I have a bunch of clothes (trousers, shirts etc) that were once black but are now a brownish/greyish colour. I bought myself some stuff that will re-colour it back to black (supposedly) in my washing machine (front loader). The instructions however are as clear as mud:
Introduce the contents of the two bags of of WASH & COLOR directly into the washing machine drum. Add the fixing agent tray open. (What does this mean?)
Add 500 gr. of salt into the washing machine drum. ( Am I supposed to add extra salt? Just plain kitchen salt?)
Add your wet garments into the washing machine drum. (OK)
Set a long washing without prewash at 40 (degree celcius) - OK.
Once the program is finished, take the fixing agent tray out and re-set with washing powder a 40 (degree celcius) long program without prewash. (Huh?)
Dry blah blah blah and clean blah blah blan (OK!)
I have two sachets of powder stuff, and a plastic container of fixing stuff.
What exactly am I supposed to do?
I get that I add the two sachets of colouring powder directly into the drum with my wet garments.
What I don’t get is “Add the fixing agent tray open” - what does that mean?
Do any of you have any experience with this procedure, and if you do, would you mind explaining it to this flabbergasted middle aged idiot? A step by step guide would be much appreciated, because at this moment I really don’t know what to do.
Thanks!
Where’d you buy this stuff? Where is it made? (Sometimes things made in Asia, for example, come with instructions in English that were clearly not written by someone who understands a word of English. Just ran their native language through an online translator, printed the results verbatim, and off they went.)
Sorry, I’m no help with your query, as I’ve never used the stuff you’re using. But - for down the road and your next new black clothes - I do know that washing black clothes in cool or warm water, instead of hot, helps a lot.
Also, Woolite makes a line of detergent especially for darks/blacks that’s (supposedly) gentler on black dye and keeps darks dark for longer, according to the marketing and the label on the bottle in my cabinet. (No, I’m not at all susceptible to marketing. Why do you ask? )
I can’t help you with your problem concerning dyes but washing black clothing inside out whenever possible will help maintain their “blackness” much better.
I can’t help with the meaning of the instructions, but I can provide this very important tip I learned through experience:
Once you are done with the dying, and you’ve removed the clothes from the washer, run it empty through a cycle to clean it out. Adding some bleach to the water is probably a good idea.
It’s the same brand we use at home, but I’ve always done it by hand. Their email is info at tintesiberia.com
I’m not sure about the tray part and their webpage doesn’t have the detailed instructions for the products; I think you need to perforate the lid of the fixing agent and put it in the drum as well, then take it out for the second cycle but I’m not sure.
The salt is, indeed, kitchen salt. Another common fixing agent is vinegar (not balsamic).
Actually, sorry for timing out again, since it’s Saturday I can go down to the drugstore and check out a packet. The original language of the instructions is Spanish. The translation was most likely done by the receptionist (who took three years of ESL in school, you see), or from Spanish to English and then from English to whatever by… who knows. Perhaps the receptionist again.
The woolite black works, partly because it doesn’t have whitening agents, partly because since you have to separate your blacks there is no transfer of “hairs” from your whites. But it does, indeed, work.
OK, rewritten based on an older package we had at home (they’ve improved the dyes to work at lower temperatures and without pre-dissolving but the process is the same otherwise):
Each packet of powder corresponds to half a load of the washing machine. If you have enough clothes for a whole load, split it.
Place inside the washer the wet clothes and the powder, along with 500 gr of kitchen salt. This is called a “mordiente” in Spanish, it’s a catalyst for the dyeing process. Another common one is table vinegar (not balsamic); always make sure that you use the right one for the fabric and dye you’re using (i.e., the one the packaging says).
Place the fixing agent into the little tray or drawer where the soap normally goes.
Set a long washing without prewash at 40ºC.
When the program has finished:
a. take out the clothes,
b. close the washing machine again and pour water into the soap drawer to carry away any remaining fixing agent.
c. Run the same program as before with a bit of bleach and the washer empty, to clean it.
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