Hand Wash Vs. Machine. Which To Prefer?

Today at the Orthodox Clergy Club, we discuss a small extension of the topic of washing liturgical vestments. The scope of the previous mailings has kept us from the discussion of one logical question: to what extent can we use the benefits of civilization and let technology save us our precious resource, time?

We asked nun Agrippina to share her experience, and here are the main points.

We must be honest - we are also not steadfast advocates of the most time-consuming practices for keeping our vestments clean. That is due in large part to their number. Our 13 clerics and about a dozen altar servants wear vestments of 7 colours. That is why our vestry cannot do without using washing machines, but we use a differential approach.

Which variant to choose depends on the advantages of each method, the object being washed, and the nature of the contaminant. You also need to consider objectively things such as time availability, the urgency of the task and the number of items to be washed. We hope to help you make the best choice.

Advantages of hand washing

The main perk is the quality. It allows you to deal with various difficult stains (wax, oil, coal, wine, greasiness) most delicately and thoroughly. Machine washing may not remove all the stains, and the garments may need to be washed again.

Sometimes, there is simply no other choice, for example, when a combination of different fabrics is used in a vestment.

Dry cleaners may refuse to take many of these, so entrusting them to a machine is not always a good idea, either. One needs to check how the materials will react, or possibly use a variety of detergents, or partial washing may be required.

There is also no other alternative safe for a Russian-style priest vestment with a hard high-back phelonion.

With hand washing, vestments last longer; with machine washing, some fabrics, especially natural ones, wear down more, and the experience of the Convent's vestry proves this.

Machine washing and its potential "patients"

1. This method undoubtedly saves a lot of time and, if there are many vestments to wash, it allows us to leave at least part of the work to the machine.

2. Older vestments, for which thorough hand-washing may not make sense, can be washed by machine. Here are some other candidates for a machine wash:

The fabric of this 20-year-old sticharion is quite worn out.
Nun Agrippina does not hesitate to give it a machine wash.

3. Greek-style priest phelonia, priest sticharia (podrizniks), deacon and altar servers sticharia, light-coloured undercassocks* without difficult and visible stains (e.g. from wax, oil, charcoal, or wine), or if these stains had been removed by hand.

*for comparison: the abbess of our Convent does not recommend the sisters to wash their undercassocks in the washing machine. She believes it wears out vestments much faster.

4. Black cassocks, light vests

Useful tips

1. Warm clergy vests from thick fabrics may shrink, and sending them to a dry cleaner could be safer.

2. Wash your vests in the machine in the most delicate mode available, and do not spin dry: this is true, especially for woollen undercassocks.

3. Clean out the pockets thoroughly - a forgotten piece of soft incense can leave stains all over your garment.

4. Sometimes, the sewing trims can be of poor quality. Cheap fringe materials may bleed, and galloon trim may shrink. If you are thinking of washing something in a machine for the first time, test how these parts of the garment where they are the least visible.

From Nun Agrippina's experience, this type of galloon trim will definitely shrink after machine wash

5. Podrizniks usually wash well in fast mode.

6. You could also soak the vestment, then wash it by hand and rinse in a machine.

7. In our experience, it is better to wash the garment more often with a milder detergent than to wash it with heavy-duty detergents and stain remover for stubborn stains and heavily soiled areas.

8. A dryer is a time saver, but the fabric in this case shrinks faster than from natural drying.

On the journey to the Holy Pascha, it is not just the feats of prayer and asceticism that lie before us, but also some amount of work in the vestry. During these seven weeks, we will be alternating several different colours periodically.

We hope that you will find these tips helpful and that your vestments will adorn and enhance the most jubilant services of Lent and Easter. Keep sharing your thoughts with the audience of this newsletter and talk about your experiences.

Prayerfully, we wish everyone strength, the fortitude of the spirit, and trust in God's mercy.