I have a confession: today, I put TWO items that said "line dry only" in the tumble dryer! Two of them! I am such a rebel!

Both of them came out okay. One was a sweater (but an extremely non-delicate type), and the other was a pair of slacks. I was willing to risk them in case they shrunk, but nope. It turned out fine!

Any other laundry rebels out there? And is anyone more daring than me? Have you ever (gasp!!!) put something marked "dry clean only" in the washer?

I'm reminded of a comedy skit by Seinfeld, I think it was. He said that he was always amazed how many risks people would take in life: extreme sports, drunk driving, riding motorcycles without helmets, those sorts of things. But that "dry clean only" label is almost sacred. These same people will gasp in terror and scream "oh no, you can't put that into the washer, it's dry clean only, are you crazy?!" Hee hee. It's true, and probably a lot of things will shrink or turn out bad if you wash them, but I almost feel like my washer will explode if they slip in.

I don't buy things that have to be dry cleaned.

Too funny!

I hardly ever handwash anything.

How about ironing? I have a friend who actually LIKES it.

Yikes, ironing! Will do just about anything to avoid it, including rewashing an item. I, too, am a daredevil when it comes to dry clean items. I just wash them in cold water on delicate cycle, or hand wash if I'm really leery. I have shrunk a few things by drying them, even on delicate dry cycle. I hate to pay for dry cleaning and I don't think it's good for the environment. I've tried those home dry clean products, Dryell I think, but I don't think they work.

I have heard that some items can be dry cleaned once, then washed in the delicate or handwash cycle thereafter. You wouldn't want to do this with obviously delicate items, but some sweaters or other items can definitely be water washed instead of dry cleaned.

I usually avoid buying things if it says dry clean only as well. The few items I do have wait an awfully long time to go to the cleaners, it sometimes seems like I only go twice a year


I had a friend who used to iron everything straight out of the dryer--even her husband's underwear! Yikes! I iron only when absolutely necessary. I hate anything to do with doing laundry

I learned to iron by ironing pillowcases and my mother always made us iron all my Dad's & brothers' colored t-shirts. I've heard of people who ironed their sheets also. What kind of underwear would you iron? Certainly not briefs!!

I thought it was the greatest day of my life when I learned other women didn't like to iron either.

I'm not an ironer and don't wear anything delicate either. If I did, I'd likely hand-wash it

My mom was an ironing freak! We had to iron the pillow cases, sheets, boxer shorts, bras, you name it - we had to iron it.

We had to sprinkle everything before ironing as well.

At least we didn't have to iron the towels and wash cloths.

AND STARCH!!!! Momma was a starchaholic, too!

Oh my sister is a starchaholic--so much that, if you attempt to use the ironing board after her, your clothes will stick to the board and you will have to peel them off, that's just from the residue of the starch overspray! Gross!!

Life is too short to iron. Hanging or folding most things gets rid of the wrinklies, I find. Anything reeally wrinkle-prone just doesn't get purchased!

I do handwash, though. Bras, mostly, but also things marked "dry clean only" if they are too delicate for the washing machine.

I try to avoid "dry clean" or must "iron" clothes, but I have on many occasions put them in the wash. I use the delicate cycle and use the lowest water setting possible. I have had pretty good luck. But if you can use those Dryell (i think) dry cleaning kits they work great from what I am told.

I live at an apartment complex with a shared laundry room. I don't have the time nor the quarters to care too much about my clothes.

I only separate "delicates/undies" and "other". Everything goes into a washer & dryer except for bras (which I simply pull out before everything goes into a dryer).... the underwire warps. I haven't had any problems so far.

I have an iron & ironing board in case of emergency wrinkles, but I haven't used it in months. I agree that hanging usually takes care of that.

I throw everything in the washer/dryer. I don't read labels. If it needs to be clean, it's going in

I guess I'm an oddball: I like to iron, I find it soothing.

I had to wash all my scrubs yesterday. With wanton abandon ... I tossed in several pairs of 'hand wash only and hang to dry' under gotchers. They're fine.

Maybe that's what Victoria's Secret really is ... ya don't really have to handwash this frippery.