How to Make Old Clothes Look New Again

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It can be really frustrating to purchase colorful clothing simply to see it fade as presently as yous launder it. Luckily, there are a few unlike ways yous can restore the vibrant colour to your garments. Sometimes, detergent can build up on laundry, making it expect dull. In that case, washing your dress with salt or vinegar may assist your clothing look like new again. If the fading is from normal washing and habiliment, dyeing the garment back to the original color can give it a new life! Y'all may also exist able to restore your apparel with some mutual household supplies, like baking soda, coffee, or hydrogen peroxide.

1. 1

   Place your faded clothes and regular detergent in the washing machine. If you have clothes that seem to have faded after but a few washes, the culprit may be detergent buildup. Calculation salt to your regular wash tin assistance break up that buildup, making your dress await like new over again.^[1]

   • Powdered laundry detergent is more likely to exit behind residuum than liquid detergent.

2. 2

   Add 1/2 loving cup (150 yard) of salt to the wash bicycle. In one case you've placed your dress and detergent in the washing motorcar, pour about 1/2 cup (150 g) of salt into the drum. In addition to restoring colors, it can also help prevent new clothes from fading in the start place.^[2]

   • You lot tin can add salt to every load of laundry, if you'd similar.
   • Regular salt or ultra-fine pickling salts work well for this, but avoid coarse-ground sea table salt, as it may non dissolve fully in the washing machine.
   • Salt is also an effective stain remover, especially on blood, mildew, and sweat stains.^[3]

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3. three

   Dry out your habiliment as usual. Later your clothes are finished washing, take them out and check the color. If yous're satisfied with information technology, you lot tin either air dry them or place them in your dryer. If they yet look faded, endeavor washing them in vinegar, instead.^[4]

   • You may need to redye your clothes if the colour has washed out over time.

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1. one

   Add ¹⁄₂ cup (120 mL) of white vinegar to your washing car. If you have a top-loading machine, you tin pour the vinegar direct into the pulsate, or you lot can add it to the material softener dispenser if you have a front end-loading washer. The vinegar will help break upwardly any detergent or minerals left behind past hard water, so your clothes will look brighter.^[5]

   • The vinegar volition as well preclude this buildup in the first place, and so information technology'southward a peachy way to keep your dress colour-fast while they're still new.^[six]
   • If yous want an even deeper clean, soak the clothing detail in a solution of ane cup (240 mL) of white vinegar and 1 gal (iii.8 L) of warm water for most 20-xxx minutes before you wash it.

2. ii

   Launder the dress in cool water on a normal bicycle. Place your faded clothes into your washing machine, add laundry detergent, and turn on the machine. In many cases, soaking your clothes in vinegar then washing them is all it will have to go them looking brighter.^[7]

   • Choose the cycle that's appropriate for the clothes you lot're brightening. For case, if you're washing items made from a delicate material like silk or lace, you lot'd want to apply a gentle launder. For more durable fabrics like cotton or denim, a normal wash is fine.

3. iii

   Air-dry out your apparel or place them in the dryer. The vinegar will wash out of your article of clothing during the rinse cycle, so your laundry shouldn't smell like vinegar when it comes out of the wash. You lot can either hang the clothes to dry or place them in the dryer, depending on the instructions on the care label or how you normally adopt to dry your dress.

   • If a trivial of the smell does linger, either hang the item to dry out outside or put a fabric softener sail in the dryer. The olfactory property should exist gone past the time it's dry.
   • If your clothes nonetheless look faded, the dye might accept washed out, so you lot may need to dye the clothes instead.

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1. one

   Check the care characterization to make up one's mind if the garment is a dyeable fabric. Some fabrics have dye amend than others, and then before y'all try to restore your article of clothing by dyeing it, take a look at the tag within the item to come across what it'due south made of. If the item is fabricated from at least threescore% natural fibers, similar cotton, silk, linen, ramie, or wool, or if it's fabricated from rayon or nylon, it will probably dye well.^[8]

   • Clothing fabricated from a blend of natural and constructed fibers may non look every bit dark when they're dyed every bit clothing made from an all-natural textile.
   • If the garment is made from acrylic, spandex, polyester, or metallic fibers, or if the tag says "Dry Clean Only," it probably will non take dye well, if at all.
   • If in that location are any spots or stains, the dye may non blot evenly into the fabric, so make certain the clothes are clean.

