This Laundry Hack Will Save You So Many Trips To The Dry Cleaner

Anyone who loves fashion wants to take good care of their clothes, but dry cleaning can be expensive and inconvenient — not to mention harsh on fabric. While specialty fabrics like velvet, silk, and wool require specialty care, it is actually possible to do home laundering without much hassle — you just need to use the right products. If you’ve been looking for a dry-cleaning alternative, The Laundress makes luxe, long-lasting cleansers for at-home care whether it's linen or cashmere season.

Crafted with gentle yet effective ingredients and luxurious plant-based fragrances that smell like expensive perfume, the brand has dedicated formulas for delicates and cashmere and wool, so your favorite garments can all get the exact kind of care they deserve.

The Laundress Expertise

Cofounders Gwen Whiting and Lindsey Boyd met while studying textiles at Cornell — unhappy with the few at-home cleaning options for delicate materials, they created The Laundress in 2004. The brand’s lineup includes specialized formulas for finer fabrics in elegant, minimalist packaging that coincides with the brand’s new labels, new standards, and new partners to ensure product safety. The Laundress also provides plenty of pointers if you’re new to the hand-washing game — because good care is what will help keep your clothes looking (and feeling) as fresh as the day you bought them.

Scroll on to see The Laundress’ best-selling cleaning solutions for delicates that let you skip a trip to the dry cleaner. You’ll also find some elegant solutions for your other everyday launderings — as well as some essential accessories to keep all your clothes in top condition.

1. A Gentle Formula For Washing Delicates

Trust your silk and lace to the gentle formulation of the Delicate Wash detergent. It’s both phosphate-free and free of enzymes, making it safe to use on daintier items like lingerie and evening wear. And, like the brand’s flagship detergent, it’s washing machine-safe, too. Reviewers love the scent — it contains notes of bergamot, gardenia, and musk — and how the double-concentrated formula allows them to stretch the time between repurchases.

2. A Detergent That Babies Wool And Cashmere

That special wool or cashmere sweater is in good hands with this detergent. The lightweight, transparent, bio-based formula is double-concentrated so you can go longer between replacement bottles, and is free of phosphates. Use it to wash by hand or machine — either way, the enzyme-free formula is formulated to work best in the often-recommended cold water.

3. A Handy Measuring Cup For Those Specialized Formulas

No need to worry about dribbling caps or over-sudsing when you use this surprisingly essential detergent measuring cup. Double-spouted for a clean and exact pour, you can use this silicone cup to measure out precise doses of detergent — and then simply toss it into the water along with your clothes when you’re done.

4. A Mesh Bag That Safely Machine-Washes Delicates

When you machine-wash fragile items, mesh bags like ones included in this set can be a game-changer. Including one large bag ideal for bulkier items like sweaters and one smaller bag sized for lingerie and hosiery, these zippered laundry bags are just the thing to help prevent snags and snarls on sequins and bra straps alike.

5. The Best-Selling Classic Detergent

Created especially for cleaning everyday whites and colors, The Laundress’ classic detergent is made with deep-cleaning enzymes to help eradicate both new and set-in stains. The phosphate-free cleanser is made with bio-based ingredients that are optimized for cold water (which is gentler on clothes) but also appropriate for HE washing machines, if you choose to skip washing by hand. Meanwhile, its luxurious scent includes base notes of musk, patchouli and sandalwood that make laundry feel like an act of self-care.

6. This Conditioning Solution To Get The Softest Fabric Ever

Think of The Laundress’ Fabric Conditioner as a finishing treatment for your machine-washable clothing. Simply pop a little into the wash along with your Classic Detergent for the softest clothes ever with minimal static cling. The fragrance contains notes of citrus, lavender, and musk that were made to blend perfectly with the scent of your Laundress detergent.

7. A Fragrance-Free Stain Treatment That Really Works

Every at-home laundry arsenal deserves a trusted stain treatment, and The Laundress’ version is crafted with a triple-enzyme formula to help eradicate difficult protein-, tannin-, and oil-based stains that can come from makeup, grass, or sweat, among other things. Formulated to be effective in all water temperatures, this powerful fragrance-free product is bound to become a laundry day essential.

8. This Gentle Laundry Brush For Targeted Stain Removal

Keep this fabric cleaning brush on hand when laundry day rolls around. The soft yet sturdy horsehair bristles make it easy to gently treat persistent spots on all types of fabrics. A natural accompaniment to The Laundress’ Stain Treatment, the brand recommends this brush for particularly hard-to clean clothing areas like waistbands, straps, and underarms. One shopper gave it five glowing stars and raved, “it’s not an add-on, it’s a necessity!”

9. A Set Of Static-Reducing Dryer Balls

Hand-crafted by the family-operated Mountain View Wool Mill in Wyoming, these dryer balls help minimize wrinkles and are a sustainable way to reduce static cling. They’re made from pure wool that’s free of dye and fragrance, so they won’t leave any scent or residue. One shopper raved, “These dryer balls are great bc they have no chemicals so you can use them even with towels or gym clothes [...]I like that I'm not constantly throwing out dryer sheets for when I'm drying the rest of my clothes.”