Part of growing up is learning how to do your own laundry, but the technique you adopted in college probably is the best one for your life as a real grown man. With any luck your clothes gotten nicer as you've gotten older, which, unfortunately, often means they're easier to destroy in the wash. Also, rumpled is charming at 19, but just makes you look sloppy as hell when you’re 30+.The first thing you can do in order to keep your stuff nicer, for longer, is find out how it's actually supposed to be cared for.

Step 1: Decode Fabric Care Symbols

When you buy a piece of clothing look at the care instructions on the tag before washing the item for the first time. Here’s a handy chart that tells you what the symbols mean—if you’ve got your own laundry room, put this on the side of the washing machine.

Know that clothing manufacturers tend to err on the side of caution with their recommendations so you always have a bit of wiggle room. If you chose to ignore the most extreme recommendations though just make sure you know what you’re doing. You can absolutely wash dress shirts instead of dry cleaning them, for instance, but throwing them in with your selvedge jeans is going to be a tragic mistake.

And once you know what the little square with three lines actually means, here are two more pro-tips to get your laundry game in top gear:

Step 2: Separate Laundry into Strategic Piles

Because you won’t be washing every single item separately, you need to make strategic piles of likeminded items. Whites and colors is an obvious one but think about fabric type too. A pile of gym clothes, pajamas, and cotton T-shirts can probably take (and probably need) hot water and high heat, for example. For loads that are all over the place, stick to middle-of-the-road settings. Be sure to separate out delicate items and anything that has a symbol with an X through it for smaller, more carefully calibrated cycles. Think: underwear, denim, jackets, sweaters, and other fussy-fabric items.

Step 3: One Bulk-Size Jug of Laundry Detergent Doesn't Work on Everything

Bleach and a color-safe detergent will address the majority of your laundry needs but, with delicate items in the picture, you need a few other odds and ends on hand as well. Mesh bags will help you keep delicate items from getting tangled, snagged, and stretched in the wash. A color-safe stain remover will also come in handy. If you’re cutting back on dry cleaning, look to brands like The Laundress, Frey, Hex, and others for specialty washes and sprays that’ll help you handle fancy fabrics like a pro. And finally, invest in a steamer. It's faster and easier than an iron most of the time, and it'll keep everything you own—whether machine or line-dried—looking next-level fresh.