Random Laundry Question

[Elennare]

My husband has apparently ensorceled his white clothing to suck dye out of red pieces of clothing that I have owned for years that have *never* bled.  Ever.  I've even washed them with MY white clothing before, with  no problems.  But, apparently all I have to do is put one piece of his white clothing in the wash machine with them, and...

Two of his white with stuff printed on them tee-shirts, and one of mine, are now light pink with stuff printed on them tee-shirts.  I did not run them through the dryer, and immediately washed them again, but they are still pink.  In fact, they looked slightly pinker after the second trip through the wash!  Or, maybe it just spread the dye evenly, instead of  it being patchy.  Will color-safe bleach remove the pink, or will it not do anything because it is color-safe?  I've never used bleach of any sort in the wash before, so I don't know how it works.

Definately going to pick up a 3-bin laundry sorter after work tonight, so I don't do this again.  If it will help, I'll pick up some color-safe bleach as well.  If it won't work, can anyone suggest something I can do to make the shirts white again?  Please?

[Taffy Saltwater]

Rit (dye) makes a color remover that I have heard works well.  I recommended it to a nurse who'd washed her uni's w/red & she said it worked a charm.  I'd certainly do that before you bleach it, as the bleach will damage the fibers.  It might take more than once.

[Elennare]

Thanks!  I'll have to look into that.

Doesn't the Rit stuff try to remove ALL color from the clothing, though?  The clothes I made pink aren't solid white-they have stuff printed on them that I would very much like to keep.

I thought color-safe bleach was made from something different from normal bleach-is it still bad for the fabric?

I tried to find some ideas online, and alot of stuff I saw said to wash the clothes in really hot water as it will make the dye stick less.  Anyone try that?  I thought heat set stains, but I guess it doesn't set errant dye?

[Taffy Saltwater]

According to ritdye.com,Color remover  "Removes or reduces fabric color before dyeing to a different or lighter color. Also safely removes most stains on whites that have accidentally been washed with colored items."  It's a white box w/a pinkish t-top on it.

[Elennare]

Hmmm...it removes color from fabric, and I didn't see anything on their website about it being safe for prints. 

Then there's this, from the clorox website: "Another alternative (on all-white fabrics only) is to use a packaged color remover or stripper such as one sold under the "Rit" label."

Sounds like the stuff works great on solid white clothing, but I'm not sure I want to risk it in this case.  If I ever do this to solid white clothing, I will definately give the Rit stuff a shot!

Further showing my ignorance of laundry products...
It's the chlorine in bleach that makes it bad for fabric, right?  So, if color-safe bleach is non-chlorine bleach, it shouldn't be bad for fabrics.  Or is there some other process involved, no matter what sort of bleach, that destroys the fibers?

Thanks Taffy.  I really appreciate the help.

[sealion]

If the designs are screen printed I don't think the color remover will effect them (though I'm not 100% sure). What have you got to lose if you won't wear them in their pink state?

[Elennare]

Problem solved!

I found "color catchers" at the store, and washed the shirts a couple of times in really hot water with one of those added to the washer, and they are no longer pink.




Why was I so hesitant to try the color remover?  Because my husband really likes the shirts I turned pink.  They weren't necessarily unwearable as they were, so I didn't want to risk destroying them in the attempt to un-pink them.

Thanks again!

[Taffy Saltwater]

Glad you got your laundry issues resolved.