Colored goods require more careful treatment than do white goods. The conditions that most affect the stability of colors in fabrics are: long-continued action of water and soap; strong alkalis or acids; strong sunlight, which is a powerful bleaching agent and is used frequently for bleaching.

In washing colored clothing, the factors just enumerated should be kept in mind. Colored clothing should not be soaked for any length of time unless its color is known to be very stable. Any soap used in the washing process should be a mild soap in solution, or if the color of the goods to be washed is very delicate the soap solution should be replaced by soap-bark, bran, rice water, potato water, or cooked-starch water. The washing process should be conducted quickly, and in water not very hot. After washing, colored garments should be turned inside out and hung in a very shady or dark place, and should be taken in as soon as dry. Fading is more often due to careless drying than to any fault in washing. Washing powders and strong alkalis should never be used with colored clothing. If the water needs softening, borax should be used. If starch, bran, rice water, and the like, are substituted for soap, the mixture should be employed as if it were soapsuds.

In starching colored clothes, the starch should be rubbed in thoroughly, and any excess of it wiped off; no difficulty will then be experienced with white starch spots.

Sometimes a fabric shows a decided tendency to fade even under the best washing conditions. It is always well if there is any doubt about fading, to test a small piece of the cloth before washing it. If the color fades, an attempt should be made to set it. With most colors, the dyer uses chemical substances which cause a firmer union between the color and the cloth. Such substances are called mordants. The process of making a color fast may sometimes satisfactorily be used by the housekeeper to strengthen weak colors. The household mordants are vinegar, brine, and sugar of lead, used in the following proportions:

To 1 gallon water add:

1/2 cup mild vinegar; most effective for blues

2 cups salt; most effective for browns, blacks, and pinks

1 tablespoon sugar of lead (poison); most effective for lavenders.

Small pieces of cloth should be tested in each of the above solutions and a choice made after the test. The cloth of which the color is to be made fast should be left in the mordant solution overnight and may be left in for several days with good results. It should be thoroughly dried before being washed. Even with relatively strong colors, soaking a fabric overnight in a brine solution before washing it for the first time may render it far less susceptible to fading influences than it otherwise would be. The effect of brine, however, is said not to be lasting. Colored goods are often rinsed in a dilute salt solution just before being dried.