About 12 years ago, I did an experiment with an ancient dacron mainsail, using oxyclean powdered detergent. I applied it as a paste to the ancient sail adn set it in the sun. I don't remember the details of how I tortured the sail... I think I kept wetting it down.... but I do remember the result: the section of the mainsail I treated turned yellow...JoeG wrote:Judy,
What about Oxygen bleach like Oxy clean?
Less damaging than chlorine bleach, correct?
. Now, of course, that's a very high concentration of oxyclean!!!!I suspect that if you dilute it enough, it won't harm the nylon, but then it might not get the stain out either.
I looked up the chemical composition of Oxyclean. It's sodium carbonate and percarbonate, which yields hydrogen peroxide when dissolved in water. (it's dry hydrodgen peroxide -- anhydrous hydrogen peroxide
LOL!) 2Na2CO3.3H2O2 → 2Na2CO3 + 3H2O2
HEY !
the light bulb in my head just turned on!!!!I could have soaked a sample piece of nylon in Oxyclean!!!
I didn't have peroixide in the house, but I do have oxyclean.
I don't trust my skill at making predictions about chemical reactions, so I'm going to pass on this question.
I learned the truth about me and chemistry in undergrad and grad school:
In chemistry, it's easy to learn the general rule, but it's hard to memorize all the damned exceptions to the rule .
I love chemistry. It's is cool. but I have forgotten, quite happily, most of the details from thousands of hours of studying various kinds of chemistry.
I have a love-hate relationship with chemistry
I gotta go back to work. Customers are waiting on their sails.... I'm NOT gonna write anymore.....
