Yes, maybe the special wash gets you a little more life but at what cost? I’ve had my kuiu merino stuff for like 3-4 years now, I just wash it with the regular wash and line dry it. I wash after every single day I hunt if I’m day hunting in D16, so it has been through dozens of wash cycles and it looks brand new. In my opinion the dryer beats stuff up a lot worse than the washer, and definitely never use fabric softener if you do use the dryer. Fabric softener works by breaking down the fibers. I don’t use it on anything.