How to Sun Fade Clothes Easily (Helpful Guide and Tips)
The sun is your friend. It helps vegetables and fruit grow, it helps animals develop so their meat can safely be eaten. Plus, it can make you feel good after a long week of rain or cloudy weather. But the sun can do other things for you if you use the sun in the right way.
The best and cheapest way is to simply leave your clothes out in the sun or let them dry behind a glass window that receives the most sunlight. When you wash your clothes in hot water add a cup of bleach to help the sun fade your clothing.
To learn more tips and tricks on sun fading clothes, just continue to read our article. It has the information you want to know about. Soon your clothes will be fading fast in the sun and you can feel like you accomplished something.
Tip 1: Wash your clothes in hot water first, then hang dry them in the sun and you can leave the fabric out n the sun for several days depending on the amount of fade you want.
Tip 2: repeated washing of clothing weakens them so you only want to wash once then hang the clothing up to dry. Also, do not wash wool or synthetic materials in hot water as that water temperature will ruin them.
Sun Fading Clothes 101
Does The Sun Fade Clothes?
Yes, the sun can fade clothes and it is very good at its job. It also does a good job on outdoor furniture when you do not have a fade-resistant coating applied to the material. That is one item that stops the sun from fading many clothing items.
If they are treated with a UV resistant protective coating, then your clothes may not fade in the sun no matter how many times you wash them. There are 3 basic options to having the sun fade your clothing. First, just leave them in the sun as you do with your outdoor furniture.
Two, wash them in hot water and then let the sun dry them. And three, add a cup of bleach to the hot water to help the sun fade your clothing. The only drawback to all three methods is you cannot control the amount of the fade.
This is a trial and error procedure that should be monitored frequently. Too much fade may spoil the look you want.
Tip 3: The sun can fade your indoor furniture as well. Just make sure plenty of light hits your furniture and if you want an even faded look, you will have to move that furniture often and give it the same exposure time
How Long Does it Take To Sun Fade Clothes?
For curtains, it may take only one season to have them lose their color. You may end up dyeing those curtains many times to help them retain their color. But for hanging clothes in the sun it is a different story
2 or 3 hours every week in the sun probably won’t show a lot of results. Instead, you may have to hang the clothes outside for many hours of the day and for many days at a time. The sun does fade the clothing but it is not a quick method.
In this world of demanding instant results, clothes fading in the sun won’t meet that demand. You will have to be patient and take several days to get the look you want on your clothing.
Again, this is a trial and error method because the sun’s strength changes from region to region, and the time it takes in a hot region may be faster than it will take in a cooler region of the country.
Tip 4: Before you start fading your clothes n the sun, make sure they are not coated with a UV protective spray. Many clothes are treated chemically to resist fading among other fabric ailments.
Does Drying Clothes in The Sun Fade Them?
Eventually, drying clothes in the sun will fade them. It is not like they will fade in the first hour of being placed in the sun. It will take time to get that faded look you want and if you like to hang drying your clothes, this is good news. The fading process will take more than a couple of hours to fade your clothes.
Now you can speed up that [process by washing those clothes you want a lighter color in hot water. The only problem with this method is that hot water is not friendly to all fabrics.
Or you can add bleach but the same reason applies. Bleach is not a universal friendly ingredient to fabrics. It does harm many clothing items you own if they should not be bleached.
We keep saying that fading your clothe sin the sun is a trial and error method because of the long time frame needed and that you can’t control the amount of fade when using those aids to speed the process up. Every result will be different.
Tip 5: You can’t control the amount of fade your clothes will get. It will depend on the amount of dye in the fabric and the type of material your clothing is made from. All results vary even with the same person doing the fading.
Does The Sun Fade Black Clothes?
Yes, it will as the black dye is like any other dye and does not have any specific or special protection from the sun if not treated by the manufacturer. It seems that black clothing is also vulnerable to dryer heat so if you do not want your black clothing items to fade, hang dry them in a shady spot.
Also, if you do want to fade your black clothing, wait till the summer. The days are longer and the sun is stronger so you should be able to get a good fade in a shorter amount of time.
