Can I fix a sun-bleached dress?

Question

A friend of mine gave me a cute sundress recently, dark blue with flowers embroidered all over it. I left it sitting folded in my room while I went on vacation and found it sunbleached in one square when I returned! Is there anything i can do?

Answer 1

Try putting some Sun Restiant matiral over the square then leave it in the sun for however long you were on vaction thus bleaching the rest of the dress the same color

Answer 2

Both natural and synthetic polymers are affected by UV light.  The structure of the molecules breaks down, causing a release of free radicals.  These molecules then further react with oxygen to form carbonyl groups, which both bleach existing color and cause the slightly browned color of white material.

What I'm trying to say is that the sun damage is molecular in nature and is irreversible.  The best thing you can do is to cover the square and leave the rest of the dress in the sun for an equal amount of time to even out the color. You can also try dyeing the dress in the wash with color tablets if dyeing will not affect other parts of the dress.