How to Remove Bleach Stains: 5 Simple Fixes

Get quick and easy tips for how to remove bleach stains from clothes with a few simple methods. Find out how to fix bleach stains on both white and colored clothing. Learn about how a bleach stain isn't actually a stain at all.

How to Remove Bleach Stains: Materials

Bleach is in many different products, so getting a bleach stain on your favorite shirt isn't hard. But bleach doesn't actually stain. It permanently removes the color of the dye. So, what you see on your shirt or pants is a loss of dye. Therefore, normal cleaning methods aren't as effective for bleach mishaps. Before you go into attack mode on a bleach stain, you need to grab a few materials.

• Rubbing alcohol

• Dish soap (preferably blue Dawn)

• White vinegar

• Fabric dye

• Permanent fabric marker

• Cotton swabs

• Baking soda

• Cloth

• Color remover

Neutralizing Bleach With Baking Soda

Before trying a bleach fixing method on your clothes, it's important to neutralize the bleach stain. Therefore, you want to rinse the area to remove the excess bleach. After removing bleach:

1. Mix baking soda and water to create a paste.

2. Put the mixture on the stain.

3. Allow the paste to dry.

How to Fix Bleach Stains From White Clothes

Rather than staining white clothes, bleach can leave a yellow residue. Removing this yellow stain is pretty simple with some white vinegar.

1. Rinse the fabric for several minutes.

2. Put straight white vinegar on the yellow stains.

3. Allow it to sit for 5 minutes.

4. Rinse the area with cold water.

5. Check that the residue is gone.

It's important to remember that bleach and white vinegar shouldn't mix. So ensure the bleach is thoroughly rinsed off the fabric before applying the white vinegar.

How to Fix Bleach Stains With Dish Soap

You can also work to remove bleach stains and residue from white clothes with dish soap. You'll need a bit of Dawn and a cloth.

1. Add 3-4 squirts of Dawn to a cup of water.

2. Mix the two well.

3. Dip the cloth in the mixture.

4. Work it over the bleach stain starting from the outside in.

5. Rinse and repeat as necessary until all residue is gone.

Use Rubbing Alcohol for Bleach Stains on Dark Clothes

When you get bleach on your favorite shirt or jeans, follow the neutralizing method if it hasn't gone through the wash. Then you can try this hack for smaller bleached areas.

1. Dip a cotton swab in rubbing alcohol.

2. Rub the cotton swab around the bleach stain, pulling the color from the surrounding areas into the white area.

3. Continue this until the dye is completely transferred to the bleached area.

4. Allow the clothing to air dry.

You might notice that the bleached area is still a bit lighter than the surrounding area. If so, use a fabric dye to correct this.

How to Remove Bleach Stains With Fabric Dye

If the alcohol method doesn't work or you have a large stain, and the fabric isn't ruined (bleach can melt specific materials), then you can try dyeing the garment. This method goes through how to dye the complete garment, and it can also be used to effectively hide hair dye stains on clothing.

1. Find a fabric dye that matches the color of your garment.

2. Use the color remover by following the instructions. Don't skip this step, since it's going to help the dye take to your clothing.

3. Redye the item following the instructions on the package of your dye.

4. While many have a washing machine method, soaking the clothing in a bucket also works well.

How to Get Bleach Stains Out of Clothes With Fabric Marker

If you aren't all about dyeing the item or have a multi-colored item with a bleach stain, a fabric marker pen can fill your needs.

1. Find a fabric marker as close to the color of the bleached area as possible.
2. Use the pen to color in the bleached area.
3. Follow the directions on the packaging for laundering.

If a fabric marker isn't available, a permanent marker can also work in a pinch. But this doesn't hold up in the wash as well as a fabric marker.

How to Avoid Getting Bleach Stains on Clothes

Bleach stains happen. It's just a fact of life. However, you can use a few tips to avoid getting bleach stains on your favorite clothes.

• Wear light-colored clothes when cleaning or doing laundry with bleach.

• Make sure your laundry baskets are away from your washer to avoid spill mishaps, and you are following safety measures when using bleach in the laundry.

• Wear gloves when handling bleach to avoid bleach stains on cuffs.

• Always use the recommended amount of bleach for whites.

Ways to Fix Bleach on Clothing

When it comes to getting bleach stains on your clothing, you can prevent problems by understanding how to use bleach in your laundry. Luckily, there are ways to fix it. For dark clothes, you can try alcohol but might need to resort to dyes. For white clothing, it's all about removing the bleach residue. Next time it comes to bleach stains, you've got this! Now get tips on another common laundry problem: how to remove color bleeding from your clothes.