2. 2

   Choose a dye as shut to the original color as possible. If you want your garment to look as skillful as new, take information technology with you to a big box store or a craft or cloth store to choose the dye. Effort to observe the closest match you can, as this will requite you the boldest, most natural-looking upshot.^[nine]

   • If you want to alter the colour of your garment, yous'll probable need to use a colour stripper first.

3. 3

   Protect your pare and work expanse from the dye. Cover your workspace with newspaper, tarp, or trash bags, then if any of the dye splashes, it won't stain your table, counter, or floors. In addition, have some old rags or newspaper towels nearby just in you lot demand to speedily clean up any spills. So, put on old wearing apparel and thick gloves so your dress and pare don't become stained.^[10]

   • It's important to protect your hands, considering coming into contact with dye tin can irritate your skin.^[11]

4. 4

   Fill a container with hot h2o that'southward near 120–140 °F (49–60 °C). Most household water heaters are set to a maximum temperature of 120 °F (49 °C), although some are set to 140 °F (sixty °C), then the hottest water from your tap should be sufficient. However, if you want hotter h2o, yous can rut it on the stove to just below boiling, or about 200 °F (93 °C). Pour the h2o into a big pot, bucket, or tub, or make full a top-loading machine with water on the hottest setting.^[12]

   • You'll demand nigh 3 US gal (xi L) of water for every i lb (0.45 kg) of clothing.
   • A bucket or pot is good for smaller items similar sparse tops, accessories, and children'south clothes. Use a plastic tub or washing auto for larger items like sweaters and jeans.^[13]
   • About articles of wearable weigh almost 0.five-ane lb (0.22-0.4 kg).^[fourteen]

5. 5

   Dissolve the dye and salt in a small loving cup of water, then add them to the bath. Follow the instructions on the dye to determine exactly how much you'll need. Generally, though, you'll need almost a 1/two bottle of dye for every one lb (0.45 kg) of fabric. To help the dye prepare ameliorate, add 1/ii cup (150 yard) of salt for every one lb (0.45 kg) of fabric you lot're dyeing. Stir the dye and salt into a modest cup of warm h2o until they're completely dissolved. Then, add the dye and table salt mixture to your larger container of water and employ a metal long-handled spoon or tongs to stir everything together.^[xv]

   • For piece of cake cleanup, consider using a dowel or a plastic spoon to stir the dye in the smaller container. That style, y'all can just throw it away when you're finished.

6. six

   Add the clothes and soak them for 30-60 minutes, stirring continuously. Place the clothing into the dye bathroom and use your spoon or tongs to push them down under the water, ensuring they're completely saturated. To help the dye soak evenly into the material, stir the clothing around at least every five-10 minutes. That helps prevent any folds or bunches in the fabric from blocking the dye.^[16]

   • The more yous stir, the more even the dye will be. Some people prefer to stir constantly, while others notice it'due south sufficient to just swish the clothing around every few minutes.

7. 7

   Take the clothing out of the dye and rinse information technology thoroughly in common cold h2o. Once the recommended time has passed, or when yous call up the garment looks night enough, use your tongs or spoon to carefully elevator the wearable out of the dye bath. Transfer it to a bathtub or a sink, and rinse the detail under cold running water until the water runs generally articulate.^[17]

   • Call up, the color will look darker when the garment is wet, and so take that into account when you're checking to see if it's ready!
   • Clean your sink or tub immediately so the dye doesn't stain information technology!

8. 8

   Wash the garment by itself in the washing machine on a common cold bicycle. If yous're satisfied with the color of your vesture, turn the garment within out and put it in the washing automobile. Even though you've already rinsed out much of the dye by hand, more will come out in the wash, and so don't put anything else in the washing machine, or it will go stained by dye every bit well. And then, run the washing machine on a small, common cold cycle.^[18]

   • Turning the garment inside-out when y'all wash it may help preserve its color.

9. ix

   Dry the garment to run into the terminal colour. You can hang dry your item or you tin identify information technology in the dryer, depending on the fabric and your personal preference. Either way, when it's finished, examine the clothing to ensure the dye went on evenly and didn't leave any streaks or lighter areas, and that you lot're happy with the final result.^[19]

   • If you lot need to, you lot can dye the clothing once again.

