What will happen if I use OxiClean on silk or wool?

March 2, 2016 8:45 AM

I use OxiClean to remove stains (especially pit stains) from shirts made from cellulose or synthetic fibers (so cotton, linen, rayon, poly, etc.). The instructions say not to use it on silk or wool, but they don't say why. What adverse effects will result if I use OxiClean on protein fibers?
posted by mama casserole to Home & Garden (6 answers total)

It makes them disintegrate. Don't do it!
posted by blnkfrnk at 8:57 AM on March 2, 2016 [4 favorites]

Yeah, OxiClean is good for pit stains because it's good at breaking down proteins. Just picture those pit stains disappearing, only it's the entire garment. It turns into hydrogen peroxide and sodium carbonate i.e. soda ash, which is basically this recipe for bleaching wool. Both peroxide and the high pH from the soda ash also weaken protein fibers. I've seen discussions on using soda ash to soften up silks, basically by slightly disintegrating the fabric.
posted by yeahlikethat at 9:30 AM on March 2, 2016 [2 favorites]

Yeah, don't do this. Even if it doesn't appreciably weaken the fabric it will have an adverse effect on its texture.

Incidentally, highly basic cleaning solutions also degrade mother of pearl buttons--nacre is calcium carbonate in a biopolymer (protein and sugar polymer) matrix.
posted by pullayup at 9:54 AM on March 2, 2016

Response by poster: It turns into hydrogen peroxide and sodium carbonate i.e. soda ash, which is basically this recipe for bleaching wool.

This page seems to imply that the peroxide-and-soda-ash recipe is safe for wool ("Hypochlorite can damage cotton and will destroy wool and silk. Therefore we offer this simple method of bleaching with Hydrogen Peroxide."). Is that an incorrect inference on my part, or is it only safe because the solution is neutralized with an acid in the last step? If neutralizing it makes it OK, can I use OxiClean and then neutralize it?
posted by mama casserole at 1:06 PM on March 2, 2016

So I've used Oxiclean to try to de-stink some sweater armpits and it worked fine. I mixed up a paste and applied a little (enough to barely saturate) to the appropriate areas, let sit for an hour or so, and then washed like normal with other sweaters. It worked, but I was willing to take a chance because the sweaters were old and cheap and not really wearable because of their tendency to smell slightly like BO after being worn for a few hours. The sweaters are made of 100% merino wool.
posted by MadamM at 1:16 PM on March 2, 2016 [1 favorite]

So two things with that peroxide recipe. First, it's for bleaching undyed/yellowed wool to white. I would hesitate to use it as a stain remover on colored items, same as I wouldn't use chlorine bleach as a spot treatment on colored cotton clothes. This dyeing site says peroxide (alone?) won't remove dyes, but here's someone who used the same recipe on printed silk and the results are definitely bleached out. Second, color safeness aside, there's the physical damage from the causticity, which yes the acid helps minimize but can't completely eliminate.

All that said, at the usual concentrations, it's not going to dissolve your wools and silks on impact. I wouldn't use it repeatedly or on irreplaceable items, but you could test it out and do some experimenting. You might luck out like MadamM. Maybe avoid spot treatments so if it bleaches, it fades/softens the entire garment?
posted by yeahlikethat at 8:16 PM on March 2, 2016 [1 favorite]