HOW TO: Can I bleach a Jean Jacket?

sandpaper can be used instead of bleach to aviod the splotchy effect. I would suggest testing a spot inside the sleeveor on an older pair of jeans first.

Is that one of those that is 10X bigger than a normal jacket?

Actually, no! He's very "Retro". 14 and likes metal bands from the 70's and eighties! Rock and roll all the way! Weird?

Hmm. Thenks for the tip. I don't think I want to work that hard... Just want to throw it in the wash if I can.

Try washing it in HOT water and soap first. If a couple washings doesn't lighten it up enough, they try 1/2 cup of bleach and soap in hot water (large setting), but make sure to fill the tub and agitate before adding the jacket, or you might ruin it. If that still isn't enough, then try more bleach.

My 10X comment was in reference to "1000% cotton".

Ha! Ha! I thought you meant Baggy clothes!

That's what I thought I'd try. Just wanted to get some reassurance on not making it splotchy. I guess you have to make sure you dilute the bleach evenly first.

If your worried about it being splotchy, take it out of the water and put it back in a couple of time, just to make sure it's not all scrunched up. Otherwise, it will probably have some darker and lighter areas.

Thanks everyone. It's in now-- we'll see.

I'm late and have no advice since I never did this, but I'm waiting to hear about the results. Good luck fealola ;-)

Well... it may be too late for this. But what he REALLY wants is to bleach it using a squirt gun.

try it with a dark Tee shirt first

Well, I ran it through twice with soap, hot water and lots of bleach. Nothing happened! Maybe the squirt gun direct approach is the way. He would enjoy that anyway!

I just took it out of the dryer and it looks a little bit more used. Very subtle though.

I think a lot of these new bleaches are "color safe". You haveta get the evil industrial-strength kind.

Ohhh. I figured it had to do with something like that.

Off topic as usual, but I have never found a bleach that was safe for socks with elastic ankles, regardless of claims on the label.

Where is kuvasz when you need him?
and ... where is kuvasz?

This thread reminds me of a TV commercial where a young boy in dark jeans sees a store display that says "faded jeans are in." He goes home and washes his pants over and over with some detergent, but they don't fade. Finally he sees "Prevents Fading" on the detergent label!

If I had a very dark jacket that I wanted to lighten several shades, I wouldn't use the washing machine or soap. I would get a BIG tub of some kind (or use the bathtub) and put in about four or five inches of hot water. I'd wet the jacket and take it out, then add a quart or more of Chlorine bleach and stir it until it was completely mixed. Then I'd put the jacket back in and leave it in the bleach until it looked like I wanted it to. Try to submerge the jacket, perhaps with weights of some kind, or keep turning it over or stirring it often.

The only warning here is that Chlorine bleach will eat away at the fibers of the jacket -- it will be softer, which is good, but if you leave it in the solution too long it will tear easily -- not good.

Then wash it with detergent and no bleach, and dry.

I think I'll try that the next time! Maybe add the bleach little by little until something happens.