How to bleach clothes?

nikiyoung

Afternoon all
I'm ironing this afternoon and I have notice that the shirts (Kids and Hubbys cotton ones) are looking very grey and some have some "unknown" brown marks on them (in unusual places) had a quick look on the mega list but i can't find out how you bleach shirts. do you use house hold bleach or another type? what temp on the washing machine do you use? I have seen about nappysan is this what you use?
Help please
Thanks and regards
Niki

tawnyowls

Normal bleach should work, but you have to be careful with the dilution and make sure not to get concentrated bleach on the clothes. A specific laundry bleach such as Ace is safer, or a nappy bleach such as Nappisan. I generally soak first in bleach and then wash as normal.

nikiyoung

Thanks tawnyowls

whatatwit

I use bleach regularly on my whites.
I just use a regular washing temp 30 or 40 degrees and I use household bleach.
Wait until there is water in the machine and the clothes are all wet and swishing around on the wash cycle.
Slowly pour the bleach into the machine using the powder drawer and then rinse it though with some more water.
Soda crystals are good to mix with your soap powder to remove stains on an everyday basis, this is similar to what is in the 'specialist' oxy-action tubs you can buy.
If the collars & cuffs are really grubby, then give them a scrub with some diluted bleach before they go into the wash.

black-saturn

Make sure you don't use foaming household bleach. My boyfriend put it in his washing machine and it foamed all over the kitchen floor and then cut all the electrics out.

nikiyoung

Thanks to all.

black-saturn wrote:

Make sure you don't use foaming household bleach. My boyfriend put it in his washing machine and it foamed all over the kitchen floor and then cut all the electrics out.

Black-saturn
How do you know if its foaming the only bleach i buy is the own branded cheepy?


Thanks
Niki

black-saturn

Those scented bleaches you can buy in colourful bottles are usually foaming. If you just buy cheap straightforward bleach it isn't. He bought the nice scented one as he thought it would be nicer for the washing.

skim

Bleach (sodium hypochlorite) will rot cotton or wool if you don't neutralise it afterwards with a reducing agent such as Sodium Sulphite or Sodium Metabisulphite.

I'd tend not to do it unless yo know what your doing.

Lillibet_2

skim wrote:

Bleach (sodium hypochlorite) will rot cotton or wool if you don't neutralise it afterwards with a reducing agent such as Sodium Sulphite or Sodium Metabisulphite.

I'd tend not to do it unless yo know what your doing.

I've been wanting to bleach the clour out of a horrible coloured table cloth for ages but haven't done it because I'm worreid about rotting the fabric. I haven't heard of nutralising it? How does this work & can I buy the nutralising chemicals easily?

Thanks;)

skim

Lillibet wrote:

I've been wanting to bleach the clour out of a horrible coloured table cloth for ages but haven't done it because I'm worreid about rotting the fabric. I haven't heard of nutralising it? How does this work & can I buy the nutralising chemicals easily?

Thanks;)

It wouldn't be worth it as it depends on what fabric it is - e.g cotton, polyester or a mixture etc.

It also depends on type of dyestuffs were used.

To successfully strip fabrics you need the proper machinery & expertise & then it's not always possible.

Just not worth the hassle

henhog

Hi - I've got some stuff I want to bleach too. I presume that Ace stuff is easier but does it work as well as actual bleach? Grateful for any replies!