# Is there an anti-bleach? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 1, 2001, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-anti-bleach/79308 "2001-09-01T17:35:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2001, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-anti-bleach/79308/1 "2001-09-01T17:35:52Z")
Many a beloved black shirt or pair of black jeans have I witnessed fade to a dull charcoal gray after repeated washings. This eventually happens in spite of my taking preventative measures such as using a water softener, consistently washing and drying my black clothes separately, and using liquid detergent instead of the white powder stuff. Is there anything I can do to reverse the fading process? I know there is bleach to make whites whiter; is there an anti-bleach to make blacks blacker? Can I safely soak my clothes in black dye? Can I pour a cup of ink into the washing machine? If so, where do I find a relatively inexpensive black ink or dye that works on cotton, denim, and synthetic fabrics, and won’t wash out right away? ---
**Author:** ![Sultan\_Kinkari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7bcc69/32.png) [@Sultan\_Kinkari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sultan_Kinkari)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2001, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-anti-bleach/79308/2 "2001-09-01T17:50:03Z")
[Rit Brand dye](http://brands.bestfoods.com/rit/b.asp) can be found in most supermarkets. I have specifically seen the color black at Safeway. ---
**Author:** ![Sue\_Duhnym](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@Sue\_Duhnym](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sue_Duhnym)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2001, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-anti-bleach/79308/3 "2001-09-01T17:50:35Z")
[http://brands.bestfoods.com/rit/default.asp](http://brands.bestfoods.com/rit/default.asp) That is Rit’s (the dye you can buy anywhere) homepage. Also, make sure you wash and dry your dark clothes insideout…that’ll help with the fading along the seams and edges. ---
**Author:** ![Sue\_Duhnym](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@Sue\_Duhnym](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sue_Duhnym)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2001, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-anti-bleach/79308/4 "2001-09-01T17:51:42Z")
Dammit wishbone! GAH! ---
**Author:** ![Sultan\_Kinkari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7bcc69/32.png) [@Sultan\_Kinkari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sultan_Kinkari)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2001, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-anti-bleach/79308/5 "2001-09-01T17:56:15Z")
😃 **Psychonaut** , there is a special section about dying faded black jeans in their [FAQ section.](http://brands.bestfoods.com/rit/craft_faq.asp) ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2001, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-anti-bleach/79308/6 "2001-09-01T18:08:35Z")
Wow, this Rit dye sounds great… I don’t recall ever seeing it in any supermarket or pharmacy here in Toronto, though. Fortunately, their FAQ says you can order direct from them. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2001, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-anti-bleach/79308/7 "2001-09-01T18:40:17Z")
This is about the only time I’ve found that marketing hype translates into laundry room reality: If you love black or deep-colored clothes, it really can make sense to use different detergents for whites’n’lights and brights’n’darks. The optical whiteners that prevent greying and make the light colors look “clean” are hell on the dyes of colored fabrics. Also, as **Sue Duhnym** said, wash the dark colored clothing inside out. And if you hang it to dry, then _definitely_ hang it inside out, and out of the sun if at all possible. Sunlight is a terrific bleaching agent! ---
**Author:** ![Tattva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@Tattva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tattva)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2001, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-anti-bleach/79308/8 "2001-09-01T18:41:50Z")
Wash your black cotton clothing in cold water, no matter what the label says. Black is going to fade, but in cold water and on gentle cycle it won’t fade as fast. Oh yeah, and inside out too. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2001, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-anti-bleach/79308/9 "2001-09-01T18:54:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by psychonaut \* > [The] anti-bleach to make blacks blacker . . . This sounds like it might have been the tag line of a fake commercial from Eddie Murphey’s SNL days . . . ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2001, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-anti-bleach/79308/10 "2001-09-01T19:59:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Doghouse Reilly \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by psychonaut \* > > [The] anti-bleach to make blacks blacker . . . > > This sounds like it might have been the tag line of a fake commercial from Eddie Murphey’s SNL days . . . \*\* Reminds me of an old promotional poster for Joe “King” Carasco. It showed a fake laundry detergent ad, with a huge bottle of tabasco sauce being poured into a washing machine. The tag line was “Redder Reds. Redder Whites too!” ---
**Author:** ![robinh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@robinh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robinh)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2001, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-anti-bleach/79308/11 "2001-09-02T01:37:37Z")
Personally, I wouldn’t bother with Rit dyes. They aren’t very good. And black is a particularly difficult color. Some suggestions…when I am finished with a tie-dye or batik project, I always use a dye fixative in the final rinse. I helps keep colors from fading. You might want to try using a fixative on new clothing. When I dye, I use cold water dyes, like Procion. They are much stronger. That would be my choice for over-dyeing a faded piece of clothing. I get my materials from [Dharma Trading](http://www.dharmatrading.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2001, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-anti-bleach/79308/12 "2001-09-02T12:55:49Z")
Life’s a bleach and then you dye. Sorry, it had to be said.