We have seen our grandmothers and mothers use bleach for laundry. Bleaching clothes to remove stains to make the clothes bright is something everybody has tried once at least.
If you have a gray piece of clothing and you wish to use bleach on it, you might want to be careful.
Can you bleach gray clothes?
Bleaching gray clothe is possible, as well as safe, and the process can be done with diluted bleach solution. The immediate effect of bleaching gray clothes includes lightening of the color along with either stain removal. Gray clothes usually turn pinkish when bleached.
Well, walk through this section to know the consequences of bleaching fabrics of different shades of gray –
Dark Gray:
Dark Gray fabric does not fair as well when bleached compared to lighter shades of the same color. When it comes to bleach, white clothing is favored most since they become visibly whiter.
However, if you are thinking of bleaching darker hues like a deep shade of gray, you might expect to see a change in shade. In the obvious scenario, dark gray would not turn darker, but you can expect to see the shade become lighter with every wash.
If you notice closely, you might be able to notice a pink shade as well. Some people say that very dark gray, just like black fabric, gives off a hint of orange when bleached.
While you can still bleach dark gray clothes, you might need to be careful about not using highly concentrated bleach to treat the fabrics. If the bleach is not diluted well before use, the change in color and damage could be much worse.
Light Gray:
If you have a light gray t-shirt which you wish to lighten the color even further, you can do so why bleach it. Hence it is possible to bleach gray clothes white using a few good techniques.
When light gray-colored clothes are bleached, you might not notice the subtle lightening of the color, although stronger bleach can leave a shade of pink in the clothes.
A safe option to go with when bleaching light gray clothes is mixing one parts bleach with 5 parts water. This dilutes the strong bleach enough as not to damage the texture or color of the fabric.
What happens if you breach gray clothes?
As you may already be aware of the uses of bleach on laundry, when you use bleach on gray clothes, it immediately removes a stain along with lightening the color of the clothing.
Intricately, bleach will work to turn the soil into soluble particles that are colorless. This process is achieved by an oxidization reaction that occurs between the clothing particles and beach particles.
In doing so, not only will the gray cloth look cleaner but it would also look much brighter. Bleach on gray clothes can also get rid of the bacteria buildup considerably.
Bleaching gray clothes can have several effects on the clothes, each depending on a few factors. The concentration of bleach is one factor that could either damage the gray clothes or lighten them effectively.
Moreover, what kind of fabric you are bleaching also has a role to play. The dye color, for instance, determines what shade would be left on the gray clothes afterward.
What color does bleach turn grey clothes? Does bleach turn GRAY clothes yellow?
Light gray clothes will turn pinkish when bleached. Although there is a misconception that gray clothes may turn yellow upon bleaching, it is usually noticed that even dark gray clothes lighten to a pink shade.
However, if the shade of gray is dark enough, almost close to black, you might expect to see an orangish tint when the clothing is bleached.
The change in light gray clothes on bleaching is almost difficult to notice. Every time, you can expect the color to be bleached out a little further. How much you wish to lighten the gray fabric would also depend on the type and concentration of bleach.
Since bleach tends to oxidize dyed or pigmented textures, the more color an article of gray clothing has, the more visible the color change would be.
Using concentrated bleach would make the color change even more visible with every wash.
How to bleach gray clothes?
Bleaching your clothes is casual practice whether you wish to remove the stains or lighten the color of the gray shirt.
You would need to keep a few factors in mind before starting the process. If you overbleach a piece of clothing without proper precautions, you run the risk of damaging the gray clothe permanently.
Before anything else, safety always comes first. Hence before bleaching your gray cloth, always make sure to wear your gloves and goggles.
Here is a general process on how to bleach gray clothes:
Check the clothing:
The first and most important step is to check whether the clothing you want to bleach is suitable for the process. For that, you need to dilute bleach in the ratio of 1:5 and make a solution.
Here soaks the gray cloth for about 4 to 5 minutes and at regular intervals, check for the color change. This step is particularly important to ensure that the clothing is bleach suitable and from this, you can also find out how much lighter you want the bleached cloth to be.
Using a spray bottle:
If you wish to dye the clothing, you can easily do so by using a spray bottle. Place objects, cardboard, and designs of your desired dye before you spray on the spot.
Once done it is time to stop the process of oxidization.
Rinse the cloth:
You then need to rinse the cloth thoroughly with water. To stop the clothe from bleaching further, you may also use bleach neutralizers which can be bought from stores.
A solution of hydrogen peroxide and water also works as a good neutralizer. In this, you need to soak the fabric for about ten minutes.
Why is my gray shirt not bleaching?
If you have tried to bleach your gray shirt in the correct method or by following the one, we have mentioned, you might already have succeeded.
However, we might have to warn you that there are times when no matter how correctly you follow the rules of bleaching a fabric, it still does not show any visible change.
Now for that, there may be several reasons. The following are a few possibilities.
Your cloth is already too light:
It goes without saying that the lighter the color on the clothing, the less visible would be the lightning effect.
If you have a gray cloth that already has a significantly light shade, bleaching the cloth might not show noticeable results. At most, you can still be sure that your cloth will be left stain-free and much bright if the bleaching is done right.
Using cold bleach:
The correct bleach, as well as the temperature, must be used when the process is done.
If you are using cold bleach or are present in very cold temperatures, the bleaching might not be effective, nor too visible. Room temperature allows the oxidation process to be carried out much easier.
You have the wrong fabric:
Not all fabric is made the same way and with the same material. You may want to remember that certain fabrics are more resistant to bleaching and the procedure has negligible effects on the fabric.
If you have a gray cloth that is cotton, linen, or rayon, you may expect to see the most color change. In polyester, the color change would come after a few trials.
How do you make GRAY fabric white?
If you wish to make gray fabric white, you would need to bleach it. However, bleaching it once would not be enough. Hence, you may need to repeat the process several times.
How deep the color of the gray fabric is and how concentrated your bleach is will determine how many washes could whiten the gray fabric.
If you wish to turn a gray cloth white, you need to first make sure that the area where you plan to bleach the cloth is well ventilated and at room temperature.
Through a bleach test by soaking the fabric in a diluted bleach and water solution, you would be able to find out how many times your cloth needs to be dipped in bleach water before it completely turns white.
We might warn you that bleaching it several times could turn the gray color into pink instead of complete and clear white.
Final Thoughts
You can bleach gray, more specifically light gray clothes along with white clothes as well. Bleaching gray clothes will clean and brighten the fabric, overbleaching it could damage the fabric. If the clothing is light gray, you might notice pink shades after the bleaching.