The perm press (permanent press) cycle is a gentler washer or dryer setting that uses warm wash water, a cooler rinse, and reduced agitation/spin or medium heat to clean clothes while helping prevent wrinkles, shrinking, and fading.

What Is Perm Press Cycle?

In both washers and dryers, perm press (often called Casual or Wrinkle Control) is designed for everyday clothes that wrinkle easily but don’t need the ultra-gentle treatment of a delicate cycle.

In a washing machine, the perm press cycle typically:

  • Uses warm water to wash and cold water to rinse.
  • Has milder agitation than a normal or heavy-duty cycle.
  • Uses a slower final spin to keep wet clothes from pressing hard against each other and wrinkling.

In a dryer, the perm press setting:

  • Uses medium heat instead of high.
  • Often adds a cool-down period at the end to relax fibers and reduce creasing.

Why People Use Perm Press

The cycle is made to reduce wrinkles and fabric wear while still cleaning effectively.

Typical benefits:

  • Helps prevent wrinkles , so less ironing or steaming.
  • Reduces risk of shrinking, stretching, and fading compared to hot, heavy-duty cycles.
  • Is usually shorter than a normal cycle , often around 30 minutes on many machines.

Think of it as the “nice clothes but not super-fragile” setting.

Best Fabrics for Perm Press

Perm press is ideal for synthetic and blended fabrics that tend to crease.

Good candidates:

  • Polyester and polyester blends.
  • Rayon and nylon.
  • Cotton‑poly dress shirts, casual pants, “wrinkle-resistant” or “no-iron” clothes.

Avoid using perm press for:

  • Very heavy, dirty items (towels, workwear, thick jeans) that need the normal/heavy cycle.
  • Very fragile items (silk, lace, lingerie) that belong on delicate.

How It Compares to Other Cycles

Here’s a quick view of how perm press differs from normal and delicate cycles.

Feature Normal cycle Perm press cycle Delicate cycle
Water temp (wash) Often hot or warm Warm Usually cold
Rinse temp Cold or warm Cold Cold
Agitation Vigorous Gentle/mild Very light
Spin speed High Moderate/slower Slow
Main goal Deep cleaning, heavy loads Reduce wrinkles, protect everyday clothes Protect very delicate fabrics
Typical fabrics Towels, jeans, bedding Synthetics, blends, dress shirts Silk, lace, lingerie

Quick How‑To Use Perm Press

If you just want a simple rule of thumb:

  1. Washer – Use perm press for:
    • Button‑down shirts, blouses, casual office clothes, cotton/poly blends.
  1. Dryer – Use perm press (medium heat) and remove clothes promptly:
    • This takes advantage of the cooler, gentler drying and helps keep things looking “just pressed.”

TL;DR: The perm press cycle is a warm‑wash, cool‑rinse, gentler cycle with slower spin or medium dryer heat, made to clean everyday synthetic and blended clothes while reducing wrinkles and fabric damage.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.