Are your clothes heavily soiled? Is that why you use such hot water on them? Otherwise, 85°F to 105°F water is sufficient for most loads (as you later discovered); and cold water (which is considered 65°-75°F) for very bright colors or those dark colors that may not be colorfast. Although a huge money saver over using the dryer, I found hanging laundry outside was my main contributor to fading. Now I primarily hang clothes to dry in the basement and avoid the bleaching from the sun. Clothes last so much longer when I hang them indoors instead of hanging outside or using the dryer. I agree with westvillager, over-drying clothing in a hot dryer will also fade them, along with the temperature of the wash water. All unstable dye is prone to fading - PERIOD, and not just from water temperature, type of detergent, but also from friction (with or without water). Even white cotton fabric can revert to the natural (less white) color of cotton, instead of the brilliant white it may have been new, after many trips through the washer and dryer. I have read where over-loading your washer can cause fading due to excessive friction. I also wonder if using so little water in washers today might also contribute to fading because the friction on clothes that have so little water to circulate in? Do you turn your dark clothes inside out? That is supposed to help as well. -Grainlady

I'm going to repeat my post from two years ago, because nothing has changed, and my solution is still working. If you find spots only on the front of your solid-color t-shirts after washing them, this will take care of them. It's a pain, but pre-treating them faithfully with Stain Stick--I now have to order it from Amazon, as WalMart and Kroger stores have quit carrying it--but it relieves the frustration of finding spots on freshly washed clothes. Spots only occur on the fronts of our t-shirts, never the backs or sides, so I think it has to do with getting grease on the front either from cooking or eating. Have you ever seen the spot a tiny crumb of potato or corn chip leaves on a brown paper sack overnight? My solution: pre-treat all visible spots with Stain Stick. Works most of the time, and seems to always work the second time around if there is a spot or two after the first wash. It's a pain, but compared to the trouble of making my own detergent, I'll continue doing it. I tried using spray pre-treatments, but once you spray you can't tell what spots are from the spray and which need to be treated. I have a top-loader and use Costco Free and Clear, but have tried Tide and other detergents, as well. Makes no difference. I use a dryer and fabric softener sheets. I tried no sheets and different brands--no difference. I typically pour the detergent down into the bottom of the tub so it goes into the area below the tub with the holes it, but don't wait to put clothes in until the bottom is covered with water, so it's possible some of the unmixed detergent is getting on the clothes. But as I started off with, if the spots were being caused by the detergent, they wouldn't be just on the fronts of the shirts.

I read this today on the Vaska website and thought it was interesting. As an fyi - Julia Fry who founded Vasaka worked in the fashion industry for years (for companies like Nicole Miller) so she knows fabrics. My kids have some of those shirts too (darn the Gap) - the hottest temp I use for their colored clothes is warm (since my machine has no heater I'm sure that's not very warm). I've not noticed a problem with greying, however, I do use oxygen bleach products which are color safe on many loads. Textile Care From working with fabrics over the years, we've learned a lot about textiles and how to keep them looking and feeling good. Here are some simple, "green" tips to help you take the best possible care of your clothing and linens. Use cold water wash programs as often as possible. Hot water isn't good for colors or fine fabrics - it won't make them cleaner. For colors and fine fabrics, pre-treat stains with Vaska Spotoff and use Vaska Herbatergent to wash in cold water. Hang clothing and linens to dry. Avoid using the clothes dryer whenever possible - the largest carbon footprint from doing your laundry comes from washing and rinsing in hot water and using the clothes dryer. Avoid non-natural fabric softeners and dryer sheets. Most commercial softeners and dryer sheets use chemicals like dihydrogenated tallow dimethyl ammonium chloride, which harm fabrics by coating them or penetrating their fibers. Here is a link that might be useful: Vaska Home - textile care

Hey ya'll! ....i'm having this same exact greasy looking issue too! Happens in my sister's "washer" & it's happening "in the washer"! i don't use LFS, only sheets. i have also rewashed these "only dark spotted clothes" again (no dry yet), but still there, can not get it out! i've also noticed, only a cpl times, actual black grease-like stuff (on any color clothes) but luckily that has come out easily with some "Goo•Gone"! So, WTH?! I'm thinking, it's gotta be something coming from inside the washer's machanics, but what??? and how to figure that out without paying a high price for service?!? Any ideas out there? Any washing machine service men/women have any ideas? 😊 Thanks so much!