A textile washing test was carried out on three artificially soiled fabrics that are commercially available using water and various organic solvents. The detergency was evaluated from surface reflectance of the soiled fabric before and after washing. For all soiled fabrics, the detergency had good correlation with the relative electric constant, εr, of the washing liquid. The maximum detergency was achieved atεr_??_14, corresponding to that of 1-pentanol. The soil stains were difficult to be removed in water with highεr and organic solvents with low εr. However, in the presence of anionic surfactant and alkali, the detergency in water increased and was comparable to that in 1-pentanol. As a mechanical action for the soil removal, stirring with a magnetic stirrer and ultrasonic waves were found to be effective in water and organic solvents, respectively. It was observed that the washing in water by stirring damaged the fabric. On the other hand, the damage was reduced considerably when organic solvents were used or when ultrasonic waves were applied. Conclusively, it was confirmed that water is an excellent washing medium, although there are cases where it may damage the fabric.