How do I go about reblueing bleach stains out of my denim jeans???  I
have half dozen spots the size of a b-b on the leg of my BRAND NEW
felt-lined (read expensive) jeans that I don't want to abandon. 
PLEASE help.

Hello sfroamer!

I have a solution for you. I know this will work for you, and the
color will match perfectly...

Acereacher's idea of permanant indelible markers was not stupid at
all. In fact, I have used them many times in my Carpet and Upholstery
Cleaning business when customers spill bleach on a carpet. The trick
is matching the color, and luckily this is not as difficult as it
sounds.

You will want to locate "PANTONE" Indelible Markers at your local (and
large) Art Supply Store. Pantone Markers come in literally thousands
of colors. You can find a supplier near you by calling Pantone: (201)
935-5500, or simply look in your local Yellow Pages under Art Supplies
and call the biggest store you can find. You will be absolutely
astounded at the sheer volume of colored markers they have.

What I have done in the past was to take a piece of carpet with me to
select the TWO NEAREST colors, one slightly darker, the other slightly
lighter. --So when you locate the store nearest you that carries
Pantones, take the jeans with you to the store. The two pantones will
be nearly identical in color, but very slightly different.

The person at the counter will likely assist you in the best way to
apply the Pantone Marker to the jeans. What I have done in the past
was apply the darkest one in the center and the lighter one at the
edge of the bleach mark, and use rubbing alcohol to rub and "blend"
the two colors to match the jeans.  The color on the cap is the color
in the marker. If you can't match exactly, lighter is always better,
however remember, washing will lighten the Pantone over time,
indelible (permanent) or not.

You might consider cutting a small piece of the jean material from the
pocket of the jeans or wherever you can take a tiny piece, and
"pre-bleach" to take with you so you can do a trial run, possibly with
the salesperson's assistance. After a few washes you *might* need to
freshen up the color again, be sure to use the lighter color then.

Good luck, although with Pantones, you don't need luck!!

--Cynthia

---

Clarification of Answer by cynthia-ga on 06 Nov 2002 12:29 PST

I forgot the link to Pantone --whoops!

Pantone
http://www.pantone.com/pantone.asp

Hi sfroamer,

I won't offer an answer, as it's possible there may be some
proprietary compound out there that I've not been able to find, that
will fix your problem without resorting to drastic measures.

However, in a 'last ditch' scenario, you might try soaking the jeans
for a few days in a bleach solution, agitating often to try and ensure
even bleaching, until all the blue colour is totally removed. Then,
rinse several times with half a pint of vinegar in the last rinse to
neutralise any remaining bleach.

Finally, obtain some blue fabric dye, follow the directions on the
tin, and re-dye the jeans.

This procedure, though, has as much chance of failure as success -
proceed with caution ;-)

gan

sfroamer,

gan-ga has presented a possible good solution. However, I would be
very careful about how strong of a bleach solution you use, and I
would not recommend letting your jeans soak for a very long period of
time. Bleach in strong concentrations or prolonged exposure can weaken
or destroy cloth fibers (unfortunately, I found this out by accident).
However, a quick bleaching and then re-dyeing may very well provide
you with good even color.

Since it does not sound like you have huge areas that have been
bleached, I might suggest that you try something I have done in the
past: fill in the spots with permanent magic marker. It sounds stupid,
but it does work; I have used it for bleach spots on black items. You
will want to try the color first on an inside patch to check the color
match. If you don't like the results, permanent marker can usually be
removed by soaking in rubbing alcohol.

Good luck!

aceresearcher

Oh, I didn't realize how old this question was. Oh well...
I had that bleach then dye idea. I let my shirt sit in bleach for a
day or two. The bleach was nonclorinated, but it still turned my shirt
to shreads. A fine brush and fabric die didn't work well for me
either, but it probably would have if I was more careful staying
within the lines, matching the color, and using some sealing agent so
the color wouldn't spread (I THINK there is such a thing).

Maybe you should consider stone washing them, if you can find a kit in
a crafts store, so the color will be mottled everywhere, not just
where you mess up. They also sell stuff to fade color on fabric, but I
never tried it.