What to do if a T-shirt is stained during washing, how to save a faded item?

foto10295-1 It's no secret that white and colored T-shirts should be washed separately. However, in practice there are often cases when this rule is not observed. The result is that the product is painted a different color.

There is no need to despair; you can return the T-shirt to its original condition. Both household chemicals and improvised means come to the rescue.

What to do if the T-shirt is colored after washing, how to bleach the white one? Find answers to your questions in the article.

Content

First aid
How to return the color to a white T-shirt, bleach it?
How to restore color?
Features for different types of fabric
How to wash a product so that it does not fade?
Important Tips
Video on the topic
Conclusion

First aid

If a change in color was noticed immediately, then you need to start “resuscitating” the item immediately.

Rules for providing first aid to a faded item:

You need to start the cleaning process quickly, you should not wait until the product dries;
You should not try to even out the color using aggressive household chemicals if the T-shirt is made from delicate fabrics;
will not tolerate the effects of caustic synthetic substances, under their influence it will simply melt;
first you need to try to wash the product separately again, eliminating the factor that led to the staining;
If the fabric is white, you can immediately use bleach.

A dyed T-shirt should never be ironed. This will cause the color to be “sealed” and will not be able to be removed.

How to return the color to a white T-shirt, bleach it?

If repeated washing using regular powder fails to remove the foreign color from a white T-shirt, you can resort to using improvised means.

The most effective of them include:

Ammonia. 100 ml of ammonia is diluted in 3 liters of water.Soak the product in the prepared solution for 90 minutes, after which it is washed as usual.
Hydrogen peroxide. For 2 liters of water you will need 50 ml of the substance. Soak the T-shirt in the solution for 60 minutes.
Salt, citric acid and starch. These components are mixed in such a way that the result is a paste. It is applied locally to colored spots. The exposure time is 30 minutes. Then the T-shirt needs to be washed.

Boiling is one of the effective ways to rid white fabric of unwanted staining. Simply pour water into a suitable container (it must be perfectly clean), place a T-shirt in it and leave to cook for 2 hours. To enhance the effect, you can add soda to the solution (1 tsp per 1 liter of water).

In addition to folk remedies, you can resort to bleach. A dyed white T-shirt can be restored with the following compounds:

White. This is the most accessible, inexpensive (about 30 rubles per 1 liter), but aggressive household chemicals that contain chlorine.
To bleach a T-shirt, pour 4 liters of cool water into a basin and add a tablespoon of whiteness. The product is soaked for 15 minutes, after which it is thoroughly rinsed in clean water.
Liquid bleach Vanish Oxi Action Crystal White. This gel allows you to deal with even the most stubborn stains without harming the fabric. The product contains surfactants, enzymes and oxygen bleach.
To remove the paint, soak the T-shirt for 4 hours, distributing the gel evenly over the entire surface of the product. The T-shirt is then washed as usual. The cost of 0.45 liters of bleach is about 150 rubles.
Ace Oxi Magic White. This product can be purchased in both gel and powder form. Dissolve the product in warm water and soak the T-shirt overnight.In the morning it needs to be washed and dried.
If the coloring is not too intense, the soaking time can be reduced to 1-2 hours. The cost of 500 g of powder is 140 rubles, and the liquid product is about 100 rubles.

You can purchase the whitening composition either in a household chemical store or online.

How to restore color?

If a colored T-shirt is dyed during washing, you can deal with the problem using household chemicals and folk remedies. However, preference should be given to substances that do not have an aggressive effect on the tissue, as this may damage your own pigment.

Household chemicals that allow you to remove stains from colored fabrics:

Laundry soap. It is grated and dissolved in hot water. Soak a colored T-shirt in the resulting solution for 20-30 minutes. Then it is washed as usual.
If the stains are bright and there are a lot of them, then you can simply moisten the T-shirt with water and thoroughly soap it until a stable foam forms. Leave the item for an hour, then rub it by hand and rinse thoroughly.
Oxygen stain remover Brileo Oxi Color. It is used to remove stains from dark and colored T-shirts. It is effective even at low water temperatures. The item is soaked in it for 30-60 minutes, after which the item is washed as usual. The cost of the powder is 300 rubles.
Stain remover Vanish Oxi Action Gold. This gel does not contain a bleaching component, so it can be used to remove stains from colored items. The exposure time of the composition on the stains is 1 hour. The cost of 0.45 liters of gel is 130 rubles.

