If you need to wear dress shirts to work, you can save a lot of money by washing them at home. If you don’t know how to wash a dress shirt, you’re not alone. Most people just assume that you need to take dress suits, slacks, and sportcoats to a dry cleaner in order to get them cleaned and pressed. But that’s not the case. You can easily wash dress shirts and slacks at home in your washing machine. In addition to saving money you will be protecting your dress clothes so that they will last longer. Many times shirts that are taken to the dry cleaner regularly end up wearing out quickly because of the chemicals that are used to clean the material. So if you don’t know how to wash a dress shirt, use these tips and start washing your dress shirts at home to save money and make your shirts last longer:

Don’t dry your dress shirts in the dryer: Using the washing machine to clean your shirts is fine. But drying the shirts in the dryer can cause them to shrink. The heat from the dryer can also cause terrible wrinkles. The heat from the dryer will also cause the material to wear out faster. The best way to dry a dress shirt is to carefully fold it in a towel and ring out any excess water. Then hang it on a drying rack or a clothesline and let it dry. If you are in a hurry you can hang it on a hanger but don’t put it in the closet, leave it out in a warm room to dry.

Always use cold water: Because the fabric of a dress shirt is usually pretty fragile, you should always use cold water to wash dress shirts. Hot water can destroy the fabric. You should also use a natural detergent that doesn’t have any chemicals or scents added to it. Any chemical that comes into contact with the fabric, including the ones in most detergents, can ruin the fabric. Use a detergent like Rockin' Green that is all natural and sulfate free to make sure that your dress shirts continue to look great.

Wash dress shirts with similar fabrics: If you throw dress shirts into the washer with jeans, towels, or heavy sweaters, the buttons on the shirt could be lost, the shirt could rip, or other damage could occur. Take the time to separate your dress clothes from your regular clothes and wash them with other lightweight fabrics.