Keeping Your Dark Clothes Dark

Having problems keeping your black clothes black? We all know the moment when our favorite black shirt isn’t looking as crisp anymore, but is more sad and faded. Color will naturally fade the longer you have the garment and the more you wear it, however here are some tips to help you prolong their lifespan. All you need to do is take some extra TLC on these garments. Follow the 10 tips in this article to move past these problems and to finally stop your dark clothes from fading!

Read the Label

Before washing any of your new clothing, check the label! Don’t make the mistake of cutting off that itchy tag before you have a chance to read the washing instructions. It's there to help you keep your clothing in their best shape possible. Notice if your black jeans has any specific needs of washing and follow accordingly. If the tag is long gone, no need to worry, proceed with the following steps for assistance.

Separate Your Clothing 

This is one of the most important steps to doing the laundry. Make sure you take the extra time to separate your clothing instead of tossing them all into the washing machine together. This helps the lifespan and quality of your garments. Be logical and don’t mix light and dark colors together! It’ll turn your lights dark and cause the darks to have a layer of fuzz.

Turn Your Clothing Inside Out

This step does not take long at all, but it will make a huge difference in preserving the color and quality of your clothing. Flip your clothing inside out to prevent agitation and friction between fabrics and on the surface of your garment. The motion of the wash causes rubbing of fabrics and will break your clothing fibers. This will also help the front of your clothing having direct contact with your detergent and avoid the risk of snagging with buttons or zippers.

Use a Smaller Dose of Detergent 

If you realize that there is less than a regular load of laundry being done, don’t use as much detergent. Using an excessive amount of detergent on a small load will over work the clothing.

Wash in Cold Water

This is a big one: water temperature matters! Wash your dark clothing in cold water. By doing so, it helps the fibers from breaking and losing color. Hot and warm water breaks down the fibers and are harsher on your garments, often causing shrinkage. Cold water saves energy and is also eco-friendly! Preserve by using cold water on your next wash cycle.

Shorter Cycles

Make your wash cycles short. Less time in the wash means less fading—no more faded black tops! Also, think about choosing a low soil setting on your clothing if it is not heavily dirty. A higher setting will mean more time in the wash and more of a thorough cleaning, thus causing more wear on the fabric.

Hang Dry or Lay Flat to Dry

Drying is an important step. Regarding dark clothing, the heat from the dryer can be an enemy depending on your garments material. A fuzz like layer can be created onto your clothing that takes away their color. To avoid this simply hang dry or lay flat your clothing to dry. Be sure that it is not drying in the sun as the natural light will cause fading.

Don’t Wash as Often

A very simple tip is not to wash your clothing as often. As long as it is not dirty who will notice? Wearing a garment more than once before washing won’t hurt anyone!

Another trick to prevent from doing laundry as often or sending it off to the dry cleaners, wear an undershirt. NUMI undershirts are great options, as it will prevent sweat stains while providing a comfortable fit. Thus you can get more wear out of your tops or dresses!

Use Natural Ingredients

Add a bit of salt. Salt can be used in multiple ways when it comes to stains and laundry! But in our case, stop the color from fading from your dark clothing using regular salt. The chloride found in salt will be helpful in preserving the color. Simply add 2 tablespoons in the wash.

Vinegar helps preserve the colour of your garments. When purchasing a new item think about soaking it in vinegar before putting it to wash. For dark clothing, add ½ cup of white vinegar into the rinse cycle. Don’t worry, your clothing won’t come out smelling like vinegar, it’ll be washed out from the cycle. It does the quite opposite, as there are many benefits using this natural ingredient such as taking out the odor out of clothing.