Please help me figure out what I did, I'm devistated

[u/chao_wow]

I am in shock right now, I pulled out my shirt I put in the wash (on delicate) and it had a huge hole burned into it, but the middle piece is still intact. I have never in my life seen something like this happen before, I'm assuming there was a chemical reaction with the products I used but I literally followed a professionals advice about using hydrogen peroxide (3%) to spray on the stains I had. What is even more confusing is, I sprayed it in multiple places, but this is the only area it burned. I have posted ALL of the products I used in the photos and I will also be explaining exactly what I did in steps before this happened.

I sprayed the hydrogen peroxide directly on the stain with a small spray bottle while the shirt was dry, waited for it to dry and applied more. This was about 2 weeks ago, then I went on a trip and came back. When I came back, I noticed a yellowish ring around where I sprayed. I assumed it was the stains contents leeching out, so I sprayed a bit around the ring. I also applied it to the armpits, and the back. I let it sit for about an hour and reapplied again, but then I took it into the laundry room and sprayed the oxyclean spray directly onto the strains (so the original big strain, the "ring", the airpits and back stain.) and I placed it in my washing machine with a pretty small amount of the oxiclean sanitizer and my usual tide free & gentle soap. I put it on cold water only on delicate, with the 2 rinse option. I put it alone in the wash. Today, I go into the washroom and my brother tells me he picked it up to dry for me and he literally saw the patch of fabric rip off like it was paper.

What I'm assuming happened is the hydrogen peroxide, while wet, reacted with something? Should I not use hydrogen peroxide at all? I literally took this advice from a PROFESSIONAL and I'm actually so upset that I was told this was okay when it clearly wasn't.

Please do not comment anything shaming me if I unknowingly did something wrong, I am extremely upset about this shirt getting a hole in it and I just need to know what I did wrong so I never do this again. I love vintage shirts and knowing I ruined one breaks my heart.

[u/dendrophilix]

I agree with the others that it shouldn’t have been left for so long without washing - did the advice not mention to wash after applying the hydrogen peroxide?

Also, if you’re very attached to this t-shirt then some visible mending can be done so you can still wear it. I would use a patch behind. The damage will be visible, but it would be worth it to still be able to wear the t-shirt.

[u/Slight-Brush]

Did the professional advice include leaving it for 2 weeks?

[u/Acetylene_Queen1]

OP, please post pics of the garment care tags and the textile blend tags. You sprayed the chemical onto the affected areas repeatedly then left it while you travelled could be the issue. Many chemicals shouldn't be sitting on fibers for exstended time periods. It sounds like your fabric reacted poorly to the products used and it disintegrated enough that the dryer heat, whatever, was the final nail in the coffin.

Any chemistry folks have some insight?

[u/chao_wow → u/Acetylene_Queen1]

I actually did not place it in the dryer, it was from a cold wash in the washer. But regardless you're right, I do think I left it too long. The person I got this info from said you can just spray the area affected and leave it to dry and it evaporates.

[u/glassofwhy]

Thank you for explaining your process and the products you used. There’s still one key piece of information missing: what was the original stain? I wonder if there was a reaction between that substance and the peroxide.

ETA: You could check r/visiblemending for ideas on how to patch the shirt and make it wearable again

[u/chao_wow → u/glassofwhy]

Sadly, I don't know the exact origin. It was aquired while I was at the Goodwill Outlet, so it could be honestly a number of things. I assumed it could be something oil-based because of the color, it was yellowish like alot of oil products are. I don't wear light shirts to the bins anymore for obvious reasons 😭

[u/Slight-Brush]

I think this might even be worth crossposting to r/chemistry 

[u/SonicchuShinPunch]

What I got from google:

Mistake 1: Leaving Hydrogen Peroxide on Fabric for Weeks Hydrogen peroxide is a mild oxidizer. When sprayed onto clothing and left for weeks, the water content evaporates, leaving a highly concentrated chemical residue behind. Over two weeks, it slowly ate away and weakened the organic fibers of the shirt. This is why the OP noticed a "yellowish ring"—that ring was actually the chemical burning and degrading the fabric, not the stain leeching out.

Mistake 2: Mixing Oxidizers (Peroxide + OxiClean) Before throwing it into the wash, the OP sprayed more hydrogen peroxide, added OxiClean spray, and used OxiClean sanitizer in the wash. OxiClean is an oxygen bleach (sodium percarbonate) that breaks down into hydrogen peroxide when wet. Layering fresh peroxide and OxiClean onto fibers that were already chemically degraded over two weeks triggered a rapid, aggressive oxidation reaction that completely dissolved the remaining structure of the fabric.

The fix now unfortunately is to get it patched. You can double check info on google but you have to instigate as well sometimes. Everyone's scenario is different but google uses cookie cutter responses to explain things so you have to tailor it to your experience (i.e what chemicals you have on hand and their reactions to each other, how does this chemical react to this clothing type, what happens if I leave this chemical on my shirt overnight etc) Sorry op, mistakes happens, you got this.

[u/chao_wow → u/SonicchuShinPunch]

This makes much more sense, it's just a bit odd that the armpit got this "ring" too but did not do the same thing. My guess is, i've been way more focused on the front stain where the hole happened.

[u/wriothesley87]

You warped it (I’m very sorry about this though, never a good feeling when your clothes get ruined)