Name: Troy

Message: I am purchasing some faux suede curtains that are 100% polyester.  They are beige in color and I'm wondering if they can be bleached to white? We are waiting to hear from you before we purchase them. Thanks for your time and consideration. 

I do not believe that you should purchase these curtains. It is impossible to predict whether or not it will be possible to discharge the dye in them, even if you use the correct dye removal chemical so that you do not damage the fiber. If you owned the curtains already and were planning to throw them away if you could not color them, it would be worth trying, but the fact is that you cannot know whether or not this will work until after you have tried it, and you cannot, of course, return the curtains once you have tried unsuccessfully to remove their dye. So, these curtains are not a good idea as a new investment.

If you do try to bleach out the dye from polyester, never use household chlorine bleach! The hypochlorite it contains will permanently damage polyester, producing an ugly yellowish color that is impossible to remove. There are other chemicals that are much safer for polyester. The easiest one to find is Rit Color Remover, which can, with care, be used to remove many dyes, if you use very hot water. Some dyes will not respond to Rit Color Remover (nor to chlorine bleach), so success is not assured, but at least there is no inescapably disastrous chemical interaction with polyester. See "What chemicals can be used to remove dye?".

A better answer would probably be to buy white polyester faux suede yardage and use it to make new curtains. It is relatively easy to sew curtains, much easier than any other sewing project. To easily make neat pleats at the top, use pleating tape. Polyester imitation suede has the special property of not fraying at the edges if you cut it with scissors, so hemming might not even be necessary. If you would rather have the curtains professionally made, you should be able to find a local firm that will be happy to do the work for you.

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