For washing colored T-shirts, do not use stain removers containing chlorine or other aggressive bleaching components. They can lead to pigment leaching.

You can cope with the problem using folk remedies. They do not wash out their own paint from the fabric, but substances such as:

Turpentine. It is diluted in warm water (2 tablespoons per 3 liters of water). Soak the item in this solution for 2 hours. Then it is washed as usual. To get rid of the smell of turpentine after such treatment, you need to hang the product in fresh air.
Vinegar. To remove foreign stains, it is added to a warm soap solution (100 g of vinegar per 6 liters of water). The T-shirt is soaked for 4 hours, after which it is washed as usual.
Glycerin and liquid soap. These components are taken in equal proportions. Apply the resulting mixture to the stained areas and leave them for 4 hours. Then the item is washed as usual.

If the stains were not removed the first time, the procedure can be repeated. Products for removing stains from white fabrics are not too aggressive, so it is possible to completely remove the dye only after 2-3 procedures.

Features for different types of fabric

When restoring the original color of a T-shirt, it is necessary to take into account the type of fabric from which it is sewn. Those products that are suitable for washing synthetics can lead to the destruction of natural fibers.

The main recommendations are presented in the table:

Fabric type	The best way to restore color	Prohibited Methods
Cotton and linen	You can use almost any substance, both chemical and folk. Boiling white items is allowed.	There are no prohibitions if the fabric is white, but when boiled, the product may shrink.
Atlas	You can use: glycerin, laundry soap, citric acid.	Do not use aggressive substances: vinegar, alcohol, turpentine, bleach.
Synthetics	It is possible to use vinegar, glycerin, turpentine, and chemical bleaches.	Do not use whiteness, do not boil the item.
Wool or silk	Only gentle washing (hand or machine on special programs) using liquid stain removers that do not contain aggressive components.	Do not wash at temperatures above 30 degrees. Folk remedies are used with caution.
T-shirt with photo printing or print	Delicate hand wash only using soap or liquid detergent.	Folk remedies and aggressive stain removers containing chlorine or acids are prohibited.

How to wash a product so that it does not fade?

So that after washing you do not have to clean the T-shirt from any paint that has got on it, and so that it itself does not become the culprit of damage to other products, the following recommendations must be adhered to:

Soak a colored T-shirt in a weak vinegar solution. For 10 water take 10 tbsp. l. vinegar with a concentration of 9%.
Use suitable detergents for washing items. Colored T-shirts are treated with powder with the inscription Color. White items are washed with products containing a bleaching agent.
Follow the manufacturer's recommended washing temperature. If you exceed the maximum possible values, the pigment from the fibers will be washed out.
Soak the item in saline solution. To prepare it you will need 1 liter of water and 1 tbsp. l. table salt without additives or flavorings. The T-shirt exposure time is 1 hour.

If there is an urgent need to wash white and colored items together, then napkins that trap dyes are placed in the drum of the washing machine. For example, Chameleon or Dr. Beckmann. Their price is about 150 rubles per pack of 20 pieces.

General recommendations for washing T-shirts can be found Here.

Important Tips

To prevent the T-shirt from being dyed, and in the process of restoring its original color, the situation does not worsen, the following recommendations must be adhered to:

sort things before washing, do not throw white and colored items into the drum, even if they are not subject to shedding;
Before you start washing, you need to read the recommendations that are indicated on the T-shirt label;
pay attention to the presence of small colored parts, because even a small bright insert can damage a white product;
You can improve the quality of washing, fix the color and give T-shirts a pleasant aroma using fabric softener;
when working with caustic substances (bleach, ammonia, hydrogen peroxide, turpentine, etc.), you must take care of your own safety - to do this, put gloves on your hands and cover your respiratory organs with a mask;
Whitening procedures should be carried out in a well-ventilated room.

You need to remember that new colored items should not be washed together with other items. During the first contact with water, even the most durable fabrics will fade.

Video on the topic

How to save a faded T-shirt, video recipe:

Conclusion

If your T-shirt turns a strange color during washing, there is no need to despair. It can be restored at no extra cost using available tools. When they do not help cope with the problem, they resort to using household chemicals.