First off, no matter how annoying they are, don't rip the tags off! Not only do you run the risk of damaging the material when you do that, you also lose important information about the lingerie and its care. You will want to read the label and see exactly what kind of material it is, and if there is anything special that you need to do with it (more details at http://www.SpicyRelationships.com/lingerie/ ).

Hand washing is about the best thing you can do with non dry clean only lingerie. Use a gentle detergent and cold water. You do not want to throw your lingerie in the dryer, as that can cause problems with certain pieces. Instead, you just rinse with cold water, and leave it out to dry. Don't wring it like you would a towel! Most lingerie is of very light materials, and will dry out quickly anyway. There is no need to stress the fabric.

There are some cleaners and detergents that are made specifically for lingerie care. It is up to you if you use them or not. If you value your lingerie greatly, it would at least be worth a try to see if that helps with the care.

If you either don't have tags on your lingerie, or would like a quick reference as to what material needs what type of attention, here are some of the more common of lingerie materials and what to do with them:

Acetate - Needs to be dry cleaned! While some can be hand washed, it is much safer to simply dry clean and not take the chance that it is in the exception.

Acrylic - These can go either way. Hand washing or dry cleaning are both valid options, and it is not essential to choose one over the other for this type of material. You can also machine wash and dry this material.

Cotton - You can pretty much do whatever you want with cotton. Machine wash and dry, hand wash, it all works as cotton is very sturdy. You will need to dry this on high heat.

Nylon - This can be machine washed safely, but needs to be dried at low temperatures.

Rayon - This varies between dry cleaning and hand washed. You'll definitely want to consult the label, as rayon comes in many different forms in lingerie.

Silk - You are almost always going to need to dry clean silk. The only exception is with pre washed silk, but even that type of silk still has very specific care instructions for it. Read the label!