Can You Bleach Fleece? (How To Bleach Polyester Fleece)
Fleece is warm, soft, nice to touch, and even looks good. Caring for fleece is another matter as it may not always respond to your go-to cleaners. It is one of those fabrics where you must read all the labels to make sure the material lasts you a long time.
Can you bleach fleece? This is a little tricky as it would depend on the fibers your fleece clothing item is made from. Some people say yes you can bleach fleece if it is made from cotton or other natural fibers. Just follow the cleaning instructions on the label to be safe.
To learn if you can bleach fleece or not just continue to read our article. This is a fabric that is made from both natural and synthetic fibers so you may get different answers to the same question
Will Fleece Bleach?
This will depend on the material the fibers are made from. Those that have fleece made from wool say that using bleach is a big no-no. You will ruin your wool garment and turn it into a big mess.
Others who own cotton fleece or synthetic fleece clothing items have stated that they had no problem using the chemical and they soaked it for 2 hours. But these are stories from personal experience and may be the exception to the rule.
A lot of the people who say do not use bleach on fleece rarely provide a valid reason why you should not use bleach on the fleece. It would matter what type of bleach you use as the oxygen version is a lot safer to use on delicate fabrics like fleece.
The regular liquid version may be too powerful for some versions of fleece, and there are a lot of versions to this fabric. The best way to test your kind of fleece is to make sure to have a scrap piece of the material on hand and give it a test to see what happens.
Also, the quality of the fabric will play a role in whether or not you use bleach.
Can You Bleach Fleece Blankets?
The current verdict is that you should not use bleach when cleaning your nice soft comfortable fleece blankets. Also, it is said that you should avoid those laundry detergents that contain bleach.
The reason for this rule is that the bleach additive and the liquid bleach can harm your sheets plus make them pill a lot more. That may include using oxygen bleach products that are supposed to be safe for all fabrics.
If the cleaning label on your fleece items says do not bleach, then do not bleach. The company does know what it is talking about when it wrote those instructions. Those instructions do not change once the sheets hit your home.
There are 16 fleece varieties so do not assume that the bleaching material that worked for one variety will work for another. Fleece is not fleece and is made from a variety of fibers so cleaning each version is going to be different.
Also, be wary of any harsh chemicals whether you hand wash, machine wash, or let the dry cleaner handle your fleece times. There is a reason those chemicals are called harsh. They target the dirt and take no prisoners when doing their job. That attitude includes the fabric as the bleach will do its damage to the material if you let it.
Can You Bleach Polar Fleece
If you know the story of Superman, you will know that he had one vulnerability- Kryptonite. Well as tough as polar fleece is, it has a couple of vulnerabilities like Superman does.
With polar fleece, those two vulnerable areas are bleach and fabric softeners. It is best to avoid both and turn to natural bleaching and softening ingredients to protect that expensive material.
This goes for dry cleaning as well. Harsh chemicals are not a friend of polar fleece. Even though you only need to clean the fabric twice a season, if you are not a person who spills a lot of food and drink, using any harsh chemical will ruin your polar fleece jacket, blanket, and so on.
What this means is that you need to resist temptation and stop yourself from reaching for the bleach or fabric softener. Find a gentle natural alternative to make sure your polar fleece item is cleaned safely.
When you do wash your polar fleece item, make sure to turn the garment inside out if you can. This won’t apply to sheets but all other items made from that fabric need this added protection.
Finally, wash fleece by itself. If you wash it in warm with other colored clothing, you run the risk of having color transfer take place.
How to Bleach Polyester Fleece
The first rule of bleaching is, if it says do not bleach, then do not bleach. This may need to be repeated several more times as some people just do not get the message. Bleaching is not always the right thing to do to kill germs and whiten clothes.
If you are still bent on bleaching your polyester bleach, then add 1/4 cup of the chemical for every gallon of water. Next, thoroughly mix the ingredients and place the item in it and submerge the item for 5 minutes.
After that, mix 3/4 cup of regular bleach with a washing machine tub full of hot water. Make sure the water is at its hottest setting and let the machine run through its cycle. Then dry.
Those instructions were for regular bleach. The following instructions are for oxygen bleach. Remember you are bleaching at your own peril.
Step one has you mixing a 1/2 cup of powdered bleach for every gallon of water and mix thoroughly. Next, soak the polyester fleece for an hour and if the stain is still there, soak overnight.
The last step is for you to wash the item in very hot water using 1 cup of oxygen bleach. Let the cycle run through and then dry the item. We will remind you that you should follow the instructions on the cleaning label of the polyester fleece strictly.
It is not a good fashion or budget move to ignore those instructions.
Using Bleach On Fleece Tips
It is possible to try and use a bleach pen to target specific fleece tips without having to bleach every one. But even with these pens, you run the risk of damaging your fleece item because bleach is bleach and not every version of that fabric can handle the harsh chemical.
You can try soaking the bleach tips for a few minutes in regular bleach or longer if you are using oxygen bleach but if the label says not to do it, you are opening yourself up to ruining your clothes.
Stay away from the dry cleaners as well. Those shops use harsh chemicals in their cleaning process and you won’t like the way your fleece garment is returned to you. It is best to play this by ear or trial and error.
Not all fleece tips will be made from durable and safe fibers that can endure a bleach treatment. Your best guide will be the cleaning instructions placed on the labels before yo purchase them.
Some do’s and Don’t’s for Cleaning Fleece
Dos:
- 1. Do use dryer sheets when you store your fleece blankets. Just slip them in the folds.
- 2. Do turn your fleece items inside out when you wash them
- 3. Do use a razor when you see those ugly pills on your fleece garments
- 4. Do try to buy anti-pill fleece when looking to make your own fleece clothing
- 5. Do hand wash your fleece items, it is the safest way
Don’t’s:
- 1. Do not use bleach when cleaning your fleece items. You run the risk of ruining them
- 2. Do not dry clean your fleece items. Harsh chemicals are not for that material
- 3. Do not iron the face of fleece. Turn the garment inside out first, then iron
- 4. Do not use the dryer to get your fleece items dry. Hang dry them in the sun
- 5. Do not dye fleece. Select the color you want when you buy the clothing.
- 6. Do not wash fleece with dark colors. The lint is hard to get off.
- 7. Do not wash fleece with towels or other lint producing fabrics
Some Final Words
Fleece may have a tough side to it but when it comes to bleach it is not so tough. The best thing for you to do is to read the cleaning label and follow the instructions. That is the best way to protect your clothing and your wallet.
Fleece is soft, comfortable, and good looking. Take care of it and it will take care of you.
