Don’t wash black shirts with red clothing as red dye can bleed onto the black fabric and give it a crimson sheen.

If the shirts have any buttons or zippers, button and zip them up to keep the shirt inside out and prevent any snagging.

It’s rarely necessary to wash any clothing with warm or hot water. It just wears them out faster and even can set stains in permanently rather than getting them out.

If your black shirts are covered in mud or something like that, it’s OK to pick a longer cycle meant for more heavily-soiled clothing. However, for regular washing always use the shortest cycle you can.

For example, if the packaging says to use 1 cap full of the liquid detergent for light loads and you are only washing a few black shirts, use 1 cap full. These types of detergents help preserve dark colors longer and can even make them appear darker and richer. Don’t ever exceed the amount of detergent recommended by the manufacturer. Too much detergent can leave streaks and soapy residue on your black shirts.

You can do this for clothing of all colors to keep the colors from bleeding.

Either of these will lubricate the fabric fibers during washing so they don’t wear out as fast and start looking faded.

For example, certain black shirts might recommend that you only wash them by hand or to avoid practices like tumble drying and ironing.

You can try airing out your black shirts after each wear between washes by hanging them up in the laundry room or somewhere else in your home where they get some airflow to get rid of any odors that the shirts pick up.

If there is anything stuck to the shirt, you can gently scrape it off using the edge of a round spoon, then blot it with a clean cloth and plain water or cleaning solution.

If you absolutely must dry your black shirts in the machine, do so only with other black items and use a low-heat, short cycle time setting to avoid breaking down the fabric and wearing it out by overdrying. Consider having a lint roller on hand to remove any fuzzies stuck to the shirts after drying them.

If you have an open-air laundry room, hang or lay your black shirts in a different room somewhere inside to dry so they aren’t exposed to the sun.