Dissolve the bleach or dye really well in the water and have the jeans already wet before you soak them.

better off giving them away and buying new jeans the color you want. I was at my neighbors house and they spilled Lcb on my black sweatpants I was wearing. The pants turned a nasty color pink. I had to trash them.

Oxy bleach won't be strong enough to lift the color. LCB might, if you use enough, and as already mentioned, you might not like the results -plus- "enough" will weaken the fabric and hasten its demise. Best to just toss or donate them.

As mentioned above, bleaching your jeans could give you the result of pink, or a definite brown. I have one distinctly brown sock, looks intentional - a black ralph lauren that mistakenly went in with a load of whites with bleach.

There's also the chance any seams or stitching won't lift to the same color as the jeans, and any place the fabric is worn (knees, seat) could become an uneven color too.

Funky colors are from chlorine, right? Or could oxygen bleach backfire too?

Oxy could backfire if the base fabric was a different color before it was dyed black. It happens with thread....a bad color lot so it gets over-dyed to black. Not saying it always happens with jeans, etc., but remotely possible. The original color of the fabric will always be an unknown. Sounds like you really want to do this, so go for it. For the sake of science, of course. I'll be curious to see how it turns out.

(edited to correct autocorrect)

Just for fun and an idea for creativity, check out this site with pics of fabrics and fiber art done with bleach.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/253960866457435008/

I'm a fiber artist and have used bleach on black fabric. Every fabric shows a different base color when bleached. You can make some nice designs with splattering, stamping, or a brush. This is best used for wall art than for clothes, though, because the bleached fabric will fall apart after washing and wearing. Have fun with it.

Oxygen Bleach will fade but won't remove color like chlorine. Even with a bleach activator and screaming hot water Oxygen bleach won't strip color.

Suburbanmd. Rit makes a color remover but I've never used it. If you play around with your jeans let us know how it works out. Have fun.

Actually I only have one pair of black jeans, not two. Gave the other one away, I think.

I'd be happy if they would fade to gray. Today I washed them at 80C with two tablespoons of sodium percarbonate (and a little detergent to soften the water). They're still very black, but maybe faded a bit from the original jet black (it's a new pair). Perhaps I'll try again at 95C, and repeat as necessary. Running short on sodium percarbonate though so I have to restock.

Just wondering what is wrong with black jeans? I am not a fan of jeans but will wear them to work around the house, but if I am going to wear dress jeans they will be black. So you don't like black jeans?

Jerrod, I wanted them when I bought them for general use. Then I discovered L.L. Bean Pathfinder Pants, which have two extra pockets that are hidden. Kind of like a respectable-looking version of cargo pants. Now I wear only Pathfinders outside the house, leaving my remaining jeans for in-home use, which for me includes walking around the neighborhood. My neighborhood has no sidewalks, so visibility is important, and black pants contribute nothing to visibility. I do wear a fluorescent belt most of the time when walking, but every little bit helps, considering how distracted drivers are these days. A full fluorescent vest would be uncomfortable for much of the year, for me anyway.

Trim your pants out with reflective tapes ;) visibility solved, lol

I use something like these that I bought at local Fleet Feet store:

Slap on reflective bands