We washed several white shirts the other day, along with a new turquoise skirt my wife has just bought. "Don't worry," she said, "I'll put a colour catcher in just in case the skirt runs." It turned out that the colour catcher this was a small rectangular piece of fabric that gets washed in the machine along with the clothes (you buy them in a pack commercially). Then when the cycle's over, any colour lost by your new turquoise skirt (or whatever) is "caught" by the small piece of cloth and doesn't stain the white shirts. Amazing, but it works. My question is, how?

I use those also. With as many "industrial" accidents as we have in my house with deadly color combinations, it is a must for our wash!!

I have also wondered how it works also.

I can't find the answer with cursory research, but when I have more time, I think I will look further into it.. unless someone else comes up with the answer first.

There are many compliments for Colour Catcher on the internet, but I can't find any scientific explanations on exactly what the sheet contains. All the manufacturers seem to want to say is:

"Each COLOUR CATCHER® sheet is treated with special ingredients which act like a magnet catching loose dyes and dirt during the washing process. This prevents discolouration of your laundry."

But they aren't letting on what the "special ingredients" are!

My guess is that the special ingredients are nothing more than the type of fabric used to attract the dyes. Rayon is a highly absorbant fabric that is composed from regenerated cellulose derived from wood pulp or other vegetable matter. Peat is partially carbonized vegetable matter that is used to absorb dyes in water. So I'm just thinking here...but sounds like it's possible these dye catchers contain rayon composed of peat Wonder what would happen if we contacted Shout and told them we knew what their secret ingredient was?