Stuff formulated for whites specifically CAN contain things like bleach that can fade colors faster. Its not going to do it in 1 wash but cumulatively over time.
Does it really matter if you use white or colour detergent for washing clothes in a washingmachine?
Submitted 7 months ago by Sunny@slrpnk.net to nostupidquestions@lemmy.world
Comments
Delphia@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Thorry84@feddit.nl 7 months ago
Washing white stuff with regular or color detergent is mostly fine, washing dark stuff with detergent for white stuff is not fine.
RobotToaster@mander.xyz 7 months ago
If it isn’t specifically for coloured clothes, it contains optical brighteners, which fluoresce under UV light (like the sun) to make whites appear whiter. That’s fine for light colours, but it makes blacks look greyish and dull.
WeeSheep@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I never have used detergent for colored clothes.
FrostKing@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I have literally never separated my clothes, and I’ve never had anything get messed up.
Thorry84@feddit.nl 7 months ago
New stuff should definitely be washed on it’s own a couple of times, before being mixed in. New stuff can easily give off enough color to make a white shirt pink for example when washed with a red thing.
Just because you’ve been lucky or maybe have a lot of same colors where it doesn’t matter doesn’t mean it’s a general rule to go by.
otp@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
Doesn’t that only happen in nim-cold water washes?
Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 7 months ago
If you’re washing older clothing and aren’t using bleach, you’re fine.
AA5B@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Aside from new clothes bleeding dye, there’s definitely a difference in whites, even if you can only see it in comparison to other whites.
Actually, I think at that point it’s the dryer, scattering fine colored lint across the white shirts, making them appear duller, greyer
Nemo@midwest.social 7 months ago
No.
emptyother@programming.dev 7 months ago
I doubt it. But I want to know too.
Dkarma@lemmy.world 7 months ago
What are u on about? There’s only one kind of laundry detergent.
rufus@discuss.tchncs.de 7 months ago
I think washing detergent for white fabric can contain bleach, so the clothes will stay white and won’t become grey. If this is the case, it’ll gradually fade any colors.
takeheart@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Dunno about the bleach part, that might be in some as well, but typically white fabric detergent contains optical brightener that counters the typical yellow tint of worn garments by emitting extra blue light (and your eyes perceive the full presence of the spectrum as white). That’s also why this whitening effect will fade off if you then use detergent that doesn’t contain brighteners: you are washing out those blue light particles once again.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_brightener
PP_BOY_@lemmy.world 7 months ago
AKA blue dye.
The process is also called “bluing” and existed way before they made up a scientific “you have to buy this product, you can’t do this at home” name.