Pretreating tactics

Protecting Those Fashion Basics. Dark clothes are everywhere in today's fashion scene — especially the basics. Solid black, brown and navy are wardrobe essentials. But how do you fight fabric fading? Take these few laundering precautions to keep them looking new.

What Causes Colour Loss?

Here are some common reasons for losing colour:

• Bad Quality Dyes. Dye performance is determined by dye type, fabric, fibre and application method. A mistake in any of these can cause garments to lose colour.
• Too-Warm Water. Washing a garment in water that is warmer than recommended can cause colour loss faster than if you use cooler temperatures.
• Over-Hot Drying. It's a mistake to over-dry your darks or dry them at a too-high temperature.

Keeping Darks Dark

Here are some basic precautions to help prevent those darks from fading away:

• Follow Care Labels. Before treating any garment, always first refer to the instructions on the care label. Symbols on garment labels are there for a reason. Learn the code and prolong the life of your clothes.
• Mind the Sort. You will keep dark colours most clear and true if you sort colours of like hue together. Put oranges with reds, bright blues with purples, navies with blacks and light tans with creams.
• Turn Inside-Out. Turning garments inside-out before washing and drying reduces abrasion (a major culprit in fading) and prevents the dulling effect of pilling.
• Use the Right Products. Follow product instructions as carefully as you follow label instructions. Avoid using too much or too little detergent, both of which can cause dulling.
• Don't Stuff. Overloading the washer or dryer will not allow clothes to move freely, allowing for detergent deposits or poor rinsing/residue removal.
• Cold is Best. Washing and rinsing in cold water protects darks better than warm or hot water.
• Don't Bake. Over-drying (especially with lighter, lint-producing garments) can unnecessarily wear out dark colours. Remove slightly damp and leave them inside-out to dry.
• Avoid Light. Sunlight exposure, in drying or in storage, may bleach colour from darks.

The Tide® Fabric Care Network Can Help

Laundry technology has come a long way. And part of the improvement has been laundry additives or detergent formulation to better meet your laundry needs. The Tide Fabric Care Network offers a variety of products that can help keep your darks looking good.

Tide Liquid

With or without bleach alternative, Tide Liquid is one of you best choices for dark washing in cold water. Tide with Bleach Alternative is safe to use on colours because its not chlorine based like liquid bleach.

Quick Dissolving™ Tide Powder

With or without bleach, Tide Powder is formulated to immediately start dissolving — even in cold water — meaning virtually residue-free clothes. (Residue can be one of the factors for dull or graying clothes.) And as always, Tide Powder gets to the bottom of dirt and stains to help keep your whites white and brights bright. You can get more out of your Tide detergent when you also use it as a pre-soaker and oxybooster.

Ivory Snow®

For your gentle cycle washables, Ivory Snow is specially formulated to clean delicates with effective and mild cleansing. Like Tide Powder, it is also Quick Dissolving™ for virtually residue-free clothes.
 
So wear that basic black suit with that basic black blouse, and know that they really do match.