Have you ever tried to bleach a drop cloth and was not successful? I have! I have tried many times and was not successful. There’s a reason for that…
All drop cloths are not created equal! The only drop cloth that has ever bleached for me is one I bought from Amazon. This particular drop cloth bleaches very nicely.
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Bleaching the Drop Cloth
Bleaching a drop cloth can be very easy and very cost effective. The simple way of doing this, is with a top loader washing machine, however I only have a front loader washing machine and this will not work in the front loader. Therefore, I resorted to using my bathtub.
These drop cloths that you find here are simple to bleach because they are 100% cotton. Most drop cloths are not 100% cotton and will not bleach. (I have found out the hard way).
You will need a lot of bleach, to bleach one drop cloth. I don’t particularly like to use bleach in my natural home, therefore I close the door to the bathroom and turn the exhaust fan on. I do go one step further and place a towel on the outside bottom of the bathroom door to keep the bleach odor contained in the bathroom.
What you Will Need
You will need 2 gallons of bleach for every 9 x 12 drop cloth. I take my drop cloth and hand rip in half along the heavy seam. I bleach one half of the drop cloth to one gallon of bleach.
Instructions
I fill my bathtub with very hot water, enough to cover the drop cloth. I fill the tub with hot water and at the same time I add 1 gallon of bleach. Continue to check that the drop cloth is in the bleach water completely covered and wet.
Every 3 to 4 hours stir the drop cloth and move it around in the bleach water, making sure all areas of the drop cloth are wet. I use a long broomstick to move it around.
Leave the drop cloth in the bleach water for 24 hours. Do I stir it every 4 to 5 hours? Frankly, I don’t, I just stir it and move it around as often as I can. However, this is important to do, just so you won’t have areas that do not bleach. The most important tip is that it needs to be covered in the bleach water the entire time.
24 Hours
After your drop cloth has been in the tub for 24 hours, place the entire drop cloth in a bucket, by using heavy duty dishwashing gloves to handle and do not wring it out. Place it in the washer in a very hot wash cycle, and after it has washed, place it in the dryer to dry. Once dried, I check for any areas the bleach may have missed. If there are some missed areas, I just take about 1/3 cup of bleach (depending on the size of unbleached area) and pour it directly on the area and I leave this bleach on approximately another 8 hours, then check it again. Once that area has bleached, I put it in the washing machine to wash again and then dry it.
The Bleached Drop Cloth
The drop cloth comes out beautiful, white and extremely soft and very easy to work with. This is very durable fabric and you can do almost anything with it.
I have bleached several of these drop cloths. I have covered bar stools, slipcovered wingback chairs, made wreaths and made curtains and even made a tablecloth. This fabric is very versatile, durable, and very cost friendly.
I made this wreath below by using a drop cloth that had been bleached. The fabric is soft and very easy to handle. If you notice this wreath is pristine white.
Have fun!
XOXO
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