How long should you soak clothes in bleach for?
Set a timer and allow the clothes to soak for about 10 minutes. Take note that bleach can weaken or damage your fabrics if you soak for too long.
Minimum soaking time is 30 minutes; longer, as much as overnight, may be necessary. If bleach is safe for the fabric, follow the tips below.
Spray or Squeeze Bottle Method: Fill a spray or squeeze bottle with a mixture of 1 part bleach to 1 part water. Spray the bleach solution on to the exposed fabric of your garment.
The first time you use bleach on an item, it's best to do a spot test in a hidden location first (like the inside of a collar or cuff) to make sure it's safe. Once you've determined your item is safe, we recommend soaking your item before washing it if it's heavily soiled or stained.
Create an Oxygen Bleach Solution
Once dissolved, add cold water to cover the fabric if needed. Completely submerge the stained garment, and allow it to soak as long as possible—up to eight hours or overnight.
Oxygen Bleach
The most gentle method to whiten washable clothes is to mix a solution of warm water and oxygen-based bleach. Follow the package recommendations as to how much to use per gallon of water. Submerge the white garments and allow them to soak at least eight hours or overnight. Patience is required.
How you use bleach is the key to either making or breaking its cleaning power. By using hot water instead of cold/tepid water to create a solution, you can render the active ingredients in bleach ineffective. So for bleach that works, always make sure you dilute it in cold/tepid water.
After the first initial rinse and first full wash and dry by itself, your new bleached shirt can be laundered like normal. The bleach won't affect the other clothes in the load of laundry, so wash and dry it however you normally would based on the material it's made of.
Leave the clothes undisturbed so the bleach can start to turn them white. After about 10 minutes, use your utensil to lift up some of the clothes so you can inspect them. If they're still not white, submerge the clothes back into the solution and wait another 5 minutes before you check them.
There are no significant or noticeable physical changes that occur when you mix detergent with bleach. The mixed liquid will retain its original appearance, though it may have a stronger bleach-like smell.
What happens if you put too much bleach in washing machine?
Used like this, it can actually cause yellowing by either breaking down the fibers or destroying the florescent whitening agents on the fabric of the garment. Not much you can do for this problem, but repeated washing may lessen the yellow appearance.
The Laundress does not recommend using chlorine bleach with laundry. Here's why: Chlorine bleach laundry detergent's ingredients are not safe! Laundry bleach weakens and deteriorates fabrics over time and can cause yellowing.
Leave the clothes undisturbed so the bleach can start to turn them white. After about 10 minutes, use your utensil to lift up some of the clothes so you can inspect them. If they're still not white, submerge the clothes back into the solution and wait another 5 minutes before you check them.
Avoid soaking clothes for too long: The recommended time for soaking clothes is 30 minutes to 1 hour. Soaking them for too long can cause the fabric to become weakened and more prone to tearing or stretching.
How you use bleach is the key to either making or breaking its cleaning power. By using hot water instead of cold/tepid water to create a solution, you can render the active ingredients in bleach ineffective. So for bleach that works, always make sure you dilute it in cold/tepid water.
Chlorine bleach is great at removing stains and odors on white clothing, but can wreak havoc on colored fabrics by leaving faded splotches or even burning holes. It also has incredible sanitizing power. Non-chlorine bleach, however, is typically used to clean and brighten colored or patterned clothing.
