Clothes are fading in the washing machine? Here's what you should do.

If your clothes are fading in your washing machine, you are using the wrong temperature for your wash. In this video, let’s take a look at how you can make sure your clothes are not damaged or discolored in your washing machine.

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For the record, I’m using a Samsung washing machine integrated with a 100% dryer which I will use as an example in this video. It’s linked to in the description.

The first thing you have to do is sort your laundry based on colors and the washing temperature required. I know it is tough to keep up if we have too many categories but these are the ones I find most manageable. This obviously is not an exhaustive list - you may have a different segregation process based on the type of clothes that you have - for example you may stay in a cold area and have a lot of woolen clothes to wash regularly. So the segregation I use is:

1. Dark colored clothes esp. Polo shirts

2. Light and white colored clothes

3. Regular use clothes like clothes worn at home

4. Heavily soiled clothes like kids clothes, jeans

5. Delicate clothes like woolen, delicate undergarments

Before we get into the temperature discussion, we should be avoiding some of these big mistakes that could also cause clothes to discolor:

1. The biggest mistake we make is washing dark colored clothes with high heat. This is what causes fading of the clothes. I’m not sure how many polo shirts I have spoiled in the past because I was too lazy to segregate this.

2. Washing clothes outside-in is another big mistake. It is always recommended to wash clothes inside out - so that we can safeguard colors as well as help disinfect the dirtiest areas of your clothes better.

So once the segregation is done, what is the heat level you should use for your clothes:

When to use HIGH HEAT i.e., 60+ degree centigrade:

1. High heat is useful for heavily soiled clothes, clothes with oil stains and when you want to get rid of bacteria or fungus from clothing. Typically it is also used for kids clothes, non-delicate undergarments, bed sheets, pillow covers, and kitchen linen, towels, garments with a lot of sweat and oil stains, kids / hospital linen.

2. The biggest issue with using high heat is that it can cause color to fade and it can shrink some fabrics - so when in doubt, check instructions for that set of clothes or don’t use high heat.

3. So amongst the segregation I made earlier - only heavily soiled clothes fall under this category

When to use MEDIUM HEAT i.e., 20-40 degree centigrade:

1. Medium heat can be used for lightly soiled clothes, daily use clothes, synthetic fabrics like nylon, polyester, rayon blends.

2. So amongst the segregation made earlier - light and white colored clothes, regular use clothes fall under this category.

When to use NO HEAT or LOW HEAT i.e., upto 20 degree centigrade for:

1. If you want to completely avoid shrinkages and discoloring of your clothes, use cold water. Esp. Dark and bright colored clothes, delicate fabrics should only be washed in cold water. You can also wash your gym clothes - but at the lower temperature of less than 20 degrees only otherwise it can expand any elastic in your tights / leggings.

2. This approach is also most energy efficient but it is less efficient for removing stains and sanitizing your clothes as heat is not used.

3. So amongst the segregation made earlier - dark colored clothes and delicate clothes fall under this category.

Do you have more tips to make sure your clothes don’t fade? Drop me a comment.