If you wash your black jeans frequently, in warm or hot water, dry them in direct sunlight, or pack your washing machine tightly, you might be speeding up the fading process. Black jeans require a lot of dye to achieve their dark appearance. This dye washes out slowly over time with each wash. To prevent this, Mrs Hinch fans have shared how households keep their black jeans looking as new as possible after one cleaning enthusiast took to Facebook to ask for advice.
Posting on the Mrs Hinch Cleaning Tips page, Orla Coyle wrote: “What’s the best way to wash black jeans so they don’t fade?”
Fading happens because of the way denim is dyed. Dyeing is the process of adding colour to yarn by soaking it in a vat of dye.
When the yarn is removed from the dye, the oxidation process binds the colour to the fibres of the yarn.
Since the dye is not absorbed to the core of the yarn, the colour will eventually wash off and the part of the yarn not dyed will start to appear. However, there is a way to prolong this, according the cleaning fanatics.
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Vera Jakovljevic said: “White vinegar works best on black jeans and is also a great disinfectant.”
Ryan Edwards wrote: “I always wash all my dark clothes inside out, especially jeans (even light ones) and use white vinegar. Always does the trick.”
Janet Cole advised: “make sure your back jeans have been turned inside out and add white vinegar to the wash. It locks in the colour, keeping them black.”
Vinegar does help keep jeans from fading. White vinegar in particular contains a mild acid called acetic acid that helps to lock in dye and prevent fabric bleeding.
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It’s best to set the dye in new jeans when you first get them and during every wash after that. Without using vinegar to lock in the colour of your jeans, they may fade prematurely.
Most households will already have a bottle of this cleaning agent in their kitchen cupboards, but if they don’t it’s cheap to buy from local supermarkets.
White vinegar retails for 29p from Asda and Tescos and costs 40p at Sainsbury’s.
Mrs Hinch fans also suggest another household staple when it comes to preventing black jeans fading – and that’s to use salt.
Samantha Jones said: “Tablespoon of salt stops the fabric bleeding. Put it directly into the drum for best results.”
Tracey Hankins suggested: “Put a teaspoon of salt in and wash on cold. Do not tumble dry.”
Diane Oneal wrote: “Inside out with salt added to the water. Salt supposedly sets the dye so they don’t fade as badly later washes.”
Ruth Rutter commented: “Wash in salt and keep away from the sun. Dry indoors.”
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