• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Odds / How does Bleach get clothes white and How does Clorox work?

How does Bleach get clothes white and How does Clorox work?

February 14, 2020 by Karen Hill

Most laundry bleaches, including the household wizard Clorox bleach, are oxidizing agents.

In the washing machine they release free-roving molecules of sodium hypochlorite or peroxide. The color of a stain or spot is made up of a group of atoms and molecules linked together by a pattern of double and single bonds.

The oxidizing agent tears into those bonds, destroying the bond pattern and fading the color or changing it completely to white. The stain is still there, albeit invisible, until detergent and the agitation of the machine lift most of it off.

Fabric colors are also made up of bonds, so that if you add bleach to the wrong kinds of wash loads, clothes that aren’t colorfast, you’ll notice that the colors you liked might also become invisible.

Related Facts

  • How do I Remove Red Wine Stains from Tablecloths, Clothing, and Carpet without using Bleach?
  • Why Does Laundry Bleach Turn Colored Clothes White?
  • Why Are Primary Colors Blue, Green, and Red In Science But Blue, Yellow, and Red In Art Class?
  • How do Dry Cleaners dry clean clothes without getting them wet?
  • Why Is Snow White If It’s Made of Water, and Water Is Colorless?
  • In an emergency can bleach be used to purify water?

Filed Under: Odds

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « Where does Wind Shear come from and How do pilots and airports detect wind shear?
Next Post: How is radioactive nuclear waste disposed of and stored safely underground? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2020 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy