How To Fix Bleach-Stained Clothes 7 Ways
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Had an incident with bleach? All is not lost. Here’s how to fix bleach-stained clothes with five clever, eco-friendly fixes! From patches and fabric markers to tie-dye transformations, there’s no need to consign stained clothes to the bin.
When it comes to tackling stains on your clothes, accidental bleach spills or splashes are hands down the most frustrating ones to deal with.
This is because, unlike red wine or coffee, bleach doesn’t actually stain your clothes. Instead, the bleach permanently strips the colour right out of wherever it’s been splashed. This means there’s no way to remove the ‘stain’.
However, if you’ve had a bleach-based incident and your clothes have come out looking worse for wear, there’s no need to bin them. Instead, I’ve got five clever techniques you can try to restore your clothes to their former glory.
7 Easy Ways To Mend Bleach-Stained Clothes
While this colour loss from bleach is technically irreversible, there are still several tricks you can try to conceal or transform the stains so your clothes look wearable again. I’ve got seven different ways to fix these marks on your clothes, depending on the severity of the bleach stain.
Turn The Stain Into Wearable Art
One clever way to tackle a bleach stain is to incorporate the stain into a unique wearable piece of art.
So whilst bleach is the cause of your stain, you can embrace that. You could use bleach to create a design, pattern or text on your clothes. Try A Beautiful Mess’s full guide to bleach painting clothes to help get you started – they made this beautiful t-shirt pictured above using this technique.
Just remember to wear old clothes, so that you don’t inadvertently bleach anything precious in the process! And remember to take adequate protection – gloves are essential, as is covering the surface you are working on. You don’t want to cause more problems with bleach!
Cover The Stain With A Patch
Alternatively, depending on the size and placement of the stain, another easy way to fix a bleach stain on your clothes is with a well-placed patch. You can opt for something colourful to make a fun feature, or you can opt for something that will blend in with your clothing.
Iron-on patches are the easiest to apply. As the name suggests, zero sewing is required. Instead, you use the heat of your iron to affix the patch to your clothing.
I’ve found the best selection of iron-on patches is available on Etsy. Just check that the dimensions of the patch you like will cover the stain before you buy it.
If you’re handy with a needle and thread, you can sew a patch on. You can buy these, or you could cut fabric into custom shapes to cover your bleach stain, giving you a bit more flexibility.
Cover The Stains With Clever Embroidery
I hadn’t thought about covering up bleach stains on clothes with embroidery until I saw this amazing video from The Seam.
If you don’t follow them on Instagram, I heartily recommend giving them a follow. Dedicated to the art of clothing repair, The Seam team can work some serious magic on seemingly irreparable garments.
The Seam use machine embroidery for large bleach spots, but don’t worry if you don’t have the equipment. Small bleach spots can be embroidered by hand.
If you’re doing your embroidery by hand, I would suggest starting by sketching a simple design over the stain area with a washable fabric marker first. That way, you can visualise the design before you start.
If it seems too daunting, try looking for an embroidery repair service near you.
Use A Fabric Marker Pen
For small spots and splashes of bleach, you could try a fabric marker pen to cover them up.
If you’re trying to rescue a black item of clothing, then Sharpie – the pen people – make a black laundry permanent marker pen (£6.95 on eBay) that may be a good option. They’re designed for writing names on clothes labels (e.g. for school), but it’s worth a try on bleach stains.
Simply colour in the bleach spot with the pen, and you’re good to go. The dye stays on, even on clothes that are washed repeatedly.
Whilst the laundry pen only comes in black, Sharpie also makes fabric marker pens – available in 8 different colours. They’re quite tricky to get hold of in the UK – I found eBay to be the most reliable place to purchase them. Here, you can pick the colour you need for £5.
Whatever option you choose to go for, I’d recommend starting by testing the pen on a less visible area or a similar scrap of fabric to check the colour match first. Once you’re happy with the match, you can colour over the stain, working carefully to blend the edges into the surrounding fabric.
Add A Brooch
If you’ve stained a small part of your top with bleach, then one easy fix could be popping a brooch or pin over the stain. This is provided the stain is in a place where a brooch or pin badge would look appropriate. It’s low-effort, but could solve your problem.
Sew On Decorative Buttons
If that’s not going to work for you, you could sew on a nice button to cover the stain. Whilst one button on its own might look a bit random, you could try sewing on a few decorative buttons to make it look intentional!
Try John Lewis, or a similar haberdashery, for some really nice decorative buttons. Alternatively, Etsy is always a good option.
Try Your Hand At Tie-Dye
Finally, if you’re dealing with multiple bleach stains or a particularly large stain that would be difficult to patch, you could embrace the look by turning your garment into a tie-dye piece.
Whilst tie-dye normally starts off with a white-coloured garment, which you add dye to, you can tie-dye with bleach. Known as reverse tie-dye, the process uses bleach to lighten the colour of the exposed fabric. This creates a fun tie-dye design.
Want to get started? Sarah Maker has a great guide to reverse tie-dye your clothing – just like in the above photograph.
How To Avoid Future Bleach Stains
To avoid future bleach stains, I’d always recommend minimising your use of bleach. I’m all about cleaning my home in an eco-friendly and non-toxic way, so you can try my guide to sustainable bleach alternatives.
None of these will damage the fabric of your clothing should you accidentally spill or splash any of them on your clothes, but they will clean your home effectively.
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