Taking the fear out of hand-washing

Washing your favourites by hand doesn’t have to be scary – here are 4 tips to make it easy and even (dare we say it?) fun!

If the idea of hand-washing that expensive cashmere sweater or your favourite silk blouse gives you heart palpitations, you’re not alone. But don’t worry – it really isn’t that hard to get most clothes clean without a machine or a trip to the dry cleaners. In fact, thoughtfully washing your clothes in cool, Soak-scented water can actually become a satisfying task – or even (gasp!) a pleasure!

When we talked to organizer and designer Tinka Markham Piper of Solve My Space about strategies for loving our laundry, she mentioned a few things: getting organized, creating a beautiful laundry space, minimizing how much you have to wash, and finding ways of enlisting help and making it fun. But she also talked about fear: 

“A lot of people don’t know how to hand-wash – they’re actually kind of afraid of it,” she says. 

It’s time to wash that fear away with some tips to help you overcome the hand-washing scaries – and find a way to love your laundry a little more.

1. Hand-wash with Soak

Okay, this may sound a little self-serving, but hear us out. Soak’s no-rinse formulation simplifies hand-washing by cutting out an entire step: rinsing. So all you do is Soak, squeeze and hand or lay flat to dry – it’s literally that easy. Get more tips on hand-washing here.

2. Try it with something you don’t love

Think of it as a test run – Soak a sweater your kid has outgrown or something that’s destined for the donation pile. Once you see how easy it is (and how great your item looks, feels and smells), you’ll have the confidence to move on to more treasured items. Want to know how to hand- wash cashmere? Read our tips and you’ll never pay to dry clean wool again!

3. Get the right gear

A good-sized basin is a nice-to-have (Phil is a pretty perfect hand-washing buddy), but your sink or tub is fine, too. Have some clean towels on hand to press out excess water, a retractable clothesline or a foldable drying rack, and a few stackable sweater racks. Once you’re all set up, the actual washing takes no time at all!

4. Educate yourself

If you’re not sure if something can be hand-washed or should go to the dry cleaner, there’s no shortage of resources out there to get those pressing (laundry pun there!) questions answered.

Check out this FAQ from a couple of bona fide fabric care experts, Soak founder Jacqueline Sava and Linley McConnell of Gibson’s Cleaners. See? No need to be scared! Now you’re ready to go forth and hand-wash your clothes – your Soakworthy™ favourites with thank you!

For more tips and other awesome ideas to help you take care of your worthiest washables – explore Soak School!

Related Posts:
Soak Scents
Hand-Washing
Machine-Washing

Tinka Markham Piper is the founder of Solve My Space. A self-described “chaos counsellor,” she’s part organizer, part designer, part life coach – and fully committed to transforming spaces to help transform lives. She also has a home advice column and you can find her on Instagram at @solvemyspace