Jean Lab

In this lab, we answered the question, what is the best concentration of bleach to fade the color of new jeans with the least fabric damage. We found that 100% bleach gave the best color removal with relatively little fabric damage. There was an average of 8.5 color removal and an average damage of just 3.6. Just looking at the jeans squares, the color removal was immediately noticeable and extreme, while the damage was nearly unnoticeable. This data supports our claim that 100% bleach is the most effective, because it had more than twice the color removal as some of the other data samples. This would make sense, because bleach has color removing power, so the more bleach the more color removal. 

While our hypothesis is supported by the data, there could have been errors due to the fact that the jeans samples we used in the test were not consistent. For one specific test, we sometimes used up to three different jeans samples, making hard to judge the effectiveness of the color removal and the compare the damage. This made the data inconsistent and possibly inaccurate. Also, our timing was not always completely accurate, often being off by a few seconds. This may have affected the results by making the tests inconsistent. In future labs, this would be an easy fix. To fix, just make sure you use fabric all from the same jeans and keep everything that is not the independent variable consistent. 

This lab was done to demonstrate how bleach can affect the color of jeans and to teach us proper lab procedures. The procedure can be adjusted to give more accurate results by stating that all jeans used in the same test have to be the same and by giving students more time to complete the lab. The procedure used in this lab followed the scientific method and the procedures for labs we learned in the vodcasts. By doing this lab, I expanded my knowledge of lab procedures and was able to practice carrying out a real lab. This will help me in every lab going forward, because lab procedure is a skill used for any science lab.