold water for my baseball cap collection. No dryer. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-follow-the-care-instructions-on-your-clothes/821489/35 "2018-09-18T14:35:49Z")
Mostly if not completely ignore. But, I wear jeans 99% of the time. Just throw everything together on warm and I’m good to go. I can’t stand fussing with such things. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-follow-the-care-instructions-on-your-clothes/821489/36 "2018-09-18T14:37:42Z")
I sort: Colored:t-shirts, tops, sweaters, etc. - cold water Underwear & socks - hot water Bath towels - hot or warm water Kitchen towels and rags - hot water Sheets - hot water Dog blankets - warm water Bras - in a mesh bag and thrown in usually with the underwear or sheets Husbands filthy work clothes - warm water and heavy-duty agitation I don’t hand wash anything. I don’t buy dry clean only items anymore - but in the past, I’ve washed them on delicate in cold water and then hang dry. Everything is dried outside weather permitting except for underwear, socks, kitchen towels (just too many small items) and the dog blankets (the dryer helps to suck off the hair). During winter or rainy weather I hang my jeans, sweats (so they don’t shrink), bras and anything that says “dry flat” or “hang to dry” on clotheslines in the basement. Otherwise, everything else goes in the dryer on the same cycle - I think it senses when the load is dry. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-follow-the-care-instructions-on-your-clothes/821489/37 "2018-09-18T14:40:36Z")
Not at all. Everything goes in together, washed cold and dried low heat. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-follow-the-care-instructions-on-your-clothes/821489/38 "2018-09-18T14:43:01Z")
I only pay attention to instructions when I buy my clothes. Anything that looks like too much trouble goes back on the rack. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-follow-the-care-instructions-on-your-clothes/821489/39 "2018-09-18T15:15:31Z")
Once a week I throw all my stuff in the washing machine, select “extra large load” and “cold”. When everything is done washing, I move everything over to the dryer. I remove and hang things as they dry. By contrast, my gf has a laundry cart with 6 different sections. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-follow-the-care-instructions-on-your-clothes/821489/40 "2018-09-18T16:04:02Z")
I wash almost everything in cold water with cold water tide. The only clothes that get special attention are my suits. They get dry cleaned. Thankfully this is rare as I have not regularly worn a suit in decades. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-follow-the-care-instructions-on-your-clothes/821489.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-follow-the-care-instructions-on-your-clothes/821489.md?page=3)