Making laundry less of a chore

Doing laundry and dealing with stains is no one’s idea of fun. But our expert advice-filled guide will make the job easier and ensure good results

Our latest reports on clothes washers and dryers are essential if you're in the market for new laundry appliances. But no matter how good your washer and dryer are, they won't perform their best if you don't use them properly. So before you ruin a silk blouse or shrink a wool sweater, read and use the information in this guide—it details how to launder a number of different fabrics and offers tips for sorting, loading, drying, and ironing.

Understanding care labels

When it's time to throw clothing in the wash, are you ever stumped by the hieroglyphs designed to reveal how you should clean it? The Federal Trade Commission requires that most clothing have a care label with laundering dos and don'ts. But the symbols you see, developed by the American Society for Testing and Materials, aren't always as helpful as they could be. You'll find other laundry symbols at www.textileaffairs.com/lguide.htm.