The main targets of bleaches are oxidisible organic stains

Main article: Bleach
The main targets of bleaches are oxidisible organic stains; which are usually of vegetable origin (e.g. chlorophyll, anthocyanin dyes, tannins, humic acids, and carotenoid pigments). Despite the name, modern bleaching agents do not include household bleach (sodium hypochlorite). Laundry bleaches are typically stable adducts of hydrogen peroxide, such as sodium perborate and sodium percarbonate, these are inactive as solids but will react with water to release hydrogen peroxide which performs the bleaching action. Bleach activators such as tetraacetylethylenediamine (TAED) are also increasingly used, these react with hydrogen peroxide to produce peracetic acid, which is an even more effective bleach,particularly at lower temperatures (<60 °C).