How to remove colour run from clothing

We teach you how to remove colour run from clothing; coloured clothing, white clothing, products... and much more!

Doing one load of washing for white clothing, another for coloured clothing, another for delicate clothing... Despite all these precautions, we often accidentally put a coloured item, for example, in the white clothing wash and....surprise!  You find your favourite white blouse has colour run. There aren’t many things that are more annoying than this are there?

In addition, mixing garments of different shades, even though it saves time, but can also cause problems with white clothing. Don’t worry though because, in most cases, there is a solution if you take the right measures.

Is it possible to remove colour run from clothing?

Colour runs are usually the result of carelessness, mixing washing ....or can also be because you've washed your clothes with a garment that runs without realising it. This can be because the clothing is new or because the colour isn’t properly attached to the fibres.

But there is a solution, both for white and coloured clothing. There are some tips that will leave clothes looking like new, otherwise, if you can’t get rid of the colour run, you can give it a new use.

Removing colour run from coloured clothing

Colour run removal products remove stains, but also alter the original colour of the clothing, even in the case of light colours and cream. For this reason, they are only recommended for removing accidental colour runs on white clothing.

We have various household tips to remove colour runs from printed clothing or coloured clothing:

• With cold milk: fill a bowl with milk from the fridge and soak the garment. Changing the milk every 3 hours is recommended, since the colour will run, and if you don’t change the milk, it may colour the garment again.
• With ammonia, water and detergent: prepare a solution of water, ammonia and detergent and soak the garment with the colour run stain for 15 minutes. Then rinse with cold water and machine wash as normal.
• With water and salt: the colder the water, the better, so you can use ice to help. Mix the water with a large handful of salt and leave the garment to soak for an hour. Then wash as normal. If the stain doesn’t disappear, repeat the process and add white vinegar to the mix.
• With boiling water and bay leaves: boil water with some bay leaves for 15 minutes. Strain it and, while still hot, soak the garment in it. Keep it soaking, completely covered in the water, for at least one hour so the mixture has time to activate. Then machine wash the item as you normally would. If it persists and you don’t know how to remove colour run from clothing fully, you can give your clothing a new lease of life by dying it.

Fixing colour run on white clothing

Removing accidental colour run on white clothing that doesn’t have any type of pattern or print is super easy! We give you some household tips to fix colour running and tips for whitening clothes that have turned grey:

• With diluted ammonia: fill a basin or bowl with this product and soak the garment for 20 minutes. Then wring the garment and, without washing, hang it out in the sun. Afterwards, when it is almost dry, rinse with cold water and voilà.
• With water and bleach (only for white clothing): mix 8 parts water with one of bleach and soak the garment for 15 minutes. Then wash as normal.
• With egg shells: prepare a large pan of boiling water and egg shells. When the water is boiling, remove from the heat and soak the clothing for 10 minutes. Then wash the item as you normally would.

You can also use products that are specifically for colour running, following the steps below:

• Fill a bowl with 4 litres of very hot water (approx. 60ºC) and add a sachet of colour run remover and stir until dissolved.
• Insert the clothing and leave it to soak for between 30 and 60 minutes.
• Use a wooden spoon to stir the mixture occasionally to help the product to keep moving, so it comes into contact with the garment and does its job.
• Finally, rinse the garment and wash with your usual detergent.
• If the ink stain hasn’t disappeared, you can dye the clothing: by hand, if it is a small item, or in the washing machine if it is a larger item.

Tips to prevent your clothing from colour running

• Apply salt or white vinegar to fix the colours:
• Salt: leave the garment to soak in cold water for 30 minutes with two litres of water and half a cup of salt.
• White vinegar: add two cups of vinegar to a bowl with water and soak the garment for 15 minutes.
• Check the temperature of the water, in line with the clothing labels.
• Separate the clothing: coloured, white, light and dark.
• Wash jeans inside out.
• Use sheets that you can buy in shops to prevent colours from running.