How To Safely Wash Hand-Wash-Only And Dry-Clean-Only Clothes

All too often, you find that you’ve fallen in love with a sweater or a shirt in the store only to bring it home and read those dreaded words on the label: “hand-wash only.” Or worse, “dry-clean only.”

You tell yourself that the extra cleaning effort is well worth it. But as laundry piles up, it becomes increasingly tempting to ignore the tag’s instructions and simply throw the item into the washing machine. Surely there must be some leeway with manufacturers’ cleaning instructions.

So, could throwing in a hand-wash-only or dry-clean-only item really be all that bad? We spoke to experts to get the lowdown.

“Manufacturers develop their cleaning recommendations based on the type of materials used, construction and adornments,” said Rich Handel, the senior test project leader and resident laundry expert at Consumer Reports.

While simply constructed clothing made of durable materials can hold up well, not all garments are suitable for the washing machine.

“If the garment says ‘dry-clean only,’ it could shrink, become misshapen, or its colors may run,” said Jerry Pozniak, a dry cleaner with 38 years of experience and the CEO of luxury dry cleaning business Jeeves New York.

Pozniak also noted that if your garment includes particular structural components (e.g., brims in baseball hats or underwires in bras), it’s a good idea to avoid the washing machine and opt for hand-washing instead.

It may be tempting to skip a trip to the cleaners and hand-wash your “dry-clean only” pieces. After all, hand-washing is a gentler way to wash clothes, right?

“If you’re adventurous and are willing to risk damaging the item, you could attempt hand-washing and hanging it to dry,” said Handel.

But if it’s an item that you truly treasure or dropped some serious cash on, it’s generally not a good idea to attempt hand-washing a dry-clean-only piece. “Hand-washing” is not synonymous with “dry cleaning.”

“‘Hand-wash’ means that the garment can be cleaned in water without risk of dye bleeding or shrinkage if it is not subjected to aggressive mechanical action and high spin rates,” Pozniak said.

Despite the name, “dry cleaning” isn’t technically dry, as this laundering process uses liquid solvents to clean clothes. However, because the solvents used in dry cleaning don’t include water, dry-clean-only garments do not become damaged as they would if washed in water.

While Pozniak noted that some items labeled “dry-clean only” could potentially be washed by hand (such as cashmere sweaters), you always run the risk of damaging the item by introducing water into the equation.

“We had a client who had a black-and-white check dress labeled ‘dry-clean only’ that she got a small stain on. She tried to use a bit of soap and water to remove the stain, but the black bled into the white. She added more soap and water to correct the bleeding and made it worse,” Pozniak said. “We were able to fix the problem with a lot of effort.”

While following “hand-wash only” garments’ instructions keep them in top shape, there’s no doubt that hand-washing can be a more involved process than simply tossing the items in the washing machine.

Since many washing machines have “delicate” and “hand-wash” settings, is it actually necessary to wash your “hand-wash only” items physically by hand?

“It depends on how treasured the item is and whether you are willing to risk damaging it,” Handel said. “Seeing how well the item stands up to hand-washing may indicate how it will bear with the delicate cycle.”

While the alpaca wool sweater knitted by your late grandma should never go anywhere near a washing machine, that doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t use your machine’s gentle cycle for the less sentimental sweater you got on sale.

“The hand-wash/delicate cycles vary from washing machine to washing machine, so some are more gentle than others,” Pozniak said.

“In general, a front-load washer will be gentler than a top-load agitator washer,” Handel said.

If you’re willing to experiment with putting your hand-wash-only items in your washing machine, mesh laundry bags may add a layer of protection.

“Mesh bags are used to limit mechanical action and abrasion of the fabric during washing,” Pozniak said. “If you use a mesh bag and air-dry your garment, [the garment] technically may last a bit longer as it is somewhat protected in the wash in the mesh bag and then not subjected to tumbling during drying.”

Although mesh bags can provide some protection for delicates, they won’t make these items invincible.

“Even when using the mesh bag, you’ll want to wash like items together,” Handel said. “You wouldn’t put a delicate sweater with a heavy pair of jeans in the same load.”

Pozniak reiterated that if your garment is dry-clean-only, using a mesh bag will not reduce the risk of bleeding, shrinking or damage when submerged in water.

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