It isn’t always possible to wash each of your coloured garments separately, however there is a practical, ecological and economic way to avoid being left with rainbow-coloured clothes. When we buy an outfit, a tablecloth or a colourful t-shirt, we would like it to remain as good as new – with bright, loud colours. Fluorescent colours have dominated the Summer fashion trends, Autumn is a blend of burned, natural and amaranth colours and Winter will bring back into vogue the timelessness of ruby red. These are beautiful colours, especially brand new, which may however fade with time – or worse – turn into a multi-coloured mess in the first wrong wash.

To keep your clothes looking bright and colourful and to avoid washing mistakes, we advise you to always wash them with a special detergent that allows you to load a single wash with different coloured clothes. In fact, it is not always possible to wait to fill the laundry basket with clothes of the same colour, so you end up getting fed up and washing only two shirts in a half-empty machine, resulting in a useless waste of energy. Don’t forget that a “half load” does not actually halve the electricity, water and detergent used – three elements that are definitely not healthy for the planet’s ecosystem, or for your pocket.

Luckily, detergents have already been invented, such as Lindo, which are effective at 30°C and which act by means of a combination of surfactants (that act on greasy stains) and enzymes that “eat” away food stains (proteins). In addition to these valuable features, Lindo also contains an “anti-transfer” molecule that slows the release of colour and prevents it from being re-deposited on lighter coloured garments. Unlike colour catcher sheets, this detergent does not absorb colour that is dispersed in the water, but prevents it from being released from the fabric in the first place.

However, you should always wash new, very colourful clothes separately, as you don’t yet know how they will react when they come into contact with water. In this case, it is better to wash them separately for the first time, even if you use a detergent that is suitable for colours. If the garment has been badly dyed, there is no miraculous detergent that will prevent it from releasing its colour!

Another common mistake is to think that detergents for whites are “neutral” and therefore should more or less work for everything. In truth, these detergents contain optical brighteners, which are very useful for whitening a white load, but which may also deposit a coating on coloured fabrics, making them fade in the long run. A detergent for coloured fabrics, such as Lindo, does not contain any optical brighteners, therefore it does not leave any unnecessary or unsightly chemical deposits on the fibres of your clothes. Therefore, using a detergent specifically formulated for coloured clothes really saves you time, energy and money.

Silk garments are a different matter! Silk is a fibre of animal origin, therefore, regardless of colour, it should be washed with a specially designed detergent that hydrates and protects the fabric and contains no enzymes which, along with the dirt, would also “eat” the silk. A word of advice: Nuncas’ Silk & Delicates has been developed especially for use on precious silk garments and keeps them looking beautiful over time.