When to use 洗濯する and 洗う？


今日ふくを洗う。 今日ふくを洗濯する。

昨日食器を洗った。 昨日食器を洗濯した。

I know that 洗濯する means: washing or laundering (clothes). And 洗う just means
washing. When I'm talking about washing in general can I use the two words
interchangeably? When do I have to use one word as opposed to the other?




(I moved my old comment to this answer with more detail.)

洗う is a verb and 洗濯 is a noun. I assume that you want to compare 洗う and 洗濯する,
which are both verbs.

When you are talking about washing _in general_ , you cannot use 洗濯する because
洗濯する is only for washing _clothes_ (as you wrote by yourself!). For example,
it is incorrect to say 食器を洗濯する.




(I moved my old comment to this answer with more detail.)

洗う is a verb and 洗濯 is a noun. I assume that you want to compare 洗う and 洗濯する,
which are both verbs.

When you are talking about washing _in general_ , you cannot use 洗濯する because
洗濯する is only for washing _clothes_ (as you wrote by yourself!). For example,
it is incorrect to say 食器を洗濯する.

