How to Keep Your Clothes Bright

How to Keep Your Clothes Bright!

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There’s nothing like the fresh color of new clothes. And if you’ve just invested some money into your new wardrobe, chances are you’d like to keep those shirts, pants, and dresses looking as fresh as they did off the rack!

But a few spins through the washer and dryer might have them looking faded and dingy. And while there’s nothing wrong with the faded look, it can put a serious damper on your fresh duds if you’re looking to light-up every room you enter.

Luckily, there are a few key ways to avoid leaching fabric color into the churning water and to keep your clothes looking bright and new.

  • Separate Your Laundry. You already know that this is a laundry best practice, but in case you don’t, you could be causing serious wear and tear on your clothes. An overstuffed washer cleans your clothes less efficiently, and an excess of clothing crammed into one load leads to added abrasiveness. Besides cutting down on load size, separating your colors from your whites can help whites retain their sparkle. To make separation even easier, have two clothing baskets. Then, when you take your clothes off for the night, put whites in one basket, and colors in the
  • Wash Inside Out. When you wash colorful items inside out, clothes tend to retain their original color. You also prevent them from scuffing and scratching against other surfaces in the washing machine, which, in turn, can help save colorfastness as
  • Check Your Detergent. Different detergents do different things. Find out if your detergent supports colorfastness and cold water use (hot water makes dye run). Then, see if the detergent you use for your whites has bluing added. Bluing makes whites appear whiter by tricking the eye and cancelling out any yellow
  • Air-Dry, or Not. Air-drying white clothing is a great idea! It saves on electricity and the sunlight can help clothing appear brighter. But drying your colored clothes outside can lead to sun-bleaching and fading. It’s best to toss them into the dryer and keep them moving.

There are plenty of laundry life-hacks out there, but before committing to them, you should test their effectiveness on clothes that aren’t necessarily your lucky,

Saturday-night out shirt. Go with your being-lazy on a Sunday sweatpants instead.

  1. Soak new items in salt water to keep the dye from
  2. Add ½ cup of vinegar to the washing machine to keep colors intact.
  3. Wash white clothes with ½ cup of borax to brighten them

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