Does It Really Do That: Shout Color Catcher

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Saving time and money is important to eveyone, so we're bringing back our popular "Does It Really Do That" segment.

Our colleague, the late Yvonne Zanos, tested dozens of items in the past.

Now, Jennifer Antkowiak is putting products to the test. First up, is the Shout Color Catcher.

The product's promises sound interesting because it claims you can wash anything you want in the same load. It claims you don't have to wash colors and whites separately anymore.

Their commercial states that the Color Catcher absorbs the colors that run.

But, Does It Really Do That?

Chris Fulciniti is a busy wife, and mom of five, who knows her way around a washing machine. The new Shout Color Catcher sheets sound like a pretty cool concept to her.

"We don't have time! If you're busy, you don't have time to separate and also there's the economical factor of putting them all in. It's less loads, less water," Fulciniti said.

Antkowiak bought, and brought some things for Fulciniti to wash in order to test the product.

For the first wash, they did a baseline test. Would any of the color from a red wash cloth bleed onto white underwear? They threw all caution to the wind and didn't use any Color Catcher sheets.

As it washed, they saw that colors were bleeding and turned the water a deep shade of pink.

When it was time to pull them out, they found the red dye had bled onto the underwear, which left small, but noticeable pink spots that might be a little tough for a boy to put up with.

That is exactly what everyone wants to avoid, so they tried it again, with another batch of the same brand new items.

However, this time, they added the Shout Color Catcher sheets. The package said to use three Color Catcher sheets when washing dark colored garments that could run, and for items that haven't been washed before.

Also, Fulciniti has a front-loading washer. The directions say if you're using one of those, for best results, put the Color Catcher sheets into a mesh bag.

Using the same detergent, fabric softener and cycle, they performed the test.

Again, the water showed the color ran, but how did the Color Catcher sheets do?

There was color on every single sheet. More importantly, there was no color on the clothes and the colors seemed to be brighter.

So for them, the answer to the question is, yes! It does really do that!

At about $4.29 for a box of 24 Color Catcher sheets, does Fulciniti see herself using the product?

"I probably would use them occasionally if I had dark things, or something that I knew was going to run. Dark jeans or dark towels, red. I'd probably use them the first time I washed, just to protect my other laundry," Fulciniti said.

The other thing is that fabrics aren't made the same today. They don't run as much, so it's unlikely you'll have a laundry mishap where the whole load comes out pink.

Still, to prevent accidents with new items or avoid problems by combining whites and colors in one load, the Color Catchers seem to really do their job.

If you have an idea for a product we should test, Click here and let us know!