Will bleach ruin seat belts?

[72Blazerod]

Hi guys,

I just got some white seat belts for free but the have mildew stains (the donor truck was leaky). I was wondering if bleach would break down the fibres like it does to cotton? Any info is appreciated.

Rod

 

[Marc72]

Well... I have white seatbelts as well and I bleached them. There is no damage at all that I can see, but it didn't work terribly well - I really had to soak 'em for a long time. I'm pretty sure that the synthetic material is pretty bleach resistant so I wouldn't worry.

However, I must warn you that if you have black carpet and your top leaks a little bit like mine does, the dye from the carpet will stain the belts if you leave them hanging on the carpet...

 

[rampage]

I think seat belts are made out of nylon and bleach can weaken nylon ... but you won't know if it did until you need them most. I wouldn't do it.

 

[Marc72]

I think in the 70's they switched to polyester but either way, rampage is probably right that it could weaken the belt. You might try to use an oxygen bleach like Oxyclean.

 

[POFF]

Mine are half blue and half brown. I scrubbed mine with Simple Green and a nylon brush. Worked pretty well. Try OxyClean too, heard good things about it.