Can You Bleach Nylon? How To Bleach Nylon Without Ruining It
Bleach is not for every fabric. Sometimes people forget that little fact and end up with terrible results. Their nice nylon outfit is now a pile of synthetic fiber mess and there is nothing they can do about it. Read the instructions carefully before bleaching nylon fabrics.
Can you bleach nylon? Yes, you can bleach nylon. If you are bleaching one nylon item, then set your washer level to the lowest level and add a little bleach. All you need is a capful of detergent, 1/2 cup of bleach and 1/2 cup of nylon and let the washing machine complete its cycle.
To learn more about bleaching nylon just continue to read our article. It has the information you need to avoid any bleaching disasters when you need to bleach your nylon items clean. Just remember to hang dry nylon delicates.
Bleaching Nylon 101
Is Nylon Bleach Resistant?
In some cases yes it is. But not in all cases. Nylon is a synthetic material that can be specially formulated or treated to resist both bleach and rubbing alcohol. A lot of the time you will find solution-dyed nylon in carpets rather than clothing items.
This process helps the nylon resist different chemicals and help it keep its good looks. In other materials, nylon is made to handle high water low bleach mixtures when being cleaned. The ratio is about 10 to 1 with bleach on the low end of the scale.
Then you may find that some nylon outfits can handle a 5 to 1 ratio, again with bleach on the low end of the mixture. One reason for this is that the nylon fabric is often solution-dyed. That means that the color goes clean through the fibers and bleach cannot change it to a white color no matter how much you use.
This resistance to bleach helps those nylon items to be cleaned and sterilized better. Plus, they are given other antibacterial and stain-resistant coatings to make sure germs and stains do not stick.
Does Bleach Ruin Nylon?
It depends on the type of bleach you use. Chlorine bleach can turn some nylon fabrics yellow. That means you either have to try and get the yellow out or throw the item in the recycle bin and buy another one.
Nothing is easy when it comes to bleach. There are some color-safe bleaches you may try but that is just to protect the color. If you leave the nylon item in the bleach solution long enough, the latter may ruin the former. Or if you do not dilute the bleach enough you may ruin your outfit.
It is hard to say as there are differing opinions on this topic with the Clorox company saying you can’t ruin nylon clothing by using bleach. If the clothing is made from bleach resistant compounds then you may have a very difficult time ruining those nylon items.
Err on the side of caution and if the laundry tag says do not bleach, then play it safe and do not bleach. That piece of advice goes in contrast to the Clorox company that says the opposite.
What Happens When You Bleach Nylon
One result is that your clothes should be disinfected. Bleach is not seen as a cleaner by the professionals and should not be used as such. Instead, it is supposed to be used as a disinfectant making sure germs are killed.
But bleach does have other uses and it is good at whitening nylon when the cheaper laundry soaps have turned the nice nylon color yellow when it should be something else. To whiten clothing when this happens, you need to dilute the bleach so it is not too strong for the material.
One thing that should not happen is that the color on your nylon should not bleach out. If the nylon is made with solution-dyed color then you cannot bleach the outfit white or get rid of any of the color.
Nylon doesn't start out as white or a light color and then dye is added to darken the material. Instead, the dye is placed in the vat and the nylon is made with that color dye. There is no white to go to.
How Do You Lighten Nylon?
White nylon does turn a yellowish color when it is subjected to cheaper laundry soaps and cleaners. When this happens you do not have to reach for the bleach. You can use lemon juice if you do not like chemicals.
All you need is 1/2 cup of lemon juice sans water in a spray bottle. Once you have that, spray the yellowish areas only. Then hang the item in the sun to dry. The sun’s rays react with the citric acid creating a bleaching effect.
You can leave the clothing item in the sun from 30 minutes to 3 hours if you want. The time limit is dependent on the thickness of the fabric. If the yellow is gone, good and you can wear it again. If not, just repeat those steps until the yellow is gone.
Also, keep in mind that you will need to wash the clothing item once the yellow stain has disappeared. Dry normally and the outfit should be ready to go when you are done. It is not hard to whiten white nylon but don’t try this on colored nylon as there is no white underneath that color.
Can You Bleach Nylon White?
Yes, you can, and if you do not have the time to use the lemon juice option you can fall back onto the bleach option. Bleach does a good job with whitening white nylon and without damaging the material.
All you will need is a capful of your best laundry detergent, a 1/2 cup of bleach, and a 1/2 cup of vinegar. Then, fill your washing machine with warm water and mix all the ingredients inside your washing machine.
