When one piece of clothing colors another: what to do?

9 years ago

Yesterday I soaked some men's shorts that had gotten dusty (during a home renovation) in a large bucket with soapy water.

What I forgot was that I had dyed one of the shorts purple a few years ago and to this day it still leaks purple color when I'm washing it.

Well, it leaked this purple color on parts of a really nice khaki pair of shorts that I like.

Is there a way to remove these purple areas from the khaki shorts?

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Comments (9)

colleenoz
9 years ago
In Australia there is a product available in grocery stores which will remove dye overrun from clothing. I've used it and it works well as long as you follow the instructions. If you have dried the overdyed khaki shorts in the dryer, though, you may be out of luck as the heat can set the dye.
I would expect you have a similar product available there.
bostonoak
Original Author
9 years ago
Hi,

Amazing to hear from someone in Australia. The wonders of the Internet.

Do you have the name of the product? Just trying to get an idea of what the U.S. equivalent would be.

By the way, I love Australian films.
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dave1812
9 years ago
I left a beige shirt in diluted bleach for more than 4-5 hours to remove a stain. Didn't hurt the shirt, but I was worried it would ruin it. the stain was so bad, it was bleach it out or throw out my favorite shirt. I would think khaki might be amenable to such a treatment. I can't tell you the proportion of bleach to water, but I'm guessing it was maybe 2-3 cups to a 1/2 a tub (top loader) of water. Started out letting it sit for under 1 half hour, then more than an hour, than a couple hours, then another hour. The vivid green stain came out totally, by the end of the process.

All other stain-removal treatments I'd tried, had failed, BTW...

This post was edited by dave1812 on Fri, Dec 19, 14 at 17:38
Cavimum
9 years ago
Carbona's Color Run Remover might help.
http://www.carbona.com/color-run-remover.html
Elraes Miller
9 years ago
Isn't Ritz color remover used for it's dyes? I'd try that.
bbstx
9 years ago
I would start by soaking the shorts in a weak bleach solution (2 Tablespoons in 1 gallon of water). Let them soak for a couple of hours, then check. If the stain is still evident, add a couple more tablespoons of bleach. Check again. At about the 24 hour mark, I'd probably throw the shorts in the washer with a 1/2 cup bleach. Run through a full cycle then check. Hang to dry. When dry, check again. If necessary, start over with soaking.
beaglenc
9 years ago
If you are talking about LCB, I would be careful. Most LCB is concentrated now.
moviegeek
9 years ago
There's probably nothing you can do as the dye is set in the khaki shorts now, throw them away or dye them purple.

As for the purple shorts, if you really like them, soak them in cold water with one cup of white vinegar for one hour. Then wash them as usual in cold water, make sure to wash them separately in the future.
colleenoz
9 years ago
Sorry to be so long in getting back; it was Dylon Colour Run Remover, made by Spotless Punch Ltd in the UK. But, as I said, if the shorts have been in the dryer you may be out of luck.