With summer in full swing, a bright white dress shirt is the perfect way to look crisp and stylish. But between dirt, sweat, and stains, it can seem like keeping your dress shirts looking their best is an impossible feat. One effective way to restore your shirts to their original bright white state is to bleach them. Read on to learn how to bleach a white dress shirt.
What You’ll Need
- 1/4 cup oxygen bleach
- 1/4 cup regular bleach
- hot water
- detergent
- washing machine
Instructions
- Prep: Before putting your shirt in the washer, check it to see if it has any significant stains that need to be pre-treated. For small spots or spills, try using a pre-treating spray with oxygen bleach. This can help remove any additional stains.
- Set washer: Fill the washer with hot water and add the detergent and both types of bleach. Let the washer agitate for one minute, then turn it off and let your shirt soak in the mixture for an hour.
- Wash: After one hour has passed, let the washer finish its cycle.
- Dry: As drying can sometimes cause discoloration, opt for air-drying your shirt.
Examples
Here are some examples of how you can use bleach on dress shirts:
- To get rid of body odor and sweat stains, use a mixture of oxygen bleach and regular bleach and let the shirt soak for an hour.
- To get rid of stubborn stains, use a pre-treating spray with oxygen bleach (follow the instructions on the bottle).
- For light-colored fabrics, add a tablespoon of bleach to a gallon of cold water and soak the shirt for an hour. For darker fabrics, use a 1:4 bleach to water ratio.
- After bleaching a shirt, never use a dryer. Always opt for air-drying the shirt to prevent discoloration.
- Bleach your shirts alone and avoid washing them with other clothes, as this can cause the bleach to travel to other garments.
FAQ’s
Q. Is it safe to bleach a cotton dress shirt?
A. Yes, it’s safe to bleach a dress shirt made of cotton or any other natural fabric, as long as you follow the instructions carefully and don’t overload the washer with bleach.
Q. Can I bleach a colored dress shirt?
A. While it is generally safe to bleach a white dress shirt with bleach, it is not recommended to use bleach on a colored shirt. The bleach may lighten the color of the fabric and you may be left with an uneven colored garment.
Q. Does bleaching a dress shirt damage the fabric?
A. Not necessarily. As long as you stick to the instructions and don’t leave the shirt soaking in the bleach for too long, the fabric should remain intact.