Does anyone know how to get chlorine stains out of a BS?

[Jakesmom504]

Being budget minded because we are dirt broke at the present moment, I really need a new bathing suit but can't afford one right now. My suits from last year were ruined from one week in the pool on vaca last year. All the white parts of the suits are now a tan color but they actually look dirty so I won't wear them. Does anyone know if there is some way to bleach them without ruining the other colors? Or any other tricks that might work? Thanks!

 

[Chicklogic]

You could try going over the white part with a q-tip dipped in bleach or a bleach pen. Not sure if it would work well if the colors are close together.

I put vaseline along the color border (also with a q-tip) to avoid bleeding into the colors. If you absolutly won't wear it unless it is fixed then you have nothing to lose trying it.....

 

[twanner]

I'm afraid you won't have much luck with the bleaching. Have you considered looking into dyeing the bathing suit a darker color? I don't know if you'd need a specific kind of dye for swim suit material. You'd obviously want it to be pool friendly so you don't jump into the pool and leave a big cloud of color like an octopus!!

 

[bdcp]

Chlorine doesn't "stain". It removes/bleaches the color by fading over time. One week in a pool shouldn't have done anything. It usually takes a summer worths of wear to fade a suit very much, but not stain it. My guess is some kind of chemical reaction from something else in the pool, possibly your sunscreen. I wouldn't use straight bleach as it will eat through the fabric. You need to figure out what the suit is made of and try searching for the same discoloration issue. My guess is there's nothing you can do. Dyeing wont' necessarily work either and would probably come out blotchy. It's easy to dye cottons and cotton blends, but swimsuit fabric usually has different synthetic fabrics and not all will dye well.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

If your just looking to lighten the once white parts of the now tan areas on the suit, this is a simple and very cheap trick...put hydrogen peroxide on those areas or add it to the washer and wash it with that in there. I use hydrogen peroxide in my wash instead of oxyclean and it gets the same results and is much cheaper.

 

[Jakesmom504]

Chlorine doesn't "stain". It removes/bleaches the color by fading over time. One week in a pool shouldn't have done anything. It usually takes a summer worths of wear to fade a suit very much, but not stain it. My guess is some kind of chemical reaction from something else in the pool, possibly your sunscreen. I wouldn't use straight bleach as it will eat through the fabric. You need to figure out what the suit is made of and try searching for the same discoloration issue. My guess is there's nothing you can do. Dyeing wont' necessarily work either and would probably come out blotchy. It's easy to dye cottons and cotton blends, but swimsuit fabric usually has different synthetic fabrics and not all will dye well.

It's funny because I was thinking the same thing about the pool! In fact I noticed it even before the week was over last year! I even made a comment about how bad my suit looked while we were there and said I'll never buy another suit with white on it again but it's gotten even worse as it sat packed away for the year. Now that I think about it, my mom and I had really bad reactions to our sunscreen on vaca last year. We think it was just a bad bottle because we've both used that brand (Coppertone Sport) in the past but she put it on her face and ended up looking like an alien...no kidding! It wasn't until the 5th day of our trip that I realized her problem was from the sunscreen (I didn't know she was using it on her face). Then I ended up with blisters all over my arms, felt like sun blisters but I wasn't burnt. Sorry to get a little OT but maybe it did have something to do with the sunscreen. I had been using Neutrogena but forgot to bring it and started using my mom's Coppertone. Plus I have never had problems with my suits in pools in the past. That really ticks me off!

 

[Jakesmom504]

If your just looking to lighten the once white parts of the now tan areas on the suit, this is a simple and very cheap trick...put hydrogen peroxide on those areas or add it to the washer and wash it with that in there. I use hydrogen peroxide in my wash instead of oxyclean and it gets the same results and is much cheaper.

Thanks for the tip, I will definitely try this! I hadn't even thought of the Oxyclean stuff and at this point I'm really sick of wasting money so I'd hate to buy the stuff and have it not work. At least the peroxide is cheaper and I already have it here!