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1. 1

   Try adding blistering soda to your washing machine to brighten white clothing. Baking soda is another household staple that can help make your clothes look vivid, and it's especially effective on white fabric. Just add about ane/2 cup (ninety k) to the drum of your washer forth with your clothes and regular detergent.^[twenty]

   • Baking soda is likewise a corking manner to deodorize your wear!^[21]

2. 2

   Refresh black apparel past soaking them in coffee or tea. If you want an easy, inexpensive way to go on your nighttime clothes looking rich and new, brew a 2 cups (470 mL) of very stiff black tea or java. Place the wearing apparel in the washing car and wash them as normal, only stay shut. When the rinse bicycle starts, open the lid of the washing automobile and pour in the java or tea. Permit the cycle cease, then hang your clothing to dry.^[22]

   • Drying blackness apparel in the dryer can crusade them to fade more speedily.

3. 3

   Brighten your clothing by calculation blackness pepper to the launder. Identify your wearing apparel in the washing machine merely as you ordinarily would, then add together ii-3 tsp (8-12 g) of footing black pepper in with your clothes. This volition assistance dispel some of the buildup, and the flakes of pepper will wash away in the rinse bike.^[23]

4. 4

   Launder your white clothes in hydrogen peroxide to brighten them. If your whites are looking faded and muddied after a few washes, it can be tempting to bleach them, simply this can weaken and discolor the textile over fourth dimension. Instead, add one cup (240 mL) of hydrogen peroxide to your laundry detergent, then launder your wearing apparel as usual.^[24]

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Add New Question

• Question

  How tin can you brand your clothes concluding longer?

  

  Natalie Kay Smith is a sustainable fashion author and the owner of Sustainably Chichi, a sustainability-focused blog. Natalie has over 5 years of sustainable mode and dark-green living writing and has worked with over 400 conscious brands all over the globe to show readers way tin can be responsibly and sustainably.

  

  Fashion Writer

  Proficient Answer

  Effort washing and drying your dress less. The dryer is not great for your clothes, then yous should try to hang dry whenever possible. If yous're storing your clothes, brand sure they're in a proper container that'southward sealed against mold and bugs.

• Question

  I have a white sweatshirt, most 15 years old, and it's get a dingy stake gray. Can it be brought dorsum to a bright white?

  

  The fibers in the garment take picked upwardly residue from washing and wearing. Washing soda (sodium carbonate) along with borax and fels naptha are available in the laundry alley of most stores and tin can help remove the residue. Soaking the garment for a minimum of 24 hours will help fibers swell up and help push dirt off. Look online for a recipe called "washing mayonnaise".

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• Yous can combine some of these techniques for more brightening power, like calculation both salt and vinegar to your launder.

• Sort your clothes by color, plough them inside-out, and wash them in cold h2o to aid foreclose them from fading.

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• Do non attempt this on clothes marked equally "dry clean only." These fabrics are frail and typically do not accept dye well.

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Things You'll Need

• Salt
• Laundry detergent

• White vinegar
• Detergent
• Salt (optional)

• Dye
• Big container or washing machine
• Hot water
• Tarp, dropcloth, or garbage numberless
• Old dress and thick gloves
• Pocket-sized cup
• Salt
• Dowel or plastic spoon
• Long-handled spoon or tongs

• Baking soda (optional)
• Coffee or tea (optional)
• Black pepper (optional)
• Hydrogen peroxide (optional)

About This Article

Article Summary X

To restore your faded dress, put 1/2 cup of common salt into your regular wash cycle, which will remove whatsoever detergent build-up and make your clothes look newer. Alternatively, add i/2 cup of white vinegar to your washing auto's fabric softener drawer, which volition assist pause-upward detergent build-up. So, wash your wearing apparel on a normal cycle with absurd water and detergent. If you're trying to brighten up white vesture, try calculation 1/2 loving cup of baking soda to your washing automobile. You lot can also add ane loving cup of hydrogen peroxide to your cycle if you don't take blistering soda. For black clothes, pour 2 cups of strong coffee or tea into your washing machine during the rinse cycle. To learn more, including how to dye faded clothing, read on!

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