Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with bleach

What is this mystery gunk that bleached my pants?

lalalana — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:29:00 -0800

What is this mystery gunk that bleached my pants? Last week, I noticed some weird stuff on the back of my black polyblend H&M pants... It looked like lipgloss, a little bit pink and similar in texture except maybe a little less thick. When I wiped it off, I found that the spots where it had been were bleached out to a purpley-pink shade. Sad. Anyway, what could this stuff have been? I didn't go or do anything out of the ordinary-- a college campus, a coffee shop, my car... I really can't think of anything I would have come in contact with (no cleaning products, etc, what I know of?) that could have caused it... Any thoughts?

Can I bleach my curtains white?

jenmakes — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 09:02:18 -0800

Curtains are expensive! But I have some old ones -- can I bleach them white? I have some 100% cotton tabbed curtains from Target in goldenrod/wheaty yellow. The fabric seems pretty sturdy (they're not sheers).

Can I bleach them in the washer? It wouldn't be a tragedy if I botched the job, but I'm hoping to get them as white as possible without a lot of variegation. Also preferably without causing any holes, since that would lower their essential curtain-ness, and force me to tell guests I've invented some new offshoot of shabby-chic.

Cleaning her environment, not her intestines.

GJSchaller — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:43:10 -0800

[Cat-Sanitary, NOT-Pee Filter]: What is the best way to disinfect a pet water fountain thoroughly, without poisoning the fountain itself? We want to be more through than just a dishwasher, but not disinfect the cat's innards... We have a cat with a very sensitive tummy, that has been having digestive issues - not the direct topic of this question. We've been dealing with the Vet on that one, and playing a very careful game of "change one variable in the environment at a time" so that massive change doesn't either A) make it hard to tell which change worked, or B) stress the cat, which may be the root problem as it is.

One of the variables in the intake was a Drinkwell Platinum water fountain, which we suspected might be harboring something nasty that the normal dishwasher routine wasn't cleaning out. We stopped using it, and have had it dry and in storage for a while, but we'd like to introduce it again so that she has a fresh and steady water supply (She had no problems using it, so I think it's better to use it than not, and make sure she's getting more water than a bowl).

My question is this - what is the best solution out there to disinfect any possible beasties on the plastic fountain, without making the fountain itself toxic? Bleach will kill things, and while it needs to soak enough to be effective, we don't want it to soak too long. Previous questions give differing answers on Vinegar and other options, but I'm not sure how they would apply to a pet fountain made of plastic. I am planning on cleaning it, then washing it again in the Dishwasher, to be sure.

Me (and the cat!) thank you!

Help me find my abused clothing a new home

gc — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 01:47:02 -0800

What to do with my scrap clothing in Seattle? I have a bunch of clothes -- jeans, shirts, pants -- that are in some way or another useless to me, but I feel it would be rude to leave them with Goodwill. Most of them have holes in them, or are beyond repair, but still have what appears to me to be large, usable pieces of fabric left. Some are bleach-stained. I just don't want to throw them away. Is there a place in Seattle that would take my scrap clothing?

Shirt / antiperspirant détente!

Captain Rayford Steele, Tribulation Force — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 10:36:43 -0800

Quotidian-question-filter: I seek a high-quality antiperspirant that won't stain clothing. Right now I use Gillette gel, which works fine as a deodorant/antiperspirant but also performs all too well as an under-arm shirt bleach. Needless to say, permanent white staining in and around the armpit region is both unattractive and unsettling.

There must exist an antiperspirant (preferably gel, but I'll consider all options) carefully engineered to coexist peacefully with clothing. Know of one? I'm male, if it matters.

Suggest kitchen cleaning products

grouse — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 13:53:11 -0800

Please suggest products that I should and should not use to clean different parts of the kitchen, such as a laminate counter top, stainless steel sink, or metal stove top. I am particularly interested in products that won't generate fumes that will send me out of the kitchen. I usually use Clorox Clean-Up on the counter, but the bleach fumes are such that I can't really hang out in the kitchen afterwards. I'd really like something that I could use while I am watching something on the stove and have a couple of free minutes. I'm not opposed to using something fume-generating as well after I'm done cooking if it will do a better job.

I know not to mix ammonia and bleach.

I would also appreciate general kitchen cleaning tips.

