So, my wife washed my shirt (white) with her red soccer socks. It's now pink. Do you think I could bleach it white again? Is it safe to bleach? I really don't want to hike in a pink shirt.

"So, my wife washed my shirt (white) with her red soccer socks. It's now pink. Do you think I could bleach it white again? Is it safe to bleach? I really don't want to hike in a pink shirt."

If you don't want to hike in a pink shirt then why does it matter if it's safe? I have bleached my synthetics. While its probably not the best constantly, a single washing is unlikely to hurt it.

I'm asking because I'd rather have it pink than ruin it. I'll give it one wash and see how it does.

Edited by catalyst81 on 08/05/2012 12:48:30 MDT.

I thought about the same for my Eco-Mesh but I read on the website and the shirt I believe that I was not supposed to bleach it.

I saw the same warning about bleaching it. I was hoping there would be someone here who has done it so I could find out if I could get away with it once or twice to fix the color.

Maybe spot-treat a small area w/ peroxide & water mixture???? I haven't tried it - so don't yell at me me if it eats a hole in it!!!! :)

I haven't tried it but Rit Color Remover is supposed to be safe for all fabrics.

Well I tried one wash soaking it in bleach and didn't see a noticeable difference. I may have to get some of that rit color remover and try it.

If that fails maybe you try to dye it to a darker color to your liking.

If you're not going to wear a pink shirt, then it won't hurt to give the bleach another go. Use full strength, and let it soak for 15-20 minutes. If it works, then rinse really well and you've got your shirt back. Don't soak overnight (or any ridiculously long amount of time) because full-strength bleach will destroy fabrics ultimately. Guess how I know? :)

Make sure you are using full strength bleach, not the low strength scented crap. It should have a hypo level of 5.25%

Every attempt I've made to bleach clothing made of white colored nylon material has resulted in yellowing. A general purpose cleaner called WHITE LIGHTENING works pretty well at removing stains from white and other light colors, but it will fade darker colors if allowed to soaked too long before washing.

Well, the first time I used bleach with a hypo level of 6.15%. I used 1/2 a cup and let it soak in the washer for 15 minutes in the hot water before running the wash cycle and there was no affect...I guess I could try it again, but I'm not sure its going to help.

Edited by catalyst81 on 08/05/2012 21:58:23 MDT.

Bleach has a pretty short effective shelf life ... about 6-12 months. If yours is older, it may have been too weak to do the job.

It is an older bottle (12 mos?)...I'll pick up a new one and see if that helps at all. If not looks like I'll need to give rit or white lightning a shot.

Edited by catalyst81 on 08/05/2012 22:06:45 MDT.

Next time use Color Catchers which are sheets of special paper that catches the dye in the wash to keep it from your other clothes. You can find it in the laundry section in any grocery store. Another product called Retayne works well too. There are products on the market to remove color from fabric as well. YOu could try using several sheets of Color Catchers in the wash again to see if the color will come out of your shirt. I use these sheets when I wash new fabric for quilting and it works great.

Oxyclean has worked for me. Mix some in a bucket and soak the shirt for 24-48hrs. Good as new.

I have left a white shirt that had been turned lightly blue in the wash out in the sun for like 2 days and it was completely white after that

Edited by DustinTSnyder on 08/06/2012 08:54:51 MDT.

Color remover did the trick. Thanks for all the suggestions.