Colour fastness

Color fastness is a term—used in the dyeing of textile materials—that characterizes a material's color's resistance to fading or running. The term is usually used in the context of clothes. The first known use of the word colorfast was in 1916. In general, clothing should be tested for colorfastness before using bleach or other cleaning products.

Light fastness, wash fastness, and rub fastness are the main forms of color fastness that are standardized. The light fastness of textile dye is categorized from one to eight and the wash fastness from one to five, with a higher the number indicating better fastness.