How to Bleach Jeans Fabric

Lighten your jeans by bleaching them.

Fashions change so quickly that it's often hard to keep up. While dark jeans might be in style one season, soon everyone may be wearing lighter shades. One way to stay fashionable without breaking the bank is to alter the jeans you already own. If you have a pair of dark-wash jeans that you would like to lighten, one of the simplest ways to do it is with a bleach bath. The bath itself takes only minutes, and before you know it you will have given new life to an old pair of jeans.

Things You'll Need

• Bleach
• 2 large tubs or buckets
• Large spoon
• Rubber gloves
• Bleach neutralizer or 3% hydrogen peroxide
• Clothes line or drying rack

Instructions

1. Fill a large bucket or tub with a solution of 1 cup of bleach for every 1 gallon of water. Use a large spoon or a gloved hand to stir the solution so that it is thoroughly mixed.

2. Submerge your jeans in the solution and allow them to soak for five to seven minutes. Every one to two minutes, swirl the jeans around and reposition them so that the bleach solution gets into all of the folds and crevices of the fabric.

3. Remove the jeans from the solution when they appear slightly darker than your desired shade. Rinse the jeans with clean water, then place them into a second bucket or tub containing water mixed with a bleach neutralizer such as Bleach Stop or Anti-Chlor. If you do not have one of these products on hand, using half a bottle of 3% hydrogen peroxide per gallon of water will also work. Neutralizing the bleach prevents it from eating holes through the fabric of your jeans.

4. Leave the jeans in the neutralizing bath for at least 15 minutes before removing them. Rinse them again in clean water, then place the jeans to dry on an outdoor clothes line or an indoor drying rack with old towels or newspapers underneath.

5. Check then jeans once they're dry; if they aren't quite as light as you would like, repeat the process.

6. Wash the jeans before wearing them. They should be washed by themselves without any other items in the washer to avoid any chemicals getting onto your other clothes.

Tips & Warnings

• Wear clothes that you don't mind ruining in case any bleach splashes onto them while you're working.

References

• Clorox; Lightening Blue Jeans; Mary Gagliardi; November 2008
• Paula Burch's All about Hand Dyeing: How Can I Neutralize the Damaging Effects of Chlorine Bleach?

Resources

• Dharma Trading Co.: Bleach-Stop