Name: Joe
Message: I recently bought a wool rug (Shag rug) that is black and white. Soon after, I regretted not buying an all White rug instead. How do I go about bleaching the rug without damaging it?

I'm afraid that this is not at all likely to work. It is possible to bleach wool using hydrogen peroxide or sodium hydrosulfite (never chlorine bleach!), but this is usually used to lighten wool from off-white to white, not from black to white. Furthermore, there are many dyes which simply cannot be bleached with any substance.

PRO Chemical & Dye gives directions for Bleaching Wool using Hydrogen Peroxide, but I think that your problem is probably far beyond what it can accomplish. It would also be quite difficult to find a way to heat the rug in the bleaching bath, as required by the recipe.

You are more likely to be able to alter your rug by dyeing the white portion to another color, as described in "Dyeing and Painting Carpet using WashFast Acid Dyes". The black will remain black.



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