Are You Washing Your Black Jeans All Wrong? - Good Housekeeping

Black jeans are an autumn staple that never seem to go out of style. But with frequent washing, preventing them from fading and keeping them looking their best can be a challenge.

There are a couple of tried and true tricks that can help you keep this versatile clothing item looking smart for longer. Just follow our handy guide to find out how to clean black jeans...

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1. Get them ready

Turn them inside out before washing, zip up the fly and fasten buttons. Washing your jeans inside out will help to prevent fading, keeping them black for longer. Make sure to take out anything from the pockets, especially tissues as these can cause a huge mess!

2. Prepare them for a colour wash

Make sure to use washing detergent that is specifically designed for coloured laundry. Other detergents will contain optical brighteners which, while effective at keeping white clothes white, will cause colours to fade.

3. Use the right detergent

Use liquid detergent. If your jeans come out of the wash with white marks, it’s possible that these are tiny bits of undissolved detergent.

Powders are more likely to leave a white residue than liquid detergents, especially if you’re running a cool wash, so just switching to liquid may solve the problem. We recommend this non-bio liquid detergent from Ecover which scored high marks in our tests for colour retention and stain removal.

4. Check your dosages

Make sure you’ve got the dosage of detergent right for the type of water in your area and the size of the load as adding too much can do more harm than good.

Check the dosage instructions on the pack – it will recommend you use extra for hard water and larger loads but the amount itself varies between detergents. To check if you live in a hard water area, use the Aqua Cure postcode search tool.

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5. Dry them properly

We're all watching our energy consumption at the moment, and tumble drying is a big electricity drainer that can also cause your clothes to fade faster. If the weather is good and you're not in a rush, air drying is the way to go. On the line, make sure the jeans stay inside out so they’re less likely to fade in strong sunlight. Placing the washing line away from direct sunlight will also help with this.

If you need to dry indoors, invest in a clothes airer. Shake the jeans out before they are bone dry and fold them up so that you don't have to iron them.

Best eco-friendlier laundry detergent

Ecover Bio Laundry Liquid (Pack of 2)

£23 at Amazon

smol Laundry Capsules

£5 at smolproducts.com

Method Concentrated Laundry Detergent, Peony Blush

£39 at Amazon