How to get back to my natural color without losing hair

fructose — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 19:24:49 -0800

HairFilter: How do I get back closer to my natural light brown after going from bleach to red to dark without my hair falling out? About a month ago, in a moment of stupidity, I used a hair bleaching kit from a natural foods store on my then undyed light/medium brown hair that had natural highlights. It turned our horribly uneven.
I immediately went and used a color remover to try to tone down the yellow, but it didn't do anything.
The next day I used Garnier 100% Color (permanent) dye in "Mahogany Red Brown." Well, with my yellow/white hair, I got Strawberry Shortcake red.
I already had a box of Natural Instincts (semi-permanent) that I'd bought a while before but not used yet. It was a dark brown shade, so I used that about 3 days after doing the red. Now I have dark reddish purply brown that looks almost goth/emo teen with my short pixie 'do. I was hoping it would fade more back to the red over time since it's semi-permanent, but I guess with my hair being processed, it's here to stay.

I know that the best options are to go to a professional or let it grow out, but I can in no way afford what a pro would charge, and as it grows out with my light roots, it looks like I'm going bald at my part.

Any expert DIY dyers (or professionals) who have any tips on how to get back to light brown without my hair falling out? I have fine hair, and it has felt more brittle since my dyed adventures.

Should I use a color remover kit again to try to get it back to the blonde, or at least to red before trying to dye it again. Or should I find a dye that is meant to lighten dark hair? I've had little luck finding light/med brown dye shades that are meant for people with dark hair. They all seem to be for people with light hair going darker.

This is the 2nd time I've ever used permanent dye on my hair (the first time being at the age of 14), so I'm totally clueless on how this stuff works, as evidenced by my current shade.

Drippy, icky bathroom fun!

fillsthepews — Tue, 06 May 2008 19:31:26 -0800

Mold and bleach? How much to kill it, but not me? (And I guess not my roommate, too.) I've got some seriously moldy bathroom walls. This is a rental home, and I'm looking quite forward to moving out of it in the fall.

I'm looking for an easy, inexpensive solution to getting the mold off. Past askmetafilter questions say to wash the walls with bleach (straight?) or a bleach solution. Well... color me ignorant, but is it safe to simply spray the walls w/ bleach? If I need to make a solution, is there a standard bleach/water recipe?

Basically, this bathroom hardly ever dries. So, if the wall hardly ever dries, I have concerns about the walls being bleach and stinky the next time I take a shower after I clean it - possibly to an unhealthy, annoying level. Not to mention brushing against the wall with fabric and ruining it.

Am I being paranoid? I feel like a total cleaning n00b.

Help me not mangle this name!

dirtmonster — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 14:46:14 -0800

What is the correct phonetic pronunciation for Tite Kubo (creator of Bleach)? Thanks! I am giving a talk next week where I reference Kubo's use of the face fault in Bleach, and I don't want to mess up his name. Thanks for helping me sound on the ball!

Come with me to the Casbah, Cherie

fish tick — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 20:05:45 -0800

Nontoxic, non burning fur lightener for cats? Is there way to painlessly, stinklessly give Ms. Black Kitty a light skunklike stripe for her own protection? She lurks in dark, high traffic areas on dark carpet and consequently gets tripped over occasionally at night. And please don't get all PETA on me - I am asking only if there are ways to do this that will not annoy the cat. Collars are not an option, and please don't tell me to keep all the lights on all night, and yes I have read this thread. Thanks!

Natural/Alternative solutions to cover unwanted bleached hair?

zippity — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 00:15:58 -0800

Peroxide Mishap - Is it possible to get my bleached hair back to its natural color without resorting to boxed hair dye? Using hydrogen peroxide as a facial toner for a couple weeks has caused my naturally black hair to turn brown and orange.

The peroxide only got so far as to bleach my eyebrows and a good portion of the baby hairs at my hairline.

Now my hair is a freakishly similar color/tone to my complexion and it makes me look completely washed out and lifeless. It actually looks like I have makeup foundation smeared in my hair.

I'm apprehensive to using hair dye to cover it because of the bad black-hair-dye-jobs I've witnessed in my life, plus I hardly have the patience to maintain the coloring. And frankly, I just don't want to use dye for such a small amount of hair. (plus I'd have to do my whole head otherwise it wouldn't match and then I'd have to constantly re-color because the roots would look gross, etc..)

I feel like I'm going to have to bite the bullet and begin the horrible cycle of dying my hair, HOWEVER, I was hoping someone out there might have advice or a work around for my problem.

Options I've considered:

Just shaving that bit of hair off (my hairline is freakishly high as it is, so this has the potential to look SUPERWEIRD)
Coloring it with a Sharpie (shrug)

That's all I got!

Is there some sort of home treatment where I can soak my hair in a natural solution of food products to restore the color, or a hair-gel that could mask the color until it grows out, or solutions of a similar vein? Should I just wait this horrible patch of bleached hair out?

If there are no alternatives (o plz say it ain't so), any advice on a black hair dye that won't destroy my hair?