Now run your washing machine through its full cycle and if the item is whitened enough for you, dry it normally and get ready to wear it when it is dry. If not, just repeat those steps until the yellow is gone. This mixture does not seem to harm the nylon at all.
Do not expect universal results using this method. Colored nylon does not come from white nylon. That means that the color is completely through and part of the nylon fibers. Trying to use this formula on colored nylon won’t whiten it at all.
How To Bleach Nylon Fabric White
If you are trying to whiten the white stripes on your American flag or the white portions of the flag of your country, then you can try to use Clorox 2 to handle the task. Or try using a Shout color catcher but make sure to follow all the instructions.
The two methods already mentioned will work on whitening your white nylon items. Just make sure to dilute the bleach to the right ration, usually 10 to 1, to keep the bleach from being too powerful for the material.
Then for the lemon juice, make sure not to add water to the juice. That will dilute it too much and ruin its powers of whitening nylon. For the bleach option, you can use your washing machine but do not forget the vinegar. That will help lift the stains and keep the bleach from going too far.
Finally, you can soak the garments in oxygen bleach overnight to get the stains or the yellow color out. Then wash the time or items the next day in hot water at temperature nylon can handle.
Can You Bleach Nylon Carpet?
Yes, you can as the nylon placed in most carpets is made to resist bleach. That is if the bleach is diluted to the right ration. Too much bleach may ruin the carpet and cost you a lot of money. The correct ratio is 10 parts water and 1 part bleach.
Also, nylon carpet makers use pigment instead of normal dyes. The pigment is blended right in and comes with a bleach resistance property. That allows carpet cleaners top use up to 10% bleach in any solution to get the carpets clean and disinfected.
The process to make this version of nylon carpeting is called solution-dyed nylon and it is a pre-dyeing process that makes sure the color remains in the nylon even if bleach is used.
Hospitals are the most organizations that will use bleach cleaning, schools, and other organizations that have taken a different path due to the health hazards bleach causes. If your custodial team is using bleach on solution-dyed nylon they need to be careful. It is easy to ruin nylon carpets when using a lesser amount of water to bleach ratio.
The ratio is the key to preserving the carpet as well as cleaning it.
Can You Bleach Nylon Curtains?
The first thing you need to do when considering bleaching your nylon curtains is to check the laundry tag. If it says do not bleach then you should not bleach them no matter their color.
Next, you need to use bleach on white nylon curtains as the bleach will help brighten it up. It may not affect colored curtains. Once you have done those two items, go ahead and use one of the two methods already described.
Your laundry soap may have made those white.
Nylon curtains yellowish and you can save yourself some electricity and use the lemon juice and sun method.
Or you can use the bleach, vinegar, and washing machine method. Either way, your white nylon curtains should come out better than they went in. Just take your time and make sure the bleach is diluted to the right ration and use warm water.
The yellowish tint may be a little stubborn so do not be afraid to repeat the process two or three times. Neither process will hurt the fabric so you should not have to worry about replacing the curtains.
As for colored nylon curtains, the answer is no, for the same reasons listed above.
Can You Bleach Nylon Rope?
Yes and no. If the rope is already white, then you may be able to bleach the item and brighten its look. If the rope is colored, it may not be the best idea you have ever had. Bleach can ruin nylon rope either through color loss or integrity loss.
Of course, the latter loss depends on being exposed to bleach for at least 30 days without any attempt to clean the chemical off the rope. The rope will lose its strength and so on if exposed to bleach for long periods.
Even with rinsing the bleach still affected the color on the nylon rope and you can expect to see some discoloring when you clean your rope using a bleach solution. Clorox bleach also reduced the rope’s strength by 56%. That is not a good result.
If your rope is dirty, it is best to clean it with another solution other than bleach. Ammonia did not seem to have any harmful effect on a nylon rope. Being careful with nylon rope is important as sometimes lives depend on the strength of the rope. Weakening it in any way puts people at risk.
Some Final Words
Bleaching nylon sounds like a good idea but bleach is a harmful chemical you should use sparingly. Even when you want to clean up some white nylon items. There are other alternatives you can use to make sure you do not expose yourself or your family to bleach’s negative compounds.
Some nylon materials do resists bleach so do not go stronger than a 10 parts water to a one part bleach ratio when you see the nylon material not brightening. More bleach is not the answer.
