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An essential cheat sheet for enterprising launderers.

Jolie Kerr is a cleaning expert and advice columnist. She'll be here every week helping to answer your filthiest questions, and once a month she'll help Esquire staffers sort out their most vexing cleaning issues. Are you dirty? Email her. Are you still dirty? Subscribe to Ask a Clean Person: The Podcast on Acast, iTunes, or Stitcher, and like Ask a Clean Person on Facebook.

Is there a cheat sheet to knowing which dry clean only clothes would *probably* be fine if you just wash them like your other clothes? — Sammy Nickalls, Nights and Weekend Editor

There is not, Dear Sammy! But there's going to be, because I'm going to make you one.

The beauty of this question is that it comes right on the heels of our very first Esquire staffer question about how to spare yourself a trip to the dry cleaner by washing dress shirts at home. I closed out that column by touching on the notion of using fabric content to inform laundering choices. "This topic," I wrote, "deserves its own column, and I definitely have it on the edit schedule, but since we're here talking about dry cleaning, I think it's worth a detour to talk about care tags, and what to do with the information you can find on them."

And so here we are, giving this topic its own column. Since you asked for a cheat sheet, I'm gonna do most of this in bullet form.

If you've read the column on laundering dress shirts at home, you already have an inkling of what's to come, but as a refresher: Don't bother fooling with those inscrutable fabric care runes that show up on care tags. Do, however, take the time to seek out one piece of information that can be found within: the fabric content.

Once you have that information, you can cross-reference this cheat sheet on the nature of different textiles vis-à-vis laundering.

A quick note on blends: When in doubt, follow the instructions for the more temperamental fabric. So, if you've got an item of clothing that's cotton and Spandex, follow the rules for Spandex.

I'm fond of saying that, when it comes to cleaning or fabric care, it's almost more important to know what not to do than it is to know what to do. With that, here's a rundown of garment types—and the afflictions that may mar their otherwise lovely appearance—that should generally be sent out for professional or specialty cleaning.

When it comes to laundering dry clean only garments at home, your best bet will always be to hand wash. But machine washing is also an option, especially for less fussy fabrics like cotton or polyester. If you do opt to machine-wash, here are a few things to do to make the experience as gentle as possible for your most special clothes.

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