I mistakenly got a little bleach sprinkled on a few spots

I mistakenly got a little bleach sprinkled on a few spots—can I fix them with a fabric dye?

Name: Cheryl

—ADVERTISEMENTS—

Country or region: Maryland, USA

Message: I have a pair of brown corduroy pants made with 98% cotton/2% elastane fabric. I mistakenly got a little bleach sprinkled on a few spots and wondered if/how I could fix them with a fabric dye. There is not any damage to the fabric except for the discoloration. I would greatly appreciate your help since I can't seem to find an answer anywhere for this. Thank you very much!

Here's an FAQ page answering your question:

"How can I fix the bleach spots on my favorite clothing?"

First, neutralize any remaining bleach by washing the garment (which you've probably done already) and then soak it in Anti-Chlor or ordinary 3% hydrogen peroxide, then wash again. (see "How can I neutralize the damaging effects of chlorine bleach?".)

Second, find the closest color match you can among the fabric markers at your local hobby/crafts/sewing store. If you don't have a local store, check out the wide variety of fabric markers for sale online, such as through Dharma Trading Company. If you use a permanent marker that is not a fabric marker, instead, such as a Sharpie marker, keep the marker on hand to reapply after a few launderings fade the ink.

After using the marker, if the results are not good enough, you can dye your corduroy pants with Procion MX cool water fiber reactive dye, which you will have to order online. Do not use any hot water dye, such as Rit all-purpose dye, on clothing that contains elastane; elastane (also known as spandex or Lycra) is very sensitive to high heat.

Dyeing is almost never enough to cover a bleach spot, because the rest of the fabric gets darker at the same time as the bleached spot. Dyeing and using a fabric marker is a better solution.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

Posted: Friday - April 06, 2012 at 10:29 AM

Follow this blog on twitter here.
Tweet

getBlogName(); > getCategoryName("<$EntryCategoryFolder$>"); >

I mistakenly got a little bleach sprinkled on a few spots—can I fix them with a fabric dye?

> >