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Laundry is the process of cleaning clothes and fabrics. Laundry day is an essential part of everyday life and is done for both hygiene and aesthetic reasons. There are many different ways to do laundry, and the most appropriate method depends on the type of fabric and the degree of soiling.
Most people are familiar with the process of washing clothes in a washing machine. However, some clothes require special care, such as delicate items or those made from delicate fabrics or even super light clothes, like white clothes or dark clothes, like black clothes. This is because washing dark garments is more likely to bleed dye in a washing machine.
This article will explain how to wash black clothes (dark clothes) by hand. We will also provide tips on preventing dye bleeding and preserving the color of black clothes.
How to Wash Dark Clothes

Dark items (i.e., dark clothes) require special care while washing. If washed every day, and incorrectly, or with other fabrics, they might lose their color and texture. To avoid fading of these dark fabrics, take note of the following points:
1. Decide if Your Clothes Need Washing or Not
First and foremost, it is important to understand that regularly washing these items may harm the fabric, even if the clothes are not dark but lighter. It might harm fabric fibers.
So, ensure you wash the clothes only when they need to be cleaned.
2. Separate Clothes Accordingly
One thing you can do to prevent the color of dark clothes from fading is to make sure you have arranged the items accordingly.
Make sure to divide the black clothes, white clothes, other dark fabrics, and other clothes pieces and keep them separately.
3. Use the Right Temperature of The Water
Avoid using hot water to wash dark clothes since hot water can cause the dyes to go off and lead to a faded appearance of the clothes.
Always make sure that you are using cold water and if you are using washing machines, then set it to the cold water rinse cycle.
4. Go for The Right Detergent
Choosing a detergent might be tricky since the market has a lot to offer. Usually, there are special detergents for dark clothes, but if you cannot get a hold of such products, you may go ahead with regular detergent, but in limited and small quantities.
5. Try Avoiding the Sun
When kept in sun, to dry the clothes, ensure you haven’t kept the dark garments for too long under the sun. otherwise, the color of the cloth starts fading away. Try indoor drying options instead of exposing dark items to the sun.
Now, one of the most common and popular colors, which is owned by a majority of people out there, is black clothes.
Many of you would be wondering how to wash black clothes. We have you covered in the next section of the article, where we will discuss the top 10 ways to wash black clothes.
10 Ways to Wash Black Clothes
The problem with the shade black is that it is one of the most intense dark colors. Here are ten of the most beneficial tips and methods to wash black clothes.
1. Separate Clothes Based on Colors
Here’s a tip on how to wash black clothes, make sure that the black clothes are kept aside and rest together. To ensure that the color of black clothes doesn’t fade away, make sure to separate black fabrics from other dark items and light-colored clothing.
It is always beneficial to wash darks separately.
2. Separate Clothes Based on Materials
Do consider the weight of your fabric and whether or not the cloth is soiled or not. Make sure not to wash black jeans, denim material, or any heavier fabrics with a lightweight black cloth. It would be even better if you were aware of the material of your black clothes.

For a better laundry experience, you can avoid washing heavily soiled items with ones that are not too dirty.
3. Take Time to Empty the Pockets
Often, we are clumsy, and we forget to look in our pockets to ensure they are empty. The problem with full pockets is simple, if your pocket had tissue paper or any paper, the white residue would affect the black clothes.
Even after drying, getting the flakes off the clothes would be tough. So, ensure clean and empty pockets before placing your clothes into the washing machine or even before going for a manual wash.
4. Take a Look at The Clothing Labels
It might not seem necessary, but the clothing labels have guidelines from the manufacturer for washing purposes.
Looking at the clothes’ clothing labels might save you from certain laundry day disasters. Also, following proper washing techniques might protect your clothes from fading.
Some clothing items, like undergarments, should be washed manually and separately. For instance, going for a dry clean of delicate fibers like silk and cashmere is preferable. Let’s take a look at some examples.
5. Maintain the Right Temperature
As mentioned earlier, when it comes to laundering dark clothes, setting the temperature to wash clothes is very much necessary and important. Dark clothes and, to be specific black clothes must be washed separately in cold water instead of hot or warm water.
This setting is necessary since the usage of warm or hot water would lead to fading of the black color.
6. Soiled Black Clothes in Cold Water
The first step is to separate the clothes accordingly. Before final washing, soak the heavily dirty and soiled clothes in cold water. To remove the stains, you can take a damp cloth and put a small amount of washing detergent or liquid detergent (if available) on the damped cloth.
Use this damped cloth to remove the stains from your black clothes.
7. Using a Preferable Detergent and Fabric Softener

It is suggested that mild detergents made up specifically for washing dark clothes are easily available in the market. Using cold washes with a fabric softener would keep your clothe as new as ever and protect them against any laundry damage.
If you cannot find such suitable detergents, use your regular laundry detergent in small quantities, but if possible, go for a liquid detergent to avoid more damage. Try avoiding the use of bleach at all to wash dark clothes. Chlorine bleach keeps the whites bright but is extremely harmful to dark clothes.
To wash dark clothes, instead of chlorine bleaches used for lighter clothes, you can prefer oxygen bleach every once in a while. Unlike Chlorine bleach, oxygen bleach is not color specific.
8. Turn Dark Garments Inside Out
Another underrated but honest tip for washing black clothes is turning garments inside out. Though it might take some extra minutes, after the washing process, it is recommended to turn the clothes inside out for drying.
This would help the color of the clothing to stay and not fade away. It is good for the clothes to avoid direct sunlight, so turning them inside out is highly regarded.
9. Take Note of How to Dry Your Clothes

Another tip on how to wash black clothes is proper drying. Just proper washing of dark clothes is not enough. You need to make sure whether the clothes are being dried properly or not. Tumble drying is not the best way to dry black/dark clothes.
It might be the fastest drying process, but the friction caused by it can damage the fibers and also cause the color to fade.
You can go for drying dark clothes inside, in the laundry room and air dry the clothes instead of keeping them in direct sunlight.
10. Reduce the Wash Cycle and Use Vinegar

The last tip for answering your question on how to wash black clothes is to reduce the water cycle and, at the same time, try using some vinegar.
Like a gentle wash and washing dark clothing separately, it is also good to reduce the wash cycle. The less washing a cloth has to undergo, the less damage is done to dark-colored clothes like black jeans and black tops.
Adding a little vinegar directly to the washing machines can increase the shelf life of dark clothes and would not lead to fading the colors. Avoid adding the vinegar to the slot of the detergent; add it to separate slots if it exits.
The plus point of vinegar is that it is a natural fabric softener. And it doesn’t have any smell residue since it evaporates during the washing cycle. However, if a bit of smell persists, you can get rid of it by air drying.
Conclusion
Here it goes, a proper guide on how to wash black clothes and prevent the colors from fading. By following these simple tips, you can keep your black clothes looking sharp and new for longer and increase their shelf life of the same.
Last Updated on by kalidaspandian