How Do I Hand-Wash Clothes To Remove Impurities?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question 

What is the proper method to wash impurities, such as semen, urine, and blood from clothing?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

Perceivable Filth

If the filth is perceivable, one is only required to remove the body of the impurity. There are no specific requirements for the method or number of times needed, as long as the body is removed. [Tahtawi/Shurunbulali, Hashiyat Maraqi al-Falah] 

Note that stains that remain and are difficult to remove are excused. One is not required to use soap or put themselves in difficulty to remove them. [Ibid.]

Imperceivable Filth

If the filth is imperceivable, one must wash the clothing until they are reasonably sure the filth is gone. Note that this does not take much washing to accomplish. There is no required amount of washing. [Ibid.]

Some scholars determined that washing three times and wringing them out each time until no drops continue is sufficient for one with doubts and misgivings. [Ibid.]

Note that a normal wringing (squeezing) is sufficient. One is not required to go to extreme lengths to wring out the clothing. [Ibid.]

Practical Method

When washing clothing with imperceivable filth:

1. Identify the area where the filth is, and hold it between one’s fingers, separating it from the rest of the garment. 
2. Run water over the spot using the other hand to rub lightly. 
3. Remove it from the water and squeeze the area slightly until the drops stop dripping. 
4. Do this two more times, and the clothing is pure. [Ibid.]

Hope this helps

Allah knows best

[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.