I Ruined My Husband’s White Clothes — Learn from My Mistake with This Pro Fix

When my husband and I first moved in together, he brought with him a selection of brand-new white button-down shirts with fun patterns. I brought with me a maroon sweatshirt I got at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. In our first load of laundry at the new place, I threw all of it in the wash together, thinking that cold water would stop the colors from running. 

You can probably guess what happened. All his pristine white shirts were now a fun pastel-ish shade of maroon. Oops. I tried everything I could think of to get that color out of his clothes, and nothing worked. To save you the same trouble, I spoke to cleaning expert Scott Schrader of CottageCare to find out how to get dye out of clothes.

Getting colors from a dye transfer out of clothing can be a frustrating experience, especially when it doesn’t work. Schrader suggests gathering these items to help boost the process.

• Cold water for rinsing
• Oxygen-based bleach (Schrader prefers OxiClean White Revive) or dye remover (Schrader likes Dr. Beckmann Colour Run Remover)
• Warm to hot water for soaking
• Heavy-duty laundry detergent (Schrader suggests Persil ProClean)

At the first sight of dye transfer staining, grab the clothes and immediately work to get the stain out. Don’t put the items in the dryer — it will set the stain permanently. Follow Schrader’s method for removing dye from clothes:

1. Rinse the stained fabric with cold water to remove as many loose dye particles as you can.
2. Make a soak with an oxygen-based color-safe bleach (one cup of bleach in a gallon of water) or a dye remover (one sachet of remover in 1.5 gallons of water). The water should be the hottest the care label will allow. 
3. Soak the clothes for six to eight hours, or overnight for heavier stains.
4. Wash the item by itself in a cycle with heavy-duty detergent on the hottest temperature setting the fabric allows. 
5. If the stain is still there after washing, repeat the soaking and washing process (steps 2-4).

Schrader also shared a few pieces of advice for what not to do in this situation. 

1. Don’t scrub the dye, because the stain can spread deeper. 
2. Don’t dry the clothing until the stain is completely gone. 
3. Do make liberal use of color catcher sheets (aka dye trapper sheets) if, like me, you insist on mixing all colors and whites together in a single load.