Restoring faded black clothes

[Scrappygrrl]

I have few items of black clothing that are still in great shape but have faded. In the future, I am going to use detergent for dark clothing as a preventative measure but is there anything I can do now? Will the detergent help at all at this point? Anyone ever used black dye to get the item back to its original state?

TIA!

 

[DawnM]

dye can be a HUGE mess and once you get it on things, it doesn't ever come completely out.

I would NOT dye them, but it is up to you.

No detergent or wash will help them at this point other than dye.

In the future, I suggest you take a bucket or a sink with cold water and about 2 cups of vinegar and soak your new black (or dark) colors in it for several hours.

Then wash them as usual.

The vinegar sets the color. I do this with my darks I wish to keep dark longer.

 

[sunshinehighway]

I wouldn't dye them. Black dye is a pain. It'll take forever to make sure you get all the excess out and then you'll probably still have to worry about it ruining other clothes every time you wash.

 

[NotUrsula]

The detergent won't restore the color, and black dye is a huge pain to deal with, but one thing that you CAN try is go buy something black that is not colorfast (a new pr. of cheap black jeans, perhaps). Soak the non-colorfast item in a bucket of water for awhile until the dye runs a bit, then add your older clothes and then soak with it for a few days. Then do the vinegar trick. (This is essentially a deliberate form of a pink-undies laundry accident, and it may or may not work, but is probably worth a try.) They won't go back to being jet black, but the color may refresh a bit for you.

Also, for future reference, it isn't the washing machine that is fading your black clothing -- it is the dryer. From now on, once you've treated them with a vinegar wash, never put them in the dryer; hang them up to dry.

 

[riley2008]

I dye dark clothing regularly. Not a pain at all.

When my mother and I (and anyone here in my office) start complaining about our "favorite" black pants, sweaters, etc, fading. We break out the dye.

Years ago, we just used the Rit dye and did it in the washer. Easy as pie. We found however, that the dye didn't last as long as we would have liked.

We now use my stash of dyes from Dharma trading - separate ones for natural versus synthetic fabrics, but still do it all in the washer.

Just run an empty washer with bleach, or towels, etc that can be bleached to remove the dye.

IMO - try the Rit dye. Don't pack your washer full of things to be dyed - they need lots of room to agitate.

 

[laurafergie]

It's not that big of a deal. I dye my black work shirts every six months or so. No way am I going to replace them when they fade out. I got a big pot, like a canning pot, from the thrift store and do a hot dye bath. Then I do soak them in cold water and vinegar. Then rinse in the kitchen sink until clear and wash separately. I do hang to dry and never use the dryer. The dryer and cheap detergent will hasten fading.

Oh, and if the dye splashes anywhere, if you wipe up immediately or with a weak solution of bleach water, no worries.

 

[girli565]

I dye all black clothing all the time. And I even do it in the washing machine. my mom taught me how. Just fill the machine completely and stop the cycle to leave it full. Add in your salt (or whatever the dye box asks for) and the dye. Leave over night and when ready and you're happy with the color restart the cycle. I don't add in anything during the initial wash. During the second wash I add in a dark colors detergent and run as normal but no fabric softener. I'll use a dryer sheet instead when they're being dried.

Easy and doesn't stain the washer or anything. my washer is a steel/dark color anyway so it doesn't matter. If you're worried about dye run off on your other loads run a quick rinse cylcle with bleach and it'll come out perfectly clean!

 

[Scrappygrrl]

Thanks so much everyone. I am going to try the RIT dye this weekend in the washer and run a quick bleach cycle when done to make sure the machine is clean. Fingers crossed!