Washing Delicates

In today's modern world, you may wonder why you would want to take the time to hand-wash your delicate items, most every washing machine has a delicate cycle, after all. And you can purchase a lingerie bag (a small, mesh bag to place delicate items in and toss into the washing machine) to use for some items.

However, hand-washing your delicate items helps to preserve the life of the item. Plus, there just are some things (such as stockings) that is is not advisable to wash even if you do use the delicate cycle and a lingerie bag.

Now, a lot of you are fortunate enough to have wash tubs, I do not. I do my delicates the old-fashioned way. In the bathroom sink! Here are my supplies:

Stain stick
Woolite



I pre-treat any stains with the stain stick. I find that usually sticks work better than sprays with delicates, but ALWAYS test a small un-noticable corner of the garment first to make sure it won't discolor it.

Fill up the sink with cold water, add Woolite. My bottle has 2 lines, the bottom one being what you use for sink washing. If you aren't using Woolite, then refer to the directions on the back of the bottle. Swish the water around to get some soapy goodness going and then add items to be washed. In this example, I have a pair of tights, some lacy underwear and a negligee. I swish them around again before letting everything soak for about 20 minutes. At that time, I work on the stains, usually using my fingers, to rub, but sometimes a soft cloth.

Wring out the items and remove from the sink. Drain water and with water running, thoroughly rinse the items that have been washed. Wring out gently. You can dry by either hanging, placing on a mesh drying rack (like for sweaters) or rolling into a towel to squeeze out excess water and then letting dry flat on the same.

Here are some links for supplies!

Sweater Drying Rack

Lingerie Bag

Helpful hints for removing stains from The Laundress