- Dark clothes often smell unpleasant after washing because the dyes react with detergents.
- Too much detergent and high washing temperatures can worsen the problem, leading to unpleasant odors.
- There are simple home remedies to restore freshness to your clothes and protect their colors.
- Discover grandma’s tricks that will help you get rid of unpleasant odors and maintain the intensity of colors.
Why do dark clothes smell bad after washing?
Dark clothes stink because dyes react with detergents, so it is worth reading labels and following a few rules. First of all, wash dark fabrics at a lower temperature of about 30 degrees Celsius and use detergents as recommended by the manufacturer. Unfortunately, we often want to do well and add too many detergents, which then do not work as they should. Additionally, henna and quinoline, which are supposed to enhance the color and prevent rapid fading in reaction to excess detergents, begin to deteriorate in the fabric, which is where the unpleasant smell comes from.
Pour half a glass before washing dark clothes, they will be soft and fragrant
If your clothes smell unpleasant even after washing, there is a chance to save them. It is worth following our grandmothers’ method. We take such clothes out of the wardrobe and soak them in water with vinegar. Just pour in about half a cup. Vinegar has an antibacterial effect and will also clean fabrics of excess powder and fabric softener. We leave the clothes for an hour. After rinsing, we put them in the washing machine and wash them normally without using detergents. When washing such clothes next time, replace the fabric softener with vinegar and add a drop of essential oil. The vinegar will evaporate, the fabrics will become soft and smell of our favorite essential oil.
How to wash clothes so that they retain their colors?
To protect your favorite blouses, sweaters or pants from fading, you can use special washing liquids. There are many products on the market that are intended to protect the material – especially the black one. However, intense reds and neon pinks also lose their color after a few washes. Expensive detergents do not always work, and they are not the healthiest for the planet and our skin. That’s why it’s worth using our grandmothers’ brilliant idea. If your clothes have faded or you want to protect them from fading, give them a beer bath. Prepare the solution in 1:1 proportions, i.e. for a bottle of beer (0.5 l) and a bottle of water of the same capacity. Pour the ingredients into the laundry bowl so that the liquid covers all the fabrics. Leave for a few hours. Then rinse them in water and wash them as usual. This will prevent your clothes from smelling of alcohol. The effects, depending on how faded the fabrics were, will be visible after the first rinse. It is worth repeating this treatment once a month.
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