Laundry Detergent for Black Clothes?

[keylimepie]

Just wondering if any of you have tried the laundry detergents formulated specifically for black or dark clothing? I believe Woolite has a formula and also Cheer and maybe Tide too.

 

If so, could you tell a difference? Thanks for your input. :)

[Jinn]

I like Woolite and always travel with a small bottle of it. Jinn

[Happy ks]

I've not tried any special detergent. I just turn things inside out, wash in cold on a delicate setting and don't put black things into the dryer. I also press black clothing inside out, I find the heat directly on the front of the garment fades it faster. I also turn the heat down to the lowest setting for black.

 

This includes other dark colors as well.

[Northshorecruisers]

I have tried the Woolite and the Cheer products for dark clothes. It seems to keep the colors from fading.

[Occy]

I use Zero for dark clothing and it seems to do the trick !!

[Gathina]

An old school tip: White vinegar. I wash all my clothes with it..it keeps things from fading and I don't put anything dark in the dryer (or most of my clothes for that matter). A clerk at Nordstroms suggested it when I bought a pair of calvin klein jeans, and there's a lot about it on the internet. Also works great for whites.

[keylimepie]

Thanks everyone. I normally wash dark clothing in cold, inside out and hang to dry or toss it on low for a few minutes and then hang it up. But eventually black cotton starts to fade a bit. I was curious what everyone else had tried.

 

Gathina, after you mentioned the vinegar I recalled that years ago, I mean years ago, working at The Gap we were instructed to tell customers to wash their black jeans for the first time with a cup of salt to help set the color. Vinegar makes more sense, since you color Easter eggs with it! :)

[Buster27]

Do you mean wash the dark colors in vinegar alone .......or add it to the detergent?

 

How much vinegar?

[Jane110]

I've not tried any special detergent. I just turn things inside out, wash in cold on a delicate setting and don't put black things into the dryer. I also press black clothing inside out, I find the heat directly on the front of the garment fades it faster. I also turn the heat down to the lowest setting for black.

 

This includes other dark colors as well.

 

 

What's your address?

 

I'm sending you my laundry! :D

[Happy ks]

What's your address?

 

I'm sending you my laundry! :D

 

 

 

No way! :)

[TnMama]

I make my own laundry det,and save a bundle.I was all my colors in it.I use Borax,washing soda,and Zote soap. I plan to take a teeny baggie of it,just in case. Im HIGHly sensative to commercial brands,and a few months ago started making my own.I save money that way too.AND,like someone else suggested,use VINEGAR. I just add 1/4 cup of baking soda to my wash and fill up my downy ball with plain ole white vinegar. No pickle smell either.

 

Just thought Id pipe in my 2cents.

If you wnat my recipe,theres a link to my blog in my info and the info is on the blog.:D

[happyaussies]

Vinegar is great for black dark clothes, but I also use just simple cheap disinfectant.....no fading or white marks...........cheap and fantastic.

 

Use about 1/2 cup per load.

[mousey]

I've use both the special detergent for black clothing. I really haven't noticed a difference. I usually wash all my clothes in cold water and the cheapest detergent I can find. I only put sock, towels, sheets and pillowcases in the dryer, or old clothing that I don't really care about. Everything else I line dry in our garage. I don't even put my DSs t-shirts in the dryer.

[GORDONCHICK]

When I worked in retail (so many moons ago, thankfully), we had learned about the vinegar thing too. When ever I bought new clothes in bright or dark colors in cotton fabric, I would pre-soak them before the first wash in vinegar and water. I still buy gallon just of white vinegar.

 

Jane - maybe you will know if this is true or not, but in a textiles class we read about clothing manufacturers who had stopped doing the extra step of running the fabric or garments (I can't remember which) through some kind of "bath" that set the colors. Supposedly, they stopped this to cut costs. What do you know?

[TootyJane]

I have tried Perwoll Black Magic Laundry Liquid Soap. It is a bit on the pricey side $9.99 for a small bottle but since my 3 boys wear black t-shirts I thought I would try it. It does work. The black t-shirts don't fade as fast. This detergent contains some sort of "setting agent" from what I gather. You can purchase it at Amazon.

[Gathina]

I add a cup of white vineagar right in with the detergent. It really does work. It works even better on whites and keeps them from fading.

 

The key is not to use the dryer, also. I rarely use it now. Any old white vinegar will work. I buy it buy the gallon for like 2.00

 

Do you mean wash the dark colors in vinegar alone .......or add it to the detergent?

 

How much vinegar?

[Palmetto Lady]

An old school tip: White vinegar. I wash all my clothes with it..it keeps things from fading and I don't put anything dark in the dryer (or most of my clothes for that matter). A clerk at Nordstroms suggested it when I bought a pair of calvin klein jeans, and there's a lot about it on the internet. Also works great for whites.

