Hand-laundering has a bad reputation, which is a shame, because it really is a great skill to have. Whether you choose to hand-wash delicate garments like bras or cashmere sweaters as a regular part of your laundering routine, or you tuck the skill in your back pocket for use when traveling, here are the basic steps.
-
Set-up
Make sure that the place where you’ll be doing the washing is clean; you won’t want to be hand-laundering your bras in the kitchen sink alongside remnants of last night’s dinner!
Fill the sink (or tub, or bucket) with water, leaving enough headspace for both the garment and your hands to get in there and move things around. Then add a small amount of detergent — small being the operative word. A little detergent goes a long way, especially when it comes to hand-laundering; aim for a teaspoon to a tablespoon of detergent, depending on how large the load of hand-wash is. -
Introduce the garment and mimic a washing machine
Place the garment into the detergent solution and, using your hands, submerge it fully. Then, move it about so that the detergent can penetrate the fibers. Think of how a washing machine operates using a combination of water, detergent and agitation — that’s what you’ll want to mimic in a hand-washing situation.
Once the garment is submerged, allow it to soak in the solution. The amount of soaking time depends very much on what you’re washing, which is also true of the water temperature. -
Rinsing
When it comes time to rinse, you’ll be thankful for your judiciousness with detergent during set-up — if you overused detergent, you’ll be rinsing for ages. Start by draining the detergent solution and wiping the sink free of sudsy residue, then refill the sink with clean water, agitate the garments to release soap, drain and repeat until the items no longer release detergent. -
Drying
Once the sink has been drained for the final time, press down on the garment while still in the sink to extrude water; do not wring the fibers, which can cause stretching or breaks. Then, lay the garment on a clean, dry towel and roll it up. The combination of pressing out water and rolling the item in a dry towel will leave the garment only damp, rather than dripping wet, leaving it ready to be hung or laid flat to air dry.
Follow our website for more tips and tricks about smart laundry and more.
