system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5How does bleach work? What does it do to color?

I thought it made things colorless, but then it turned my green couch yellow! please explain.
gpt
Bleach is a really intense base. It oxidizes the materials it comes in contact with. Chromophores are the parts of molecules that reflect light and give color to those molecules. When bleach is introduced to material, the oxidation process alters the chromophores in such a way that they no longer reflect only the light that gives color to the material. This is how bleach essentially strips away color. However, different materials, colors, and amounts of bleach can affect the oxidation process enough to produce a range of shades from white to yellow.