How to Bleach Colored Clothes to White

Transforming your wardrobe doesn't always mean buying new clothes. Sometimes, it's about reinventing what you already have. With bleaching agents, you can turn your vibrant pink shirt to a pristine, white tee and leave it as it is, or use the new plain canvas to create new art.

Simple enough, right? Well, yes and no: bleaching is a simple solution to remove color from clothes but as with any chemical reaction, there are often some by-products, and adverse reactions when performed poorly.

Also, not all fabrics respond to bleaching in the same way—some embrace the transformation while others resist it or even get damaged. If you want to know how to avoid this and add bleaching to your arsenal of DIY master methods of transformation, read on.

In oxidation, the bleaching agent removes electrons from dye molecules . This breakdown is aggressive and strips away color. Due to the aggressive nature of oxidation, oxidative bleaches can damage the surrounding fabric if not used appropriately. Common oxidative bleaches that are used to bleach colored clothes to white include sodium hypochlorite (household bleach), oxygen bleaches (like Oxiclean), and hydrogen peroxide.

Meanwhile, reduction bleaches fabrics by adding electrons to dye molecules. This action removes color but more gently than in oxidation. These bleaches are less likely to damage surrounding fabric but they are not as strong nor as effective as oxidative bleaches. Examples of these bleaches include sodium dithionite, and sodium hydrosulfite which is an active ingredient of Rit Color Remover. You can easily find it in craft stores. 

However, color removes are not considered bleaches despite using reduction to break down dyes.

Oxidative bleaches are the most effective at bleaching colored clothes to white at home, but they run the risk of damaging clothes. The first time I bleached a white shirt as a teen, I vividly remember it turning to a horrifying yet subtle yellow. It did not take long for holes to start forming, even though I retired it to a lounge-wear garment. That is the terrifying power of oxidative bleaches.

On the other hand, reductive bleaches are milder but they cannot remove some dyes, such as synthetic ones.

A possible approach would be to combine the two methods. Start with a reducing bleach, then follow up with an oxidizing bleach if some colors remain. However, this makes the process excessively long in my opinion. Instead, a more effective approach that I have come to prefer is using an oxidizing bleach, but mitigating the factors that would damage the material.

How do I achieve this? You can make oxidizing bleaches safe to use for bleaching colored clothes at home in the following ways:

Therefore, despite being quite reactive, sodium hypochlorite, or household bleach, is the best bleach to use at home when bleaching colored clothes to white.

Here is a simple table summarizing oxidizing and reducing bleaches. Let’s look at the pros and cons of each method:

Whether or not you can bleach your colored clothes to white depends on the following factors:

Dyes are used to achieve different effects, and thus each has unique characteristics. So, here is a breakdown of how different, common dyes will react to bleach:

Now, even if the dye is easy to remove, the dyeing method may complicate the process. From easiest to bleach to hardest to bleach:

Do you get a natural impulse to avoid bleaching fabrics like spandex? Well, your gut feeling is right. Bleaches do not gel well with many synthetic fibers as most are highly reactive to the bleach or are simply too impermeable to give the bleach a chance to work.

Note that some synthetic materials like polyester, nylon, and rayon will respond well to bleaching, but can still be a little unpredictable especially if they have had other treatments or incorporate other blends.

I always find that bleaching, even just for whitening and brightening, has phenomenally better results on my cotton and linens. However, not all natural fabrics are great with bleach. Avoid using bleach on cashmere, leather, silk, and wool.

A surprising discovery I made was that I could barely ever find the ‘natural color’ of 100% fabrics after bleaching: most, especially the darker or heavily pigmented ones, usually had a base color that was seemingly immune to bleach.

So, if you find that the piece you’re trying to dye is only fading to a lighter version of the original hue, you may not succeed in bleaching it to white. This brings us to a common mistake: trying to bleach black clothes to white.

You will notice that black clothes often end up with yellow or orange patches when exposed to bleach. This effect is created by the fact that black clothes are often made with multiple layers of other colors, or bleach-resistant colors. If you have a black shirt but want a white one, you may have to alter your expectations as it is very often impossible! But that does not mean you cannot use the bleach to create other items.

Instead of creating a white shirt from a black one, try using bleach and a black shirt to create some fun tie-and-dye creations! To do this, you will need to use the reverse tie-dye method, which involves using any tie-dye pattern-making method and bleach instead of dye. 

To bleach a colored shirt using chlorine bleach, you need the following materials:

For the bleach, simply fill your spray bottle with undiluted bleach. Then for the 3% hydrogen peroxide solution, measure equal amounts of hydrogen peroxide and water and mix them in a bucket—stir to make sure it’s well mixed. 

To prepare your shirt, place a cardboard inside it to prevent bleaching through the shirt.

Lay your shirt flat and start spraying the bleach—start with a small area. As you watch the color change you can spray again to expand the bleaching area. 

Then let the bleach stay on for about 5 minutes or less if the shirt has already bleached the way you want it to.

In your hydrogen peroxide solution, rinse your shirt for about 1 minute to completely remove the bleach. You can also use a vinegar solution in the ratio of water 4:1 vinegar. However, for the vinegar, you will rinse out the bleach with water and then soak the garment in the solution for 10 minutes. 

Then wash it in the washing machine like you normally do and your bleached shirt is ready.

If you have had mishaps with bleach like myself, intentional or not, you may have already noticed that some colors do not get washed away when you bleach fabrics.

Although risky, applying the bleaching solution directly to the persistent spot or repeating the dying process afresh may help. The only challenge is that you will have to monitor closely to ensure that the fabric is not getting damaged. I usually apply the dye for 60, then 30 seconds on the second and third try respectively.

If even that does not work, you can try seeking professional dye-stripping services. They will use stronger treatments or give you their opinion on whether the stubborn dye can be removed at all or what to do if it cannot and the other colors have successfully come off.

Bleaching colored clothes to white is not difficult; anyone can do it with the right understanding of fabrics, bleaches, and dyes.

If you are having a hard time figuring out the dyes or fabric that was used, worry not! Simply start with a patch test. And remember to protect your precious, craft-loving hands with gloves when handling bleach and work in a well-ventilated area! With that, you are good to go!