Care for Darks

With winter just around the corner, we turn to darker coloured looks, which absorb heat and therefore keep us warm. For the cozy outfits for working from home we happily welcome the darker outfits, as they swallow the stains from coffee or tea, and don’t give away what we just ate for lunch. ;-) To keep those dark outfits fresh and crispy, we gathered some tips for you about how to wash them.

Before you toss your darks in the washer, turn each and every one of them inside out. Black or dark garments fade in the wash particularly because they rub against each other. The best thing would be to have a washing bag for lighter blouses to prevent them from rubbing against jeans.

It’s important to wash your dark-clothes-load in cold water. This prevents the fibre from breaking and losing colour. Also by keeping the washing cycle short, you help minimise the fading of the colours as well.

There are washing detergents that help keep the darks dark, if you want to wash eco friendly though, there are easy old fashioned tricks for you. For example adding salt! Salt contains chloride, which is a good component to preserve colour. You can add half a cup of salt to the wash cycle when washing your new garment for the first time.

Vinegar seems to be able to compete with salt on this one as well. If you soak a new garment in vinegar, or add half a cup of white vinegar into the rinse cycle, it should help fix the colour. No need to worry about the smell, vinegar is going to neutralise any smell, and your garment will come out odourless.

After your washing cycle has completed, the best way to dry your clothes is to hang them on the line outside. With blacks it's important not to leave them dry in the direct sun, as it bleaches the colours.