[MR] bleaching black wool fabric

[Jessica Maxson]

Salve!
Oh, dear. I'm afraid you may have a bigger problem than color - chlorine
bleach is very damaging to wool, to the point of dissolving the fibers. (It
has to do with the pH of the bleach, which is basic, vs. the pH of the wool,
which is acidic.)  I would advise you to check your fabric for damage before
going any further with your project. If there doesn't seem to be visible
damage, I'd rinse the fabric well in clean water to make sure there is no
ongoing chemical reaction.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news,
--Giuliana

On Jan 24, 2008 3:25 PM, Challe Hudson <challe at alumni.unc.edu> wrote:

> Good gentles, I have a non-period problem: I can't get my black dye to go
> away. I have a piece of black wool that I planned to use for an early
> period
> tunic. I know that black is an inappropriate color, and I don't care what
> color it ends up (anything but black) so I tried bleaching it. Although I
> started with a weaker solution, I eventually had more than a cup of
> chlorine
> bleach in less than half a sink of warm water, and the wool soaked for
> more
> than 15 minutes. I know that dye was leaving the fabric, because the water
> was black-brown, but the fabric still looks like a lovely, pure black. Is
> there anything else you can recommend that I do, or should I give up and
> make a black tunic?
>
> Many thanks,
>
> Margaret Wolseley
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