Bleaching Ecru Cotton Top to Make It White?

Judy
Gold Post Medal for All Time! 677 Posts

January 23, 20180 found this helpful

You can do it with a diluted bleach and plenty of water and enough room for the garment to move freely. Here is a helpful article: www.modernmom.com/how-to-bleach-out-the-original-color...

poehere
Bronze Post Medal for All Time! 105 Posts

January 23, 20180 found this helpful

This would be possible if you have a very large tube to use to do this in. Your top will need to have plenty of room to move around and you'll need to water down the bleach. You can't use this full strength.

When doing this make sure you continue to move the garment around in the bleach water so you can have an even bleaching.

almostjane

January 25, 20180 found this helpful

Hydrogen peroxide is also a great mild bleach. I've brightened a lot of white items with it. I've never diluted it with water but you might want to try that with a first effort. I use regular "drugstore" HP - a 3% solution I think. Good luck.

cybergrannie
Gold Feedback Medal for All Time! 949 Feedbacks

January 27, 20180 found this helpful

It may be possible to bleach your top white but several things could make it not turn out completely white.

• All cotton is not "created" in the same manner and bleaching could weaken the threads or turn the garment yellow (or blue) in spots.
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• That is the reason everyone is stressing the use of a mild bleach solution and also the use of a large soaking vessel.
• Moving the garment around and squeezing the solution through the material almost continuously is an essential step for this method to be successful.
• Be sure to wear appropriate type gloves.
• Oxy-clean is used for brightening garments and is not meant to change or remove the color from material. That is why it was successful in whitening your yellowed gown (no color removed).
• There is a product called Oxy-bleach and that might be an alternative to using regular chlorine bleach.
• Rit makes a color remover and here is a Rit suggestion on using that product: Your best results would probably come from using one or two boxes of Rit Color Remover, washing that out, and then using Rit Whitener & Brightener.
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• Also, here is a suggestion from a professional site:
• After you are done dyeing, you need to stop the chemical process of the chlorine. Rinse the fabric with water. You can use professional-grade bleach stoppers, but the most common household solution is hydrogen peroxide. Soak your garment in two parts hydrogen peroxide to 10 parts water for at least 10 minutes.