In the Jean lab, we asked the question “What concentration of bleach is best to fade the color out of new denim material in 10 minutes without visible damage to the fabric”. In our data table we used the numbers 0-10 to describe the color removal and fabric damage where 0 is no change and 10 is a big change. The 0% bleach was 0 for all of them which means it had no change in color or fabric damage. The 12.5% it was a 1.6 for color removal and an average of 1 for fabric damage. There was almost no change at all in this one. In the 25% bleach it was an average of 2.3 for color removal and 1.2 for fabric damage. There was very little change. For the 50% one, it was an average of 5.3 for color removal and 3.3 for fabric damage. You could tell that it was faded and there was very little fabric damage. In the 100% it was an average of 8.6 for color removal and 5 for fabric damage. This one was very faded, it had yellow tints as well. There was a little visible damage and the fabric was thinned out. We found that the 50% bleach was the best. We knew before that bleach fades out the color or takes out the stains in fabrics. It is to be used with white clothes. This data supports our claim because there a significant change in color faded and not a lot of damage in fabric.
A possible error that we might have made is not measuring very accurately. We might have measured too little or too much bleach which would have made a change in the results. While our hypothesis was supported by our data, there could have been errors due to not measuring accurately. One error we made is only washing out the jean squares once when we were supposed to wash them out twice. This might have affected the color of the jean squares. Another possible error that could have been made is that we took the jean squares one by one rather than all at the same time which could have made some of the jean squares more soaked in the bleach than the others. Due to these errors, in future experiments I would recommend taking more time for measuring rather than trying to finish the experiment quickly, wash the jean squares twice, and to take out the squares all at the same time and separate them on the paper towel.
This lab was done to demonstrate which concentration of bleach would be best to fade out the color in new denim material in 10 minutes without visible damage to the fabric. This lab could be improved by having more solution in the petri dishes. I felt that some of the jean squares did not really soak in the solution because there was too little solution. Another thing that might have improved this lab is using pipettes for measuring. It was really hard to measure accurately just by pouring it in.This lab is important to learning about the scientific method and how the concentration of bleach is like. From this lab I learned that 50% bleach would be best to fade out jeans which helps me understand the concept of bleaching. I also learned about the steps and procedures of the scientific method because of this lab. Based on my experience from this lab, when I dye jeans I will use a 50% concentration.
Concentration (% bleach)
|
Average color removal
|
Average fabric damage
|
100
|
8.6
|
5
|
50
|
5.3
|
3.3
|
25
|
2.3
|
1.3
|
12.5
|
1.6
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
