How to Hand Wash Delicate Clothes

If you don't want to constantly cough up big bucks at the dry cleaners, you will have to know how to hand wash your delicate clothes yourself at home. Hand washing your delicate clothes is not a hard task, but it does take some time as it is somewhat of a lengthy process. So, if you're a lazy person or you just don't have an hour or two to hand wash your delicates, then stick with the dry cleaner, but if you have the time and our willing to put forth the effort, there's no reason not to do it yourself.

Here are some things you are going to need to get started:

A sink or basin tub

Delicate-wash laundry detergent

A clean towel

White vinegar (optional)

Okay, so you probably already have these things. If not, you can ask a neighbor to lend you what you need or run out to just about any store to get what you're missing. To hand wash your delicates follow these steps:

Step #1. Fill up a sink or basin tub with cool water and your laundry detergent.

Step #2. Swirl the water around with your hand until the detergent has evenly dissolved and mixed with the water.

Step #3. Before you put your clothing in the water, make sure you take note of how it looks dry so you can reshape it that way after you wash it.

Step #4. Place your clothing in the water and gently swirl and squeeze the clothing.

Step #5. Allow the clothing to soak in the water for roughly 2 - 5 minutes.

Step #6. Remove the clothing and gently squeeze out the water.

Step #7. Empty the sink or tub and refill it with fresh water. Do not add any more detergent.

Step #8. Put the clothing back into the sink and swoosh it around gently to rinse out the soap (if you're washing silk, you can add some white vinegar to the first rinse to help break up soap residue left on the clothing).

Step #9. Repeat steps 7 and 8 until the clothing is fully rinsed. You'll know you are done because there will be no more suds in the water.

Step #10. After you have fully rinsed the clothing, place it on a dry towel.

Step #11. Roll up the clothing inside the towel and gently press down on the towel to dry it out.

Step #12. Place the clothing on another clean, dry towel. Reshape the clothing to its original form and allow it to dry.

Okay, so that was a lot of steps, but as you probably noticed, they are all very easy to do. Like I said, this process will typically take about 1 - 2 hours depending on how many delicates you are washing. Hope this works out well for you!