Learning how to bleach clothes will elevate your laundry game to a whole new level. Bleaching can help brighten a piece of fabric, remove stains, and act as a sock disinfectant.
What is the Best Way to Bleach Clothes?
Bleach is a strong chemical product, that’s why doing it incorrectly may cause the fabric to be destroyed. Aside from following the correct procedure, you must also be aware of the appropriate bleaching agents to use.
Here are the steps you must take to learn how to bleach white clothes:
Sort out the clothes
As with laundering, sort your clothes, making sure to include only plain white garments. If you use color-safe bleach, you can wash white clothes with colored stripes, patterns, and designs.
When sorting your clothes, check the care instruction label or tag to see if the item can be bleached. Most cotton, linen, and rayon fabrics can be bleached, but acetate, wool, wool, spandex, silk, mohair, leather, and non-colorfast clothing should never be bleached.
Secure your safety
Not only should you prepare the clothes to be washed, but you should also ensure that the washroom has adequate ventilation. Bleaching products, particularly chlorine bleaching products, may irritate the eyes and nose. Similarly, because it can be irritating to the skin, you must wear gloves and an apron.
Treat on the spot
If you have stains on your white clothes, you must spot treat them with the same bleach solution that you will use in the bleaching step.
Determine the type of stain. Bleach cannot remove all types of stains, particularly those that are oil-based, such as grease. It will only make matters worse, so having them dry cleaned is preferable.
Get the clothes and bleach solution ready
A clean, thick, absorbent white rag or piece of cloth should be placed on top of a clean, flat surface. Place the clothing on top of the rag, stain facing down. Next, dilute bleach in a small bowl with one part bleach and thirty parts water. Swirl it with a spoon or your gloved hand.
Dampen a piece of cotton or a small white cloth with the bleaching solution you made. Dab it on the stain and gently rub it in from the outside in. Repeat with a clean piece of cotton or cloth until all of the stains are removed.
You can bleach your clothes in the washing machine or by hand, depending on what the care label says.
How to Hand Bleach Clothes?
Bleaching your white clothes by hand will take a little longer and require more effort, but it is sometimes the safest method because you have complete control.
Here are the steps for bleaching clothes by hand:
1. Soak dirty garments
Because dirt affects how well the fabric absorbs bleach, the dirty areas will not be as well bleached as the “not-so-dirty” areas. As a result, you must soak your dirty clothes in a basin or tub of detergent for approximately three minutes. Give the soiled areas a gentle scrub. Remove any excess water by rinsing.
2. Get the bleach solution ready
In another basin or tub, add a gallon (3.8 liters) of cold, warm, or hot water, depending on the needs of your clothing. You can also use your sink, but make sure it’s bleach-safe. After that, measure half a cup of bleach (120 millimeters) and pour and mix it into the water.
3. Dip Your Clothes in Water
Wearing your rubber gloves, gently immerse your clothes in the bleach solution. Give them a little swirl, one piece at a time, and soak for at least 15 minutes.
4. Rinse the clothes
Remove the clothes from the bleach solution, gently squeeze them, and place them in the receptacle with clean water. Hold each piece of clothing on each end, raise it, lower it, and raise it again. Repeat until the bleach solution (and detergent) have been completely removed.
What Safe Tricks Should be Followed while Bleaching Clothes?
There are safe tricks and bleaching methods that can help you get rid of those stains and dull appearances without causing damage to your clothes.
It’s simple to bleach white clothes, but there are a few things you should know first. Bleach is an excellent way to lighten or remove the color from fabric when cold-water dyeing or tie-dyeing certain materials. But keep in mind that chlorine bleach is a very strong chemical that must be used with caution, even in small amounts.
Over-bleaching will severely weaken any fabric. When using bleach, consider lightening dark clothing rather than completely whitening it. Because many dyes become part of the fabric molecules, it may be impossible to completely remove all colors from certain items of clothing.
Related questions
Why don’t some shirts bleach?
Mostly it is the artificial fibers that are more colorfast and usually resistant to bleaching. In artificial fibers that are used in polyester, rayon, modal, and other fabrics, color is added to the fiber compound before the fiber is extruded.
What effect does bleach have on black color?
After bleaching, a black piece of clothing will sometimes turn nearly white, while other times it will turn into a streaky orange or even remain black. The amount of dye you will be able to remove depends on the fabric type and the type of dye used on the black fabric.
Why is diluted bleach more effective than undiluted bleach?
Because bleach irritates mucous membranes, the skin, and the airway, decomposes when exposed to heat or light, and readily reacts with other chemicals, it should be used with caution. Diluted household bleach is therefore recommended for facility disinfection. Bleach is a very strong chemical and has serious harmful effects if used undiluted.
Conclusion
Bleaching clothes should be done carefully as the right amount and right way will surely give you the best cleaning and whitening experience. As a precaution always make sure to dilute bleach to avoid irritation to the eyes, nose, and respiratory tract.