White and gray: can you wash together and what rules to follow?

It is undesirable to wash white and gray items together, but if it is not possible to avoid this procedure, it is important to make it as safe as possible.

Observing certain requirements (low water temperature, lack of mechanical spinning, correct choice of detergent), it will not be difficult to keep the colors of your favorite things bright.

Let's take a closer look at whether it is possible to wash white and gray clothes in the washing machine to avoid shedding and loss of color.

Is simultaneous washing possible?

When thinking about washing white and gray things together, you need to know exactly in which cases the result will be perfectly clean clothes, and in which things will be damaged. Read about the rules for washing white clothes here.

When is it allowed?

Washing white and gray items allowed in exceptional situations, provided:

• a very quick, refreshing wash is planned;
• gray clothes have been washed many times (color pigment is washed out of the fabric each time);
• clothes are cleaned without the use of aggressive detergents, at low water temperatures;
• colored and white items can only be wrung out separately.

When is it undesirable?

From washing white and gray items together it is better to refuse in the following situations:

• colored clothing is washed for the first time (even with high-quality dyeing, when it comes into contact with water for the first time, the fabric sheds a little);
• washing involves mandatory soaking (the longer the contact of the fabric with water, the more it loses its color pigment);
• the upcoming wash will take place at high temperatures (the hotter the water, the more the colored fabric sheds).

How is it right in the washing machine?

Strict adherence to the rules of joint washing in the washing machine will help to maintain the brightness and purity of color white and gray clothes:

1. Before washing, all clothes must be turned on the wrong side.
2. Clothes are laid out in two piles: white things separately, gray ones separately. Each stack is placed in a special mesh bag.
3. They set the delicate mode and the minimum temperature level. To wash white and gray items at the same time, the water temperature should not exceed 30C.

   Washing is carried out only on a gentle mode for woolen, delicate fabrics, without spinning.

4. Add detergent and start the washing machine.
5. After the washing process is over, things must be immediately removed from the bag and hung to dry.

Instead of special mesh bags, you can use old cotton pillowcases.

Choosing a detergent

Combined washing of white and gray items is possible only when using special universal products with a minimum content of surfactants. It is very important that the composition of the powder does not contain bleaching, chlorine-containing ingredients..

Drying

It is not enough to know how to properly wash white and colored things, it is equally important to understand how to dry things properly:

1. White and gray clothes are never hung overlapping to dry. In places where fabrics of two colors come into contact, spots will necessarily appear, which is extremely difficult to get rid of.
2. Before laying out clothes to dry (or hanging on a rope), be sure to turn them out to the wrong side.
3. Dry white and gray clothes only in a dark place. Otherwise, under the influence of direct sunlight, colored things will lose their brightness, and whites will acquire a yellow tint.

Tips on the topic

1. You can check whether the gray fabric is shedding in a simple way: the clothes are moistened, wrapped in a light wet cloth and left for ten minutes. If, after wrapping, dark spots appear on light fabrics, you must refuse to wash together.
2. White and gray things are never dried on heating appliances. Under the influence of high temperatures, the fabric of the menu has its own structure, the dark matter brightens, and the linen acquires a shade of yellowness.
3. In a machine wash, it is better to fill the tank halfway (the fewer items are loaded into the machine, the more likely the color of the clothes will remain).
4. Manual wringing will help speed up the drying process (wring out white and gray things separately).
5. If, after washing together, the white linen has turned gray, soaking for thirty minutes in water with aspirin tablets will help to restore the whiteness and freshness of the clothes (10 tablets are dissolved in two liters).

If the white thing still fades, tips from this articles, if completely colored - take a look here.

Conclusion

Strict adherence to the rules for washing gray and white clothes will help to achieve the ideal cleanliness result, while maintaining the brightness of the color of the fabrics.