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Prevent Color Bleeding On Laundry Day With This Simple Vinegar Hack
By JACQUELINE DELIBES
When doing the laundry, you want to protect your fabrics' colors as much as clean them. Thankfully, color bleeding can be prevented by adding vinegar to your washing machine.
The acetic acid in vinegar acts to prevent colors from bleeding. As long as you don't use it in every wash, it's the perfect preventive strategy that's also delightfully non-toxic.
Begin by ensuring white fabrics are together and colors are matched by hues. Dark black and dark blue denim will wash well with dark purple towels, for instance.
Distilled white vinegar is the best option for this hack. If your washing machine has a separate fabric softener dispenser, add ½ cup of diluted vinegar.
Alternatively, you can use ¼ cup each of vinegar and water. If your machine doesn't have a separate fabric softener dispenser, temporarily stop it before the rinse cycle starts.
Then, simply add your ½ cup of diluted vinegar to the machine, restart it, and let the cycle complete. Keep in mind that elastic workout clothes can be worn down by vinegar.
Lastly, never combine vinegar and bleach; always use one or the other. For the best results, turn your clothes inside out and wash colors in cold water.