I'm just starting to build up my clothing gear and I will have some wool/synthetic stuff. I'm afraid of turning some of my gear into ken doll sized clothes. Is there just general tips for washing these things? Can I just throw them into the washer on cold and air dry?

I read the tags and follow the directions. The washing machine and dryer are handled under my wife's domain and I know little about their operating characteristics. She is not interested in reading the labels on my clothes, so I don't throw them into the community property hamper. Actually I once caught her about to throw all my down jackets into the washer because she said they were smelly. She said she was going to wash them with the regular permanent press clothes.

I have a number of nylon / synthetic clothes and wool socks. I wash them on delicate cycle and then put them in the dryer on low heat. I always turn my socks inside out so they dont pill or fray to bad. For the pants I always zip them up and buckle the integrated belt.

I used to hand wash and hang everything but I figure if they are not tough enough to handle the washer then they are not tough enough to take into the back country.

I wash all my wool/synthetics together or with similar colors. Regular detergent but without any fabric softener. I then air dry them.

I machine wash all of my wool & synthetic stuff on a regular cycle with regular enviro friendly detergent. Then I dry it on low WITHOUT a dryer sheet (even if it says no tumble dry on the label, I usually put it in anyway - life's too short to hang dry everything, and I don't have a washing line). Dryer sheets coat the fabric to make it soft and static free... but the residue can impede the wicking qualities of wool & synthetic garments, so I skip the dryer sheet and deal with the static.

For anything that has a DWR/WPB coating (Gore-Tex etc.), I always wash with Nikwax Tech Wash and tumble dry as per the label. I try to minimise the amount of times these get washed as well... if it gets dirty or stinky I wash it, otherwise I leave it alone.

Anything insulated with down gets washed with Nikwax Down Wash, and I try not to wash down unless it's really needed.

I typically wash all of my wool/synthetics with as little detergent as I can manage and was it on the warm/cool cycle. I typically dry my synthetics on very low/no heat and lay out my wool on a dry towel.

Wool and synthetics just have my wife wash em' and then I lay them out on a chair, sofa, etc, and they dry in an hour or two. Been working fine the last few years.