Colourful garments are fun, but they also need special care, as their colours can fade more easily. Proper washing and care for coloured clothes can protect them from fading, thus lengthening their lifespan significantly. Read on to find out more about how Tide can help you wash coloured clothes without fading.
4 steps on how to wash coloured clothes
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Step 1: Sort
Always sort by colour shades, so there’s less chance of a dye transfer. Wash dark colours together, and white or lighter colours in a separate load. Keep in mind that new items may bleed, so wash them separately for the first time.
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Step 2: Check
Check your garments for tough stains to see if any of them need pre-treatment. Also, check the fabric care label for further instructions. It will tell you whether the item should be washed in a washing machine, by hand, or should go to a dry cleaner.
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Step 3: Wash
Put a Tide Matic 4-in-1 PODS® capsule in your washing machine, turn your clothes inside out, put them on top, then use a gentle or medium wash cycle. If you need a quick guide, check out our tips on how to dose Tide PODS®. Wash your clothes on a cooler cycle if they’re brand new to avoid dye transfer. Alternatively, if you prefer liquid detergents, you could use Tide Matic Top Load Liquid Detergent or Tide Matic Front Load Liquid Detergent.
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Step 4: Dry
When the cycle is complete, unload the garments immediately. Allowing coloured clothes to sit in a washing machine may cause the colours to leech onto other items. Avoid direct sunlight when drying your clothes, since it can cause colours to fade faster.
What causes clothes to fade?
Colours usually fade when they’re exposed to too much heat, harsh detergents or agitation during the washing cycle in the washing machine. Sometimes, the dye used to colour the fabric can bleed and fade, or friction between garments can cause damage to the fibres. Luckily, there are things you can do to prevent these.
How to prevent coloured, black or dark-coloured clothes from fading
There are a few tips and tricks to keep your blacks black, and your coloured clothes colourful, and prevent your dark-coloured garments from fading.
Wash clothes separately. If you separate dark-coloured clothes from whites, you can prevent unwanted dye transfer, lint and pilling. But that’s not all! If you separate your clothes based on fabric too, you can help prevent fading as well. Rougher fabrics like denim can rub against more delicate clothing, causing wear and tear.
Inside out. Turning your clothes inside out before washing may seem a simple thing to do, but it can go a long way. This way, the inside of your clothes will take most of the agitation that happens during the wash cycle, protecting the colourful outside of your garments.
Use cold water. Hot water means more stress on your clothes. If you turn down the washing temperature, you minimise the possibility of colour fading.
Use delicate cycle. By choosing the delicate cycle on your washing machine, you minimise the agitation your clothes get during the wash, protecting them from losing their colour.
How to keep coloured clothes bright
There’s another very important factor that helps keep coloured clothes bright, apart from the list above. You need to make sure you use the right laundry detergent that was specifically developed for this reason. By using Tide Matic Top Load or Front Load Liquid Detergent, you can be sure you’ve chosen a detergent that takes great care of the colours of your clothes.
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