Laundry tip (for men)

Guys, did you ever end up with pink Jockeys because you tossed your red gym shorts in with the wash?  It has happened to me several times.  (Hey, I thought the color should have stopped running after a couple of washes, okay?)

Well, here's a solution.  The other day at the Soggy Doggy Splash Day I bought a bright orange "Friends of The Dog Park" T-Shirt, and the fellow who sold it to me gave me this tip.

There's a Shout product called Color Catcher which comes as a box of paper sheets.  You toss one of those sheets in with the laundry, and somehow it absorbs the dye that gets loose from those bright colored items.  It works!

Check out the photo.  The white one is a Color Catcher sheet straight out of the box unused.  The dark one is the one that was washed with the laundry with the orange T-Shirt.  And the Jockeys came out white!  (No photos of the Jockeys.)

Friends of the Dog Park, my dog thanks you. I thank you.  And my Jokeys thank you.

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Upated 8/23/05; 2:45 pm - A comment by Redman caused me to try another test run.  The machine settings for the test were "Ex Small" and "Warm/Cold."  And the load consisted of a Color Catcher sheet, a white T-shirt, two pair of white never worn, never washed socks, and a pair of notoriously red gym shorts.  The red shorts have never failed to bleed onto other clothes -- sometimes I think they have hemophilia -- except when I used the Color Catcher.

You can see all of these items in the accompanying photo.  The Color Catcher is that reddish square.  And the socks on the left went through the wash.  The socks in the wrapper on the right are new, never worn and never washed and were laid there for comparison.

So it worked for me.  But, I'm not making any guarantees that it will work for you.  And it's probably worth mentioning that the box has a disclaimer, as follows:

"Effectiveness cannot be  guaranteed if there are large amounts of dye bleed from non-colorfast garments.  Use reasonable care when washing whites with colors and when washing new garments for the first time."

Good luck.

Comments

[GruntDoc]

My brother (the Aggie) washed a shop towel with his whites. Unfortunately, he told me about it, and I'll never let him forget it.

[Eric]

George, I have an easier answer: never buy anything colored orange.

That's another Aggie tip. ;-)

[Geo]

Be true to your school colors, fellows.

[Redman]

Let me get this straight. If I have a red T shirt and a green T shirt and a white T shirt (all new) I can wash them together and the dye from the colored shirts won't bleed onto the white one, IF I toss in one of these sheets?

[Georgina]

I would like to know if anyone has any tips for preventing a non-colorfast garment from running on to other items during wear?

I purchased a shoulder bag when I was on holiday in Japan. The bag is 100% cotton, but the colour rubs off on to any t-shirt I am wearing with it.

I am distraught because I love the bag, and I'm unable to contact the manufacturer due to language constraints. Can anyone help??