Dyeing with Bleach

By

Windgate

Bleach and a hammock? A weakening liquid. A little may not hurt, but to much and ouch, you just fell through your weaken hammock. Ker bang!

By

DorothyNYC

Bleach is probably the best thing to use but I feel like it doesn't make things really white - kind of yellow. I would follow up with a wash of baking soda which makes everything very white.

Interesting. I never thought about painting it; I should have posted a question about it instead of thinking that white would be the color forevermore. Thanks!

By

qtpuh2tme

Oh! I hope you don't mind if I give some input on your post, heaven4441.

I'm an artist and I "paint canvas" all the time. :) You should certainly be able to do the same with your white hammock.

At the art store of your choice you can buy whatever color of acrylic paint you'd like (prices vary depending upon the quality & quantity of pigment in the color); I suggest using a single pigment color. Mix it with water and some "slo-dry medium" (to extend it & slow the drying time, as acrylic dries very fast) Mix it to a watery-thin consistency, and with a large house-painting type brush, paint away.

The medium you mixed in will keep the paint colorfast and act as a weather protectant once it dries. You may have to do more than one very thin coating in order to obtain the depth of color you desire, while still keeping the canvas pliable.

I do believe this will work rather nicely, but if you're not sure about trying it on the hammock, you could buy a piece of heavy canvas @ the fabric store to practice on first.

By

qtpuh2tme

My suggestion is that if you do decide to use the bleach, you resign yourself to bleaching out the fabric a light layer of color at a time. Bleach in full strength quantity is very caustic to even the heaviest of cotton fabrics, weakening and breaking them down, likely even causing holes in the fabric.

Also, be aware, that even some fabrics labeled "100% Cotton" can yellow with bleaching, and any fabric containing nylon or a similar blend will definitely yellow.

I've got a feeling that no matter how much bleach that you use, that not all of the color will come out. And if you bleach the heck out of it, the chlorine in the bleach will weaken the fibers of the hammock. Also, can you remove the wooden frame to do this? It's sort of ironic that you should want to remove the color, because I have a white hammock that I would like to put some color in. That's why I was wondering about the wood at the top and bottom being removeable; mine is not, so my hammock will stay white. Interesting. Any other suggestions? Good luck.