Yes, they are washable, but they do get things on them and it seems to stick more, so it can't be brushed off.
I'm pretty sure mine was washable in the '80s, although my first infant school one in the '70s was definitely dry clean only - being a gift from my aunt and made by her tailor father.
The kids and I rise at 7:00 and are out of the door by 7:30. We're not getting up any earlier just because it suits the electricity provider! Especially as modern, high-efficiency dryers take almost 2 hours to run a cycle. It can be cut to a little over an hour, but only be using a lot more electricity, which rather defeats the purpose.