Can I ignore these laundering instructions?

I am a barbarian. I machine wash pretty much everything except silk. I do cold, delicate cycle for a few things, but in this case of yours I personally would do regular stuff, warm wash, cold rinse, hang dry.

Survival of the fittest in my wardrobe. I have no time or inclination to hand wash so know that anything that I leave to be hand washed will languish at the bottom of my laundry basket forever. So everything gets washed on the Easy Care setting at 40C. If it survives, great. If not, it was never going to get washed anyway. I’ve lost nothing.

What are the colors/ designs on the shirts? That could effect heat of water.

Both shirts are mainly black with some lighter colors in the design. I usually do my machine washing cold anyway.

Yes, it will be fine, just hang dry. I too wash everything regardless of labels and never have an issue except anything Rayon should never go in the dryer, it never looks the same again.

A million years ago, I briefly worked for a sweater designer/manufacturer. On day one I was told the dry cleaning labels were only to prevent lawsuits. The designer said the sweaters were fine to machine wash/dry, and did so herself.

Since then, I’ve machine washed everything. Silk/sneakers/duvets/down coats/wool/everything. Maybe three things haven’t survived in those 35+ years.

I’d wash them.

I always do all my wash in cold water too. I would wash them and probably hang dry.

I machine wash everything in cold. I have a fine linen shirt with a “dry clean only” label that I’ve been machine washing for years. I line dry my aloha shirts. Everything else goes through the dryer.

Silk? Japanese women have been washing their silk for a thousand years. Wash it. If you want, hand wash it. If you want to put it in the machine, use a gentle cycle.

I lied. I wash my sheets in hot, but that’s the only thing.

Also, I use a detergent that’s supposed to be all natural. (Mrs. Meyers)

Thanks all, this is great to hear.

Hand washing is more gentle than machine washing, even that the delicate setting. I hand or machine wash everything too.

I never wash rayon. For that reason, I won’t even buy it anymore. Ain’t got time to baby my laundry! Everything else goes in washing machine on gentle except for towels. They go on regular cycle.

Wash on cold on the gentle cycle in the machine. Hang dry.

Very rarely do I dry clean anything. Coats and jackets that are lined or made of something like wool, yes. Down, no. Cotton, rayon, stuff like that, never.

I try to hang dry most of my shirts and underwear and my daughter’s clothes. They all look really good. The main thing about new clothes is that they’re ironed to a crisp, which my clothes are not usually.

The laundry police will not give you a ticket, however the difference maybe do to a trim item or stitching thread.

Perhaps if you do decide to machine wash don’t dry it. I find things shrink a lot when I do that. I took a throw to the dry cleaners the other day and they ruined it.

Should be fine. Polyester is made for washing. It’s one of the easier fabrics to care for in terms of washing, but just remember not to iron it! Not directly on the fabric. It burns easily and melts. It’s basically made from petroleum and some other ingredients.

I used to hate polyester, but now I love it. Laziness set in.

I’m in the majority here. Unless it’s silk I’ll wash with cold/delicate cycle and hang to dry.

I wash some silk too. Depends on the item. The only fabric that is real pain in the neck to wash us Rayon (I wish they would stop using that fabric altogether) and wool. Cotton sweaters can get misshapen or start to look old with washing too, but other cotton knits and wives are fine.

@JLeslie I don’t know, “wives” can look old with washing too.

Crap. I did so much better when phones had actual keys.

Always use water no warmer than body temperature! Directions often say “cold water”, but sometimes that makes my hands ache.

@janbb That’s why they’re called old wives!

Ba-da-BING!