Hi, Jane. Glad you’re enjoying the homemade products. I have never personally tried to restore faded black clothes. Some quick research on the web revealed some ideas, such as adding vinegar to the rinse cycle, adding some salt to the wash cycle, or adding coffee to the rinse cycle. Hmmm. Aside from the coffee, the basic idea is that the vinegar or salt will remove any residue that is clouding the dark colors. If actual fading has occurred, the only solution I could find is to dye the fabric using the dye you can purchase in the laundry aisle.

Hi, Sarah. I would think that any brand of dishwashing soap would work. I personally like the way Dawn suds up when I wash dishes (might have something to do with hard/soft water), but my mother-in-law swears by Palmolvive! 🙂 If that’s what works best in your house, give it a shot! I think the idea is to get a bit of degreasing, sudsing power in the wipe. I will say that I have recently cut back to just a few squirts of dishwashing liquid instead of the 2 Tbs. mentioned here, because I use it on all kinds of surfaces, and it was sudsing up too much. That’s the beauty of a homemade recipe…you can make adjustments to suit your cleaning needs and preferences. Good luck! 🙂