I just splashed my pants with bleach - is the stain permanent?

[NewJeffCT]

I believe it is. I was swabbing the toilet with the special toilet cleaner with bleach. Unfortunately, i was also chatting on the phone and not paying attention and ending up splashing my knee with bleach.

I immediately got water from the sink and rubbed it on my knee where I had splashed myself, but I now have dark grey pants with some small orange spots on them. :-(

I've done this a few times in the past - is there something I can do the next time I splash bleach on an article of clothing?

I assume the stain is permanent? Am I wrong?

[IndianaJones]

1. its not a stain...its the lack thereof. nt.

[Shakespeare]

2. It's permanent, because it's not a stain--it's taken the color out of the fabric.

You're pretty much screwn. :-(

[NewJeffCT]

7. damn, it's like only the 3rd time I wore those pants

they were nice dress pants for work, too.

[grace0418]

3. It's not so much a stain as it is color removal. And as far as I know it's permanent.

Sorry. :(

[grace0418]

6. We all replied at once.

But I guess you got your answer.

[NewJeffCT]

8. However - if this happens again

is there a way to stop the damage after the splash, or is this something where I should never wear good clothes when working with bleach?

[skygazer]

10. Never wear good clothes while working with bleach

The effect is immediate and irreversable as far as I know. :shrug:

[grace0418]

11. I think the answer is to never wear good clothes when working with bleach.

It's pretty immediate, and it's hard to know where you got it until it's already too late.

[NewJeffCT]

13. I usually do, I just forget sometimes

I had to run home at lunch time today and was thinking if there was anything I could do while I was on hold to get the house ready for our vacation coming up later this week... and, it was to swab the downstairs toilet.

and the rest is history.

[skygazer]

14. Next time, don't wear any clothes while using bleach

Take photos. Post them here. See how long the thread lasts.

See? Housework CAN be fun! :hi:

[NewJeffCT]

16. I'd probably be immediately tombstoned

Though, I'm sure some women would be surprised to see a man doing housework.

[LeftyFingerPop]

4. Yes, I would say it is...

it bleaches away some of the dye.

[EstimatedProphet]

5. Bleach is the Anti-Stain.

[Fire Walk With Me]

9. The same thing in music applies here... Make a mistake, repeat it the next time around

and they'll think it was on purpose.

Splash bleach on the rest of the pants, and create a modern tie-dye effect. Start a new trend...

[grace0418]

Eventually the fabric will start to fall apart where it was bleached. Probably not

a good idea with pants. :)

[Fire Walk With Me]

18. Then I shall start the trend without you.

Don't come crawling to me when I'm a millionaire ;-)

[grace0418]

33. At least the denim on my jeans won't fall apart when I crawl.

;)

[RetroLounge]

12. Get some scissors

Make shorts.

Problem solved.

RL

[JVS]

15. dye the whole thing black

[NewJeffCT]

17. good idea

these are an otherwise perfectly good pair of pants I had bought for work in a "business casual" environment.

[JVS]

19. Good that it's business causual because sometimes bleached pants that get dyed black...

can fade to different colors. I dyed a pair black, but after a few washes they were more of a purple. Other ones have become grey. But think how cool you'll look when you're the only guy wearing greyish purple pants.

[NewJeffCT]

20. Is it easy/cheap to dye clothes?

Maybe I can ask my 4 year old, she tye-died a shirt at her preschool a month or two back.

[CatWoman]

21. yes it is

you can buy dye in the grocery store, and you can do the dye job in your washer.

[NewJeffCT]

24. Thanks

I'll have to look into it when I get back from China.

[JVS]

23. It's not hard, but I wouldn't leave it to a kid.

Basically you soak the clothing in a washing machine that you have stopped for several hours. When you're done, you simply let the machine finish its cycle and it shoots all the dirty water out. Not hard, but not fun or exciting in any way. It also ties up your washer for a good chunk of time, which is probably one of the reasons that Laundromats forbid dyeing clothes.

[NewJeffCT]

26. I know

I was just going to ask her how to do it, since she had done it before at her preschool.

[CatWoman]

27. and don't forget to bleach the washer out after your'e done

just run it on a full cycle with a ton of bleach in the wash cycle.

[CatWoman]

28. and don't forget to bleach the washer out after your'e done

just add a ton of bleach to the wash cycle, and let it run thru the wash and rinse cycles.

[skygazer]

29. And DON'T WEAR your good clothes when you do

:rofl:

[CatWoman]

31. bwa

:rofl:

[NewJeffCT]

35. oh - does it still work in one of those "High Efficiency" front-loaders?

Mine supposedly uses 66% less water than a normal washer.

Is a bath-tub a good alternate?

[JVS]

36. I don't know. Maybe you should have a "movie night" with a friend who has a less efficient model

[NewJeffCT]

37. well, my mom is a cleaning fanatic

so, I doubt she'd take kindly to the idea of black dye being in her washer for several hours...

[Bjornsdotter]

42. Don't forget to "set" the dye

....vinegar won't work if it's cotton.

The best thing to use is Retayne....it can be found at a quilting store.

Cheers

[Midlodemocrat]

22. Before you do that, use dye remover to remove the rest of the color

in the pants. THEN dye them black.

Should be fine, although the part where the bleach hit will start to wear more quickly.

[JVS]

25. Good call.

[nutsnberries]

30. my experience is > you're gonna have holes soon.

after ruining several things myself, I try to remember-
don't wear anything (or anything you wouldn't mind losing) while using bleach.

[texanwitch]

32. I did the same thing with my blue cargo shorts, I wear them all the time.

I found a dark blue permanent marker and covered the bleach spots, the color was close.

After a couple of washings the marker color faded enough that the colors match.

Hope this helps.

[Oeditpus Rex]

34. Copycat by GoPsUx

in five... four... three...

[Kali]

38. don't EVER wear good clothes around bleach

if the spots are small and not too noticeable you MIGHT be able to redye them or even use a sharpie if dark enough, but usually it is a SOL situation.

[trof]

39. Get a broad-tip dark gray Majic Marker.

'Color' out the spots.
;-)

[Critters2]

40. This is why I don't use bleach

My experience is that it does more harm than good.

[Kali]

41. You mentioned you were going to China...

would you have time or be inclined to take the pants with you to see if you could have them worked on? I know that might seem strange and it depends on why you are traveling, but if it is for any sort of cultural reason, errands like that can be a GREAT way to interact and meet locals.