What to do if clothes are dyed during washing, and how to save things?

Not everyone knows what to do if things get dyed during washing, so they simply throw them away when this happens. But there is no need to rush into this, because today there are many ways to wash stained clothes and restore their color.

Emergency measures

If you notice that an item has become stained, try to take action immediately. Try washing it again as usual, after sorting the contents of the washing machine by color. For greater effectiveness, before washing, stains can be rubbed with laundry soap and left for 3-4 hours.

If colored or dark stains have not had time to dry, dishwashing detergent will help remove them. Add it to hot water and soak things in this solution for a couple of hours. If you've washed your clothes and it doesn't work, more serious action will be required.

Good to know

The effectiveness of various color restoration measures largely depends on the type of fabric. Cotton clothing is the easiest to return to its original appearance. Man-made materials, such as nylon, are difficult and sometimes impossible to bleach.

How to return color to things?

If you need to bleach stained items, try washing them in the machine by adding powdered bleach (available at a hardware store) to your regular wash. Liquid bleach is added to the prewash compartment. To avoid completely ruining your white items, be sure to follow the instructions on the product packaging.If the item cannot be machine washed, first soak it in bleach for 5-6 hours, then wash it by hand.

Bleach can be used if the fabrics are white. Brightly colored clothes may lose their color after this treatment. It is recommended to use products marked “Color” or “For colored fabrics”. Many stain removers are not only added to the washing machine, but also pre-applied to the stain.

Advice

When buying bleach, pay attention to its composition. Products containing chlorine are not recommended for washing delicate fabrics: silk, wool, linen. The fabric may simply deteriorate from such aggressive influence.

Folk remedies

• Ammonia or hydrogen peroxide.

For 4 liters of water you will need 2 teaspoons of ammonia or 2-3 tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide. Pour water into a bucket, metal basin or large saucepan, add ammonia or peroxide to it, mix everything well and place the painted items in the solution. Place the basin on the stove and bring the water to a boil. To wash the fabric, simmer it over low heat for about an hour.

• If you are afraid that boiling may ruin your laundry, you can use another method.

Dissolve 10 ml of ammonia in 5 liters of hot water. Soak the item in this solution for at least 1-1.5 hours. After this, the spots should disappear. But be prepared for the strong smell of ammonia to remain. To eliminate it, wash the item in a machine or by hand with a fragrant conditioner. This way you can wash both white and colored fabrics.

• Starch, salt and citric acid.

To prepare the cleansing composition, mix in equal proportions (about 1 tablespoon each) citric acid, salt, starch and grated laundry soap.Mix everything well and add a little warm water to make a thick paste. Take your clothes and apply this mixture to the damaged areas from the wrong side. Leave the item in this form for 8-10 hours (overnight is possible), then rinse and, if necessary, machine wash again.

• Lemon juice.

Lemon is famous for its bleaching properties, so it will help return things to their white color. Rub half a lemon on the damaged areas and leave the item like that for several hours. To bleach a delicate fabric item, you can soak it in water with lemon juice or citric acid. This is followed by regular washing, then drying.

• Potassium permanganate.

This method is quite risky, so it should be used as a last resort. Dissolve a few crystals of potassium permanganate in water, add hand washing powder and mix. Soak things of the same color in this water for 1-1.5 hours. After this, rinse the laundry thoroughly in plenty of water.

General recommendations

1. Have you washed an item and noticed that it has become stained? Proceed immediately to “resuscitate” her. There is no need to dry it, much less iron it. Otherwise, the paint may become embedded in the fabric, after which it will be much more difficult to remove.
2. When trying to whiten things, do not mix several products at once. Use them separately from each other.
3. Please note that after boiling, the fabric may become deformed, become thinner, or lose color. Therefore, it is recommended to resort to it in extreme cases, if simple washing does not help whiten the laundry.
4. When using chemicals, it is not recommended to wash or boil the item more than 3 times in a row.Otherwise, the fabric fibers will disintegrate and you won’t have to do anything else, as the clothes will be unwearable.
5. If you have purchased a new item and do not know whether it is subject to shedding, it is better to wash it separately from the rest of your clothing for the first time.
6. Fabrics are most susceptible to coloring when washed in hot water. Therefore, when washing items at high temperatures, first separate them by color.
7. To prevent items prone to shedding from ruining other items, you can use special napkins that capture color.

Alternative ways to resuscitate things

What to do if you couldn’t wash the item? Don't rush to throw it away. In some cases, clothes can be decorated. There are many ways that will allow you to create an original item. Here are just a few of them.

• Try painting with special fabric paints. Using a stencil, paints and a sponge you can make beautiful patterns. If you draw well, you don't need to use a stencil.
• Buy acrylic fabric paint in an aerosol can. It is easy to apply, dries quickly, and the color remains intact when washed.
• Some items, such as cotton, can be dyed completely by boiling them in aniline dye.
• A damaged item can be decorated with appliqués, rhinestones or sequins. Ready-made appliques are sold in fabric and accessories stores.

If you have damaged an expensive product and doubt whether you can fix the situation yourself, you should not experiment and try all the methods one after another. In this case, it is better to spend money and use dry cleaning services.