Sunday, August 21, 2011

Fashion Kills

I brewed up a poisonous cloud of chlorine gas in the process of dip bleaching my jorts.

I should have known better. As I was neutralizing the bleach soaked fabric in a solution of vinegar and water, I thought to myself,

“Huh, I wonder why it’s ok to mix vinegar and bleach but not ammonia and bleach? I guess vinegar is so weak that the acid-base reaction is minimal.”

Wrong. After a few swishes of the bleachy jorts in the vinegar/water mix, my nose, mouth, and lungs began burning. I immediately realized what had happened, but, stubbornly, held my breath to finish the project. The jorts were a success, but I feel pretty stupid. After all, I minored (and nearly double-majored) in chemistry.

My mucous membranes are mostly intact, but I recommend mixing your bleach and vinegar out of doors or not at all.


Jorts, Levi’s (thrifted, shortened, and bleached). Tee, Forever 21. Earrings, Monica D. Necklace, Phai’s House of Jade. Boots, Dan Post.

The house has been aired (I was working in the basement) and all the kitties are safe. In fact, they didn’t seem to notice the noxious fumes at all.


Before and after

Photos by Beefy Muchacho

13 comments:

Rachel - Firebird said...

Oh dear, they look amazing but I'm pleased you survived this experiment intact!

Patti @ NotDeadYet Style said...

Scary fashion story! Glad you and the kitties are OK. Oh, and the shorts look fab!

Tamia said...

Eh, what's a little toxic chlorine gas compared to the prospect of cute shorts?

Glad you(and the kittehs) are okay, though! That's definitely an OUTDOOR project.

~Tamia
TheStyleSample

Unknown said...

So glad you survived- the finished product is amazing!

The Tote Trove said...

That sounds kind of scary! Your shorts (jorts?) turned out fab, though.

Megan G said...

Glad everyone made it out alright - and the shorts came out pretty good to boot. Speaking of boots - love those!

maryeb said...

Ugh, sounds like something I would do.
I'm glad you and the kitties are a-ok. The jorts look terrific, really great with that top.

Unknown said...

Terrific!
I'm off to do a jacket!
xXx
reva

Sylvia said...

Really like this outfit and the photo. Very creative!

Cel said...

Nice work on the shorts, bummer about the fumes!

Anonymous said...

Kitties are immune because ammonia/vinegar = cat pee :P

Kujaku said...

I'm sort of curious what sort of ratio of bleach and time you took to bleach out the jorts? I've had not that great of a result in trying to bleach out denim because the color doesn't change all that much from the original however long I soak.

I'm not sure if I'm just being a wimp with how much bleach I'm using in the solution or what.

Kasmira said...

1 part bleach to 2 parts water. Try fresh bleach. It loses effectiveness over time.