At present time, more and more people prefer home laundering to taking their garments to the cleaner's, but in many cases it can be a really hard task. There is a great variety of fabric types as well as a Niagara of different detergent agents that it is really difficult to remember which agent go for which fabric. Most of the clothes made today carry a special label that includes the name of the material your garments is made of. That makes your task a little easier, but you still need to choose a proper detergent for your fabric. Several simple fabric care tips can help you with that. You can find such fabric care tips in some unlikely places (at laundry services) as well as (guess where!) on the Internet. You can go to your favorite search engine and type in "fabric care tips" and you will definitely get several links to special web sites dedicated to fabrics care. So, you can print out these fabric care tips and stick them to the wall above your washing machine. The main principle that is at work here is not to use aggressive detergents with delicate fabric. For example, chlorine bleach can be used only with synthetic or cotton and not colored garments. If your clothes are colored or made of delicate material you need a more delicate agent. There are special bleaches that are made exactly for such cases, they do not contain chlorine or any other aggressive agent and can be used safely. However, there are also extremely delicate fabrics like lightweight silk, for example, that can not be washed in a washing machine(some washing machines have special modes for delicate things though), you should save them with a hand wash. For these purposes, special detergent powder is needed, it does not harm your fabric, ideal for lukewarm water and does not irritate your skin. Most common detergent powders just won't solve in cold water properly. There is another fabric care tip that can come in handy when washing delicate garments - use your shampoo. Special fabric softeners are a relatively new player of the market and should be used with care. Some fabric softeners contain different sorts of perfume that can cause allergy. You should be attentive, because fabric softeners can change some qualities of your fabrics. Usually fabric softeners contain wax as an ingredient, so it can leave a wax coating on each fiber of your clothes. That makes your garments feel softer, but at the same time these items will partially lose its absorbency. If this occurs, you can simply remove this fabric softener coating just by another wash without a trace of wax and the ability to absorb will be restored. In some rare cases these fabric care tips are just not enough. If you want to clean some very delicate rare fabric, you had better use a professional cleaning service. They will decide whether dry or wet cleaning is better for your textile and what detergent agents can be used. For some fabrics that can be a crucial thing as there are fabrics that can be damaged or even destroyed with wet cleaning. So be careful when caring about your garments!