Laundering is prohibited on Shabbat as it is the labor of whitening, one of the activities that was performed in the construction of the Tabernacle. It is therefore prohibited to wash clothes on Shabbat, either in a machine or by hand. Even laundering a specific spot on one’s clothing is prohibited. Therefore, if there is a stain of any kind on a garment one may not clean it with water or any type of cleansing agent, and likewise one may not rub or scratch the stain from the garment. In addition, one may not soak the garment in water. Aside from laundering, there are several other actions related to clothing that are prohibited on Shabbat.

The halakha regarding the removal of dust from a garment depends on several factors: If it is a new garment, or one which the owner is very particular about keeping clean, then it is prohibited to remove dust from it. By contrast, if it is an item of clothing that one is not as particular about, one may remove the dust by brushing lightly with his hand, but may not rub the garment or shake it with force.

Squeezing a garment that has absorbed water is prohibited on Shabbat. Likewise, one may not place wet clothes near a heat source to dry, or hang them on clotheslines. It is permitted to hang them in a place that is not designated for drying clothes and which is not near a source of heat. This should be done discreetly.

It is permitted to remove laundry from a clothesline on Shabbat only if the clothes were dry at the start of Shabbat. If not, they may not be taken off the line. The exception is babies’ clothes that are urgently needed; they may be removed from the line even if they were not completely dry at the beginning of Shabbat.

Sorting, folding, and ironing clothes are all prohibited on Shabbat.

Sewing garments or parts of clothing on Shabbat is prohibited. Not only is actual sewing prohibited, but even tightening an existing thread on a garment is prohibited on Shabbat.

This prohibition notwithstanding, it is permitted to use a safety pin to tighten a garment or connect two torn parts of an item of clothing. But even here, some rule that the pin may be inserted through each garment or each part of the garment only once.

If an elastic band was threaded into a garment and it came out, one may not return it to its place on Shabbat. This is in contrast with a belt that is not attached to the garment, which one may remove and reinsert on Shabbat.

It is permitted to remove the pins that are typically inserted in new garments at the factory to preserve their folds.

It is prohibited to remove temporary sewing threads from new clothes; to open pockets in suits and coats that were sewn in advance to be opened later; to remove labels that have been sewn into a garment or glued onto it; to separate a pair of socks or other types of clothing that are attached by a thread; and similarly to pluck off remains of wool that are left hanging and attached to the edges of a garment.

With regard to an item of clothing that is packaged in plastic, one may tear off the plastic on Shabbat in order to remove the garment and put it on, if one tears it in such a way that it cannot be reused.