Tips for UR dark colors and fall clothing

I am making some really cute Christmas aprons for my ESTY.COM web-site, they are black in color.
As you know Black is a very funny color sometimes they fade quite quickly. So I set the color by simply, doing the following... Wait I need to back up a bit in time, and tell you what happened to my brand new dark pants.




I had just purchased some really cute jeans from Marshall's and Ross's. Since it is fall, going into Winter, they were black, dark green and dark grey in color. I was so stupid in just washing them on hand wash in my washing machine. I had put some other items in with them and I washed in cold water and even added some of those lovely color catchers that will keep colors from running on to my other cloths in the tub. Wellllll! I am such a dummby?.

I had a nice pair of shorts that turned green and a nice pink shirt that had black marks on it when they came through the wash. I get a big

DAH for that. I forgot about soaking them in a bucket of hot water with some added salt. It sets the color. Remember when you dye some things, you put salt some where in the recipe for the dye job. Check out the web-site for dying items. They are telling us to use salt and to wrap you item in plastic wrap and put it into the microwave? It is the heat & salt (I think) that sets the color.

I did 9 black aprons in salt and hot water. I washed them in hot water with a cold rinse, I tested them by putting in a dish cloth and some white socks. Everything came out just the same color they when into the washer. Wow.... what a concept, black will stay that color for a long time and not come out on the other items in the wash.

By the way I took my jeans and soaked them in the salt solution to preserve the color longer and not to have any more problems with their colors fading on my other laundry.

If you do have some jeans or dark jean type pants that are not the color you brought them in, such as fading,
you can do what my friend Juanita does is she dyes them again. She always has the freshest looking jeans.


I just wanted to share this thought with you, so you can save your colors also.