De-stinkify me

jourman2 — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 16:38:38 -0800

I got some bleach on my mattress and it stinks. How can I de-stinkify it? While I was cleaning some mold off of the ceiling (another story) with bleach some of it dripped on to my mattress. I thought, "hey no big deal, my mattress is white". However, a couple of days later the smell has changed from bleachy/chlorine-ey to some vaguely bad smell (I thought the smell might fade - it hasn't). I need to get rid of it!

The standard procedure for stink related things seems to be something baking soda related. What does this mean? I just leave the baking soda on the mattress? For how long? I need to go to sleep every night, so I can't leave it there for days.

Your thoughts mefites?

baking soda and hair

puffin — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 09:45:57 -0800

What is baking soda doing to my hair? I've been using baking soda (mixed with water or baby shampoo to make a paste) to wash my hair for the past couple of months because it cleans my oily hair better than any shampoo I have come across.

Since then, my (dark brown) hair is noticeably lighter. After coming back to school a number of people have commented on it.

Is the baking soda really bleaching my hair over time? Will my hair continue to get lighter and lighter as long as I continue to use it? I don't mind the slight difference now, but I don't really want my hair to get significantly lighter. This also makes me question whether it is safe for me to be slathering baking soda paste all over my head every other day or so.

How can I de-funkify these towels?

Anonymous — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 09:44:55 -0800

How can I de-funkify stinky towels & clothing items? I have some items of clothing--primarily jeans, but also some towels--that have a faint odor of B.O. even after washing & bleaching. This is probably because during hot summer months, I sweat a lot, and these items are used a lot and are often damp. I also probably put off washing them longer than I should. Be that as it may.

Is there any kind of washing or treatment I can do that will get rid of this lingering smell? Even when I bleached the towels in hot water, as soon as they got damp again, the smell was noticable. (I think some kind of skin oil is building up in the towels that is resistant to detergents)

URGENT: I accidentally made chlorine gas -- should I start writing my will?

(bb|[^b]{2}) — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 09:24:46 -0800

I just mixed bleach / vinegar / salt / and liquid dish detergent in hopes of created a super weed killer. I mixed the stuff in a fairly well-ventilated room, and then sprayed it on some weeds outside. Now I just read about chlorine gas resulting from the mixture of bleach and chlorine, and I'm suddenly feeling light-headed (hypochondriac). Am I going to die? I mixed the stuff about 30 minutes ago. The fumes were definitely strong, but I did my best not to inhale them. No coughing or choking. My eyes feel a wee bit dry, but not burning. My mouth is a little dry too, but like I said, I'm a hypochondriac, so it may have been that way before.

Is exposure to such a low level of gas usually harmful? Am I going to be vomiting and leaking blood out of my ears later today? Please help me assuage my fears!

Bleach doesn't always work?!

rossmik — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 18:49:10 -0800

I sat in bleach. Why didn't it turn my chair white? It turned my jeans white with no problem. It dampened the seat in my wife's truck but didn't change the color. Why not?

The bleach: regular sodium hypochlorite laundry bleach
The jeans: blue cotton denim
The upholstery: course weave, blue and grey, something like polyester.

Guess 1: The dyes or pigments in the truck could be inorganic chemicals that aren't affected by bleach (like cobalt blue instead of indigo).

Guess 2: When you dye cotton, it sticks to dye sites on the outside of the fiber, but when you make polyester you can mix the dye in, all the way through the fiber, where bleach can't get to it.

Guess 3: I know nothing about dying or bleaching fabrics, so it could be something else entirely, and the hivemind here could have a completely brilliant alternative explanation.

I don't know how many dye chemists we have here, but thanks in advance for your answers!

OH NO! HER FAVORITE PANTS!

klangklangston — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 18:02:59 -0800

Khaki pants— $50 or less solution to fix girlfriend's khaki pants. Went through laundry with detergent on top; got orangish bleach stains. Dye? Some sort of hot soak with other khakis?

Bleach replacement?

birdlady — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 14:44:36 -0800

Is there a substitute for bleach? I am neurotic and don't feel like things (showers, floors, sheets) have been sanitized if I don't use bleach, but bleach bothers my asthma. What can I use that will satisfy both my health and OCD issues?

Chlorine alternatives for a pool?

Jairus — Mon, 21 May 2007 19:47:48 -0800

I am moving into a house that has a (currently unmaintained) pool. I would like to use it, but I don't want to use chlorine or bleach to keep the pool clean. What are my options?