This will all depend on you and if you want your black clothing to fade. Keep in mind to check the clothes regularly to make sure they do not fade too much.
Tip 6: Late Spring, all Summer, and early autumn are the best times to do your fading. The sun is at its strongest during those times and you have more hours to do the fading.
Does White Fabric Fade in The Sun?
The fabric itself may not fade but the sun seems to be a good source to get those whites whiter. Some people have used the sun to rid their white diapers and clothing of a multitude of stains.
The white color stays white even after hours in the sun. The one drawback is that the sun does not fade all stains. Food, paint, and dirt were some of the stains that held their own against the sun’s power.
Grass, natural baby processes, and blood were not as good at fighting the sun’s rays as the aforementioned trio. Again, everyone’s results are going to be different and the amount of success you get depends a lot on the stains, how deep they are, and the fabric you are using.
Does Sunbrella Fabric Fade in The Sun?
For those that do not want their Sunbrella fabrics to fade, there is some good news. This company designs its clothing to be fade resistant even in extreme temperatures. It better be fade resistant given the prices that are charged for their products.
It seems that this company uses the upgraded and most up to date technology to create their clothing items and that technology includes keeping their clothing from fading. Plus, they use acrylic material and not polyester to create different products.
The cost may be high but the company puts a lot of effort into having their clothing last you along time. A bonus is their clothing is nice and soft to the touch adding more worth to their clothing and justifying their cost.
Fabrics That Don't Fade in The Sun
This will depend on the type of fabric as while cotton does fade easily in the sun, some kinds of cotton resist fading for a long time. The same goes for synthetic fabrics as acetate materials will fade quickly while polyester won’t.
Then those materials that are treated with a UV protective coating will not fade in the sun. That coating can be applied to many different fabrics whether natural or synthetic.
It is hard to make a list of fabrics that do not fade in the sun because basically they all will eventually. NASA has tried to make some of those fade resistance fabrics but they too fall prey to those UV rays. The best you can hope for is to buy those fabrics that take years to fade
How To Get Rid of Sun Fade on Clothes
Sun fade is a removing of color from your clothing and if it happens in spots, your clothing may not look so good. Unfortunately, you cannot simply erase those stains unless you bleach the whole garment white.
You can redye the material the same or darker color and that will remove the sun faded spots very effectively. Or you just go out and buy new clothes which the sun fading will provide you with an excuse to do just that.
The reality is that the sun removes color from your clothing. It does not just move it to a new spot on your dress or pants, etc. Once the color is gone you can use spot cleaner to remove the fade. It has to be dyed or thrown away.
It is the reality of trying to fade your clothing in the sun. Even this simple and free method of fading your clothing has its risk, especially when the fading is not even.
Prevent Sun Fading on Fabric
The first step in preventing fading will be to keep your clothe sin the sun for only as long as they get dry. Any longer and you run the risk of losing color. Next, buy those fabrics that are treated not to fade or have a longer resistance to UV rays.
Red clothes fade the fastest thus you should avoid wearing red or hanging it up in the sun to dry. Black is the next fastest fading color. Just avoid drying in the sun and wash them according to their color.
Then, only wash your clothing when they are actually dirty. Multiple washing and detergents can fade your clothing just like the sun can. Also, watch the ph levels of your water, you always want it to be around 7.
Not to be forgotten, limit your use of bleach and shorten your drying time. High heat will fade your clothing so line dry in the shade whenever possible.
How To Sun Fade Clothes or Fabric
The first step is to check the cleaning or other labels to see if the fabric has been coated with a fade-resistant chemical. If it has, you have to remove that chemical first if you want your clothes to fade.
Or you can use a very hot iron as high heat tends to make most fabrics fade somewhat. That makes using your dryer another good tool for when you want to fade your garments.
But for the sun, make sure you pick the hottest days of the year to get those bright colors a little duller. The longer the exposure and the higher the temperature, the better your clothes will fade.
Some Final Words
Sun fading is either good or bad. It all depends on your perspective and if you want your clothes to fade or not. The only drawback, which may also be a blessing in disguise, is that it takes a long time to fade your clothes using this method. You can’t control this method either.
