Stripping colour from fabric

boo81

Hi

Wondered if someone on here might know whether I can strip colour without using harsh chemicals. I bought some muslin clothes for my baby which are not colourfast as they were going cheap, and I want to strip the colour so that they fade to white and I don't have to worry about dying the other washing.

Was thinking of soaking them and obviously it needs to be something gentle - was thinking maybe vinegar would work?

Any ideas peeps?

valk_scot

Bleach? That's the only thing that will get them all the way to white, assuming they're pure cotton. If you're lucky the thread will also be cotton and will bleach too, otherwise you'll end up with contrast stitching.

irenee

Vinegar is used to SET colours, not strip it out

Soaking in biological powder may help a bit - but I would suggest trying oxygen bleaching - not such harsh chemicals and defintiely more ecologically-friendly

Hanging to dry in bright sunlight might help too - the sun was used to help keep linens as white as possible in 'the old days'

bitemebankers

Try washing them in Dylon Pre-Dye. This is a bleach-free colour stripper which is designed to be used before dyeing fabric another colour. It's pretty gentle on fabric compared to bleach and will remove any non-fast dye.

boo81

Ah, thank you biteme - I might even have some of that!

With them not being colourfast the colour should come out without much effort ( here's hoping!)

Irenee - oops, assumed vinegar being acidic might help lol