 

Gee and I thought I was fussy about my clothes. I hang up clothes where the tag says "Hang to dry", but I can't imagine hanging up everything. I've used the special detergent for dark clothes, but don't know whether it makes much difference or not. It makes me feel that I am trying to help keep the darks from fading.

[klauer]

I pretty much put everything in the dryer, otherwise my clothes dry wrinkled. I actually look at the fabric content and care labels before I buy something, and eliminate anything that says "hand wash and line dry (or flat). I do have to replace black tee thirts every season, though, but I also do that with white ones.

[Jane110]

 

Jane - maybe you will know if this is true or not, but in a textiles class we read about clothing manufacturers who had stopped doing the extra step of running the fabric or garments (I can't remember which) through some kind of "bath" that set the colors. Supposedly, they stopped this to cut costs. What do you know?

 

GordonChick,

 

Sorry, just saw this post now....

 

Yes, some of the cheaper manufacturers are cutting costs by eliminating a step in the process. But setting colors would be in the fabric processing by the fabric producer, not by the garment producer. Not the expensive brands. So while many people here think that all clothes should cost the same, there are many processes involved that don't make it possible.

I've heard people complain about black blouses that transfer dye onto their bra's, or onto other garments they're wearing.

 

Also, however, it can sometimes be just because of time. Manufacturers need a certain amount of "lead" time that the stores just won't give them sometimes If a clothing manufacturer needs a 16 week lead time from order placement to store delivery, and the store won't give them the order until 12 weeks before delivery, but demands an ontime delivery or will refuse the goods, then the manufacturer really has a gun to their head. They now have to pay extra for a rush fabric order to be produced, (and thus the fabric maker not having the time for all the steps) they might have to pay their factories extra to bring in extra shifts of workers, and then might have to cut out a process in order to insure on-time delivery. Again, this happens with the cheaper stuff that's bought in high volume. No one is placing a rush delivery of YSL! LOL!

[coka]

...and here I was only using my gallon of white vinegar to make horseradish...

 

I can not wait to try it in the laundry...the vinegar that is!

 

coka

[Gathina]

I dunno..I was also raised that way (old school in just about everything) so to me it's no big deal. My clothes smell nice and fresh, and they don't get all ruined by the dryer...stretched out, faded, etc. Last longer. For the extra effort it's worth it to me in the long run.

 

Gee and I thought I was fussy about my clothes. I hang up clothes where the tag says "Hang to dry", but I can't imagine hanging up everything. I've used the special detergent for dark clothes, but don't know whether it makes much difference or not. It makes me feel that I am trying to help keep the darks from fading.

[packedandready]

I agree with everyone else and I go an extra step. I am a micro-sorter:p.

I don't just have lights and darks. I have whites that I wash in warm, whites that I wash in cold. I have reds, I have towels, I have sheets, I have colors (light), I have colors (dark), I have light blues and I have blacks/dark navy.

 

Sooo, I only wash my blacks/dark navy by themselves, inside out, in cold water and hang to dry. They stay looking good for a long time. My mother thinks I'm crazy:)

[Palmetto Lady]

I never knew that we wern't supposed to put blacks and navys in the dryer unless the tag said "hang to dry". Just goes to show one learns something new every day.

[luckycruzer]

I press only on the wrong side, and not over the seams(no line transfer) evening stuff, with a press cloth or white tissue paper on silk-y stuff. I pack with drycleaner bags on 2-3 garments, and "Z" fold into case. Unpack and slip off the bags(foldem up)hang up anything that is a little bit rinkly, and run the shower, close door..10 min, turn off shower, close door..leave..I havent re-pressed in 2 years on a cruze. Also I don't dry things to death., cept sheet,towels n fold up stuff...just til heavy water content is gone and it is smoothe and "wiggley" looking, even cotton T'ees. Hang in the house til fully dry.

[Gathina]

There's a lot to be said for the "old school" way. Everyone's busy but I guess it's all a matter of what's important to you and what you are willing to sacrfice for time.

 

Interesting story: I was in Jamaica for 2 weeks with my extended family (they are Jamaican). They have a restaurant, literally work from 6am to midnight 7 days a week (everything there is homemade..and the kitchen of the restaurant is primitive like so many places there). Anyway, one morning I woke up and there was a "washerwoman", a lady that they hired to do their laundry. She was sitting on a stool WASHING everything by hand, even though my family has a US made laundry machine. She couldn't be bothered by the machine, said the clothes came out cleaner if she did it by hand. No kidding..on the line there must have been 2 weeks of Aunt Lollie's laundry and whites looked like they were new. She started at 6 am and finished by noon.