Why did the hot tub turn my white t-shirt blue?

iguanapolitico — Mon, 21 May 2007 18:45:26 -0800

Why did the hot tub turn my white t-shirt blue? A few weeks ago I visited a friend who has a hot tub and I forgot to pack my swimsuit. So I wore a white t-shirt and a pair of boxer shorts and a good hot tubbin' time was had.

When we got back inside and I changed clothes, I noticed that my white t-shirt was now blue. I rinsed it and rinsed it, and eventually ran it through the washing machine a couple times, but it still has a blue hue. Will this ever go away?

I recall during my growing years pouring bleach directly onto white fabrics that seemed to initally turn purple. I don't recall if I rinsed them right away to return them to their white state, or if they whitened up on their own. Same effect as the chlorinated hot tub + white t-shirt?

I'm not desperate to get this t-shirt white again, but am surprised that googling didn't reveal the answer right away. So I'm just damn curious. (And I'm filing the question under "science & nature" because I'm interested in the chemistry involved, not fashion.)

Tub-stain Tears

forallmankind — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 16:25:13 -0800

Good lord I'm in trouble! Last night I soaked a few white shirts in Clorox, rinsed them, and then hung them up over the tub to drip dry. One of the shirts had a little black design, and when I got up in the morning I found this hideous stain in the enamel of my tub which looks like was caused by the bleach/ black dye combination drip dripping all night, and which my landlord will *freak out about* when he sees it! Any ideas?

How could I make the same (cleaning) mistake twice?

Ookseer — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 17:29:39 -0800

How do I get rid of the brown stain that bleach left on my old porcelain tub? I can't believe I did this again. In my old place one of the first things I did was use bleach on my old (1940's) porcelain tub. And it left an almost impossible nasty brown stain.

Years later, new place, different old porcelain tub... and I got a little aggressive with the spring cleaning, used a bleach based cleaner near it, and have the brown stain again.

Looking for personal experience on what has successfully removed (or significantly diminished) these brown bleach stains for you. Last time I followed the advice of paper towels soaked in CLR which ended up etching the tub. Something I'd like to avoid.

I want my room to feel clean again, help me fix my carpet!

stormygrey — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 10:16:57 -0800

Can you help me salvage my carpet until I can get a new floor put in? When I moved into my house the bedroom had this crazy awful purple shag carpet. We pulled it up and their were beautiful wide pine planks (older house). However, there were all kinds of nails and staples in it and what appeared to be asbestos tar. (This tar was used to lay flooring in the past). I decided to just leave it alone till I could appropriately deal with it, and then there was the commercial....

I bought the carpet hook, line, and sinker. Those empire commericals are so damn catchy. Well it turns out they are fast, but they are not cheap, not by a long shot. They are suppoesd to come with this amazing warranty, but it apparently doesn't cover three German Shepards.

I got the lovely berber loop in a golden wheat color, however, it turns out that bitch will run like hell if you catch one of the loops. One of my dogs managed to slide her tray out of the crate and tear up a huge section of the carpet. Potty training also took its tool. It looks horrible.

I can cover a large part of it with a floor rug and the crates, but don't know what to do with the rest. The holes won't show, but the stains will. I have tried all sorts of steam cleaning, and since the carpet is so light it still shows.

I have two initial thoughts. Today, I could just bleach it. Seriously, until I can get hardwoods put it, I will just bleach the crap out it when it gets dirty. Alternatively, I could dye it. I am not sure of this process. Apparently, you can either use a hand pump (like for spraying pesticide) or you can use a carpet cleaner to lay in on. That sounds a little more risky. I would dye it a deep chocolate brown.

I've got to do something soon, it messing with the fung shui and make me not want to go in my bedroom.

What do you think is a good solution?

to bleach his own

punch_the_mayor — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 17:09:56 -0800

I need help on bleaching a cotton shirt I have a light pink cotton shirt that I want to bleach white. I wonder if I can get the color completely white, instead of a lighter shade of pink. Is it possible to bleach something to "right out of the package hanes 5-pack t-shirt" white? If so, what's the best way to do this?

How can I get my white sheets white again?

autojack — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 23:10:09 -0800

How can I get my white sheets, er, white again? I've never owned white sheets until now; I have two different sets, both fairly pricey. One are Egyptian cotton, from Bed Bath and Beyond, and the other are regular cotton, made by Area. Both sets have yellowed very slightly since I bought them ten months ago, mainly on the pillow cases. Normally I wash the sheets by themselves, and just use regular Tide liquid detergent on them. Tonight I tried washing the Bed and Bath ones with Tide and a little bit of Clorox bleach, but it didn't seem to make any difference at all.

I'm a guy. I work better with things that plug in than with things that are woven. Can anyone suggest what I should do to re-whiten these sheets?