How to Wash Dark Clothes

Washing clothes can be such a repetitive, every day process that many people fail to actually teach how to do it. When students leave for college, or teenagers graduate from high school, they may not know how to wash dark clothes. Dark clothes are the "hardest" to wash because of the ability to dye other clothes. Although washing dark clothes is the "hardest" to do, it is still incredibly easy.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Washer
• Clothes
• Laundry Detergent (If you can, one made for dark clothes)
• Dryer

1. Make sure that you have separated your clothes into piles. You want to make sure that the "dark" pile is a load full of dark clothes that can all be washed together (and in cold water).

2. Turn on the washer. Make sure that you have chosen the COLD setting (washing dark clothes in hot water can and will make the dye bleed). While all washers are different, most will ask for heat setting, load size, and time. Choose the load size based on how many clothes you have, and choose the time based on how soiled you consider the clothes.

3. Put in the laundry detergent. By finding a detergent that is made for dark clothes, you can help to keep the color from fading as quickly as it would with normal detergent. Make sure to read the bottle to understand how much to put in for your load of laundry.

4. Throw the clothes in. Take all of your dark clothes and put them in with the water and detergent mix. Make sure that the washer is not too full, as this can cause problems for the washer.

5. Put the clothes in the dryer and simply select the heat and timing. These are based on speed and clothing type, not on clothing color.

Tips & Warnings

• If the washer is too full, take out some of the clothes. You can always do two loads of laundry.
• Always make sure no whites escape into your dark clothes load.
• Be sure to read tags thoroughly.
• Drying at high heats can and will shrink new dark clothes.