The key points

• Before washing your coloured clothes, it’s important to sort your clothes by colour and separate them according to how delicate the material is.

• With the right wash cycle and a mild liquid detergent or colour powder, you can protect the colours from fading or washing out.

• Household products such as vinegar or salt can make your clothes brighter and preserve the colour intensity of new garments.

Step 1: the right way to pre-sort coloured laundry

Here we come to the first and most important tip: separating your laundry before washing it. You probably already know that coloured clothes shouldn’t be washed together with black or white garments. But did you know that you should also divide your coloured laundry into different categories to prevent colour bleeding? For example, you should sort your laundry into the following groups:

• Light colours (pastel tones, beige, light grey, black and white stripes, etc.)

• Medium colours (sky blue, grass green, yellow, orange, pink, etc.)

• Dark colours (purple, dark green, dark blue, red, etc.)

You should also wash new clothes separately or only with darker garments the first time you wash them, as they are particularly susceptible to the colour running. Also make sure to wash materials with similar properties together. We’ll talk more about this in the next tip.

Step 2: loading your washing machine correctly and selecting the right programme

What’s the right way to wash coloured laundry? For most people, the answer is obvious: with the colour wash programme, which gently removes dirt at a temperature of 30 to 40°C without the colours running. A gentler spin cycle of 800 to 1000 revolutions per minute is enough to flush excess moisture out of the clothes without damaging the fibres.

However, when separating coloured laundry, you should focus not only on the colour, but also on the material. Towels, bed linen and underwear can often be washed at 60°C, while sensitive materials such as TENCEL™, wool and silk should be washed on the handwash programme or by hand. To ensure that your clothes retain their shape and colour for as long as possible, you’ll always find the most important washing instructions on the care label attached to your clothes.

Step 3: the best detergents for coloured clothes

If you want your clothes to retain their colour for a long time, choosing the right detergent is also crucial. It’s best to use a liquid colour detergent that spreads evenly throughout the drum. The advantage: unlike most powder detergents, this type of detergent doesn’t contain any bleach and thus protects the colours from fading.

If possible, try not to use fabric softener. Depending on the material, it can stick the fibres together and reduce the fabric’s breathability. This applies in particular to performance fabrics such as TENCEL™ or ECONYL® fibres made from recycled nylon.

Tip: CALIDA uses natural materials such as wool, silk or organic cotton for many of its clothing items. These fabrics remain at their best when they’re washed using a mild detergent without any harsh additives. They feel soft on the skin, so the use of fabric softeners is not necessary – and it’s not recommended, either.

Step 4: laundry additives & household products to preserve the colour

Want to keep your coloured garments looking bright for as long as possible? In addition to special colour revivers, there are also some tried-and-tested simple household products that you can use for your coloured laundry. Here’s an overview:

• A small glass of white vinegar in the fabric softener compartment neutralises odours and cleans your clothes without bleaching them.

• Salt can make the colours in your laundry last longer if used during the first wash. Simply add a teaspoon of table salt to your laundry.

• Bicarbonate of soda cleans gently without using any bleaching agents and makes the fibres soft. Put around 1 to 2 tablespoons in the detergent compartment (note: don’t do this for wool or silk).

Even though these additives are simple household products, they can have a strong effect. To avoid putting too much strain on the fibres, you should use these sparingly and only with robust materials such as cotton.

Step 5: drying coloured laundry without the colours fading

Probably the biggest danger for colourful clothing is fading from the sun or UV rays. Never hang your laundry in the blazing midday sun. Instead, find a shaded, well-ventilated area. If you want to dry your clothes indoors, ventilate the room regularly to reduce the air humidity.

A tumble dryer is not entirely suitable for drying coloured clothes: although it dries your clothes quickly, the heat can make the colours fade faster and damage sensitive fabrics. Pay attention to the washing instructions on the care label attached to your coloured laundry. If the square symbol with the circle in the middle has a cross through it, you shouldn’t tumble dry the garment.

Should you dye faded laundry? What you need to know

Despite taking a lot of care, your colourful clothes may still end up looking dull or fade unevenly over the years. In this case, you can freshen up your clothes with textile paint – you can do this right in the washing machine.

Keep in mind, however, that you can’t dye your laundry lighter, only darker. What’s more, not all fibres will take up the colour uniformly. While cotton and linen are usually easy to dye, synthetic fibres such as polyester or microfibre are more difficult.

Don’t worry – high-quality clothes such as our CALIDA Basics, which are made out of long-lasting materials, retain their colour for longer, so it’s better to care for them rather than dyeing them again.

Summary

Washing coloured clothes is not rocket science. However, there are a few rules that you should follow if you want to keep your clothes looking bright for a long time: sort your laundry carefully by colour and material, use the right wash programme and use colour detergents without optical brighteners or aggressive additives. Using gentler spin cycles and hanging up your clothes to dry in the shade will ensure that your garments keep their shape, colour and quality. Thanks to these washing tips, even the finest CALIDA garments in delicate colours can remain as beautiful as day one for years to come, allowing you to wear your favourite pieces and truly shine, no matter how often they land in your washing machine.