<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"  It&amp;#039;s wedding season, and I&amp;#039;m pulling out my fancy clothes made of silk and other delicate fabrics and embellished with sequins and flair. But just because I&amp;#039;m dressed like a fashionista doesn&amp;#039;t mean I act like one. I still spill wine, soup, and sorbet on my gorgeous garments, leaving me with the cleaning equivalent of a hangover. While the tags on most of my party clothes instruct to hand wash or dry-clean, I often push the envelope and machine wash them to save time and money. Here are my rules for when you can toss delicates in the washer - and when you should take them to the dry cleaners: 1. If all the fancy trims are sewn tight to the garment, they&amp;#039;re unlikely to come loose. I take extra care to examine the stitching on sequins, as they&amp;#039;re very fragile and tangle each other up when they&amp;#039;re loose and dangling. 2. My best washing pal is a mesh bag: I put delicates inside it before washing to prevent them from catching on the washer&amp;#039;s drum machine or other garments. 3. If items are made of silk, satin, or chiffon, I use the delicate, hand wash, or gentlest cycle, cold water, and a mild detergent like Woolite. I also select the shortest spin cycle and dry items flat, away from sunlight. 4. When a garment is very precious and I feel like I would be devastated if it were ruined, like my splurge sweater purchase from Henri Bendel, I break down and take it to the dry cleaners. Check out what our Textiles Director Kathleen Huddy has to say about keeping your clothes looking their best and find solutions to your most common laundry dilemmas from Home Appliances and Cleaning Products Director, Carolyn Forte. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/institute/a22485/caring-for-delicate-clothes/?src=shelter_footer>