The Problem That Started It All
So look, I’m lazy as I am. Seriously. Washing clothes? Absolute chore. Especially figuring out what goes with what. Colors bleeding, whites going grey, you know the drill. Worst part? My favorite black t-shirts and jeans always looked faded and gross way too fast. Felt like wasting money every few months. Saw some stuff online about “sex black”, basically meaning like… keeping your dark stuff super dark and rich looking. Sounded perfect for my lazy self.
My Terrible First Tries (Don’t Do This!)
At first, I just chucked all my dark stuff together hoping for the best. Big mistake. Had a dark red sweater in there that turned everything slightly pink. Ugh. Then I tried buying some fancy “color protector” stuff. Used way too much, messed up the whole load, ended up with weird soapy residue everywhere. Wanted to cry. Also tried that “wash in cold water” trick alone. Yeah, helped a little bit, but things still faded faster than I liked. Not the magic fix I needed. Felt dumb.
Finding the Lazy Person Hack
Okay, after royally messing up a few loads, I finally got real desperate and dug deeper. Read a bunch. Talked to a friend who’s kinda into clothes. Turns out, there’s a simple trick lazy people like me can actually do: wash ONLY the black/dark stuff together, nothing else. Sounds stupidly obvious, right? But it wasn’t just that. Needed the shortcut part.
Here’s the super basic, lazy-person-approved combo:
- Sort Ruthlessly (But Easily): Got a specific laundry bin just for blacks/dark blues/charcoal greys. Dump only those things in there. Anything with even a hint of another color? GOES IN THE “OTHER” BIN. No thinking. Done.
- Super Cold Water: Doesn’t matter what the tag says (mostly), crank that washer dial to the coldest setting. Every time.
- Less is More With Detergent: Half the detergent I used to think I needed. Seriously. Overload = residue = faded, sad clothes.
- Turn Stuff Inside Out: Takes two seconds per piece. Helps a ton with keeping the outside looking fresh.
- Skip the Dryer When Possible: Okay, I’m lazy. Sometimes it goes in the dryer on low heat. BUT air drying flat or hanging them up? That’s the real winner. When I can be bothered, I do it. Makes the biggest difference keeping the color deep.
How It Actually Worked Out
Tried this super simple method. Grabbed only the pitch-black jeans, charcoal sweats, navy shirts. Cold water. Tiny bit of detergent. Turned them all inside out. Let them air dry over a couple of racks. Kinda annoyed I had to wait, but whatever.
Results? Legit impressed. Pulled all those ugly things out after the cold wash, already looked better than before. Way less faded looking. After they dried? Honestly, my oldest black tee looked almost new again. The colors were noticeably deeper and richer. Felt like I got new clothes without spending a dime. Stuff lasted longer before looking worn out. The best part? Barely any effort. Sorting became automatic (one bin!), washing became mindless (cold water, half soap), drying took a little longer sometimes but was passive.
The mistakes I made at the start were because I overcomplicated it. Bleeding colors? Because I mixed stuff. Fading? Hot water and too much soap. This whole “sex black” thing for beginners? For lazy people? It’s not some magic ritual. It’s just being really freaking strict about washing your dark things only with other dark things, cold water, minimal soap, and going easy on the heat. That’s the cheat code. Works shockingly well and barely takes more effort than ruining your clothes.
