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Five Tips To Keep Clothes from Fading

Your clothes may start to fade with each wash. Learn how to keep your fabrics vibrant with these 5 simple steps.

Five quick tips to help prevent clothes from fadingicon

1. Follow directions

The care label will let you know the best way to wash each garment: water temperature, cycle speed (or hand-wash), and more. Learn more about reading a manufacturer’s care label

2. Turn clothes inside out

Let agitation take its toll on the insides of your garments, and help preserve the colors you fell in love with.

3. Wash clothes in cold water

Even if the care label calls for warm or hot water, cold water is your best choice for helping protect a garment’s color. Warm water makes fibers more prone to releasing dye to the wash water.

4. Use the gentle cycle

Usually used for delicate items, the gentle cycle agitates and spins, well, gently. Using the gentle cycle means you significantly reduce abrasion to your garments.

5. Use a fabric conditioner

Downy Fabric Conditioner lubricates the fibers in your clothes. This reduces abrasion and, as a result, reduces dye loss. Downy also helps prevent pilling, which helps your garments hold on to their original colors and keep their fresh appearance—for a brighter-looking you.

How do clothes Fade in the wash?

When you consider the mechanics of the clothes washer, it’s no wonder garments can fade over time. During a typical wash cycle, clothes are agitated during washing, rinsing, and spinning for roughly 30 minutes. That abrasion can break down fibers, and cause pilling, which over the lifetime of the garment causes it to look more faded. Additionally, chlorine in the wash water can damage chlorine-sensitive dyes and cause colored garments to fade with multiple washings.

Did you know?

Downy helps protect your clothes from 50 mph spinning in your washing machine.

Downy helps protect your clothes from 60 times the G Force of a space rocket launch.

Downy helps protect your clothes from a dryer hot enough to cook ribs.