Naturally yellowed, historic, undyed cotton fabric was bleached by selected methods to determine whitening effectiveness and extent of physical and chemical degradation. Evaluated were samples chemically bleached with hydrogen peroxide bleach solutions at concentrations of 0.3 and 0.6% and oxidized for, 1, and 3 hours; and samples sun-bleached in natural light for 4, 16, and 32 hours. Whiteness Index values were greatest for the chemically bleached samples oxidized for 3 hours and for the sun-bleached samples exposed to sunlight for 32 hours. Physical and chemical degradation, assessed by breaking strength, methylene blue, and copper number tests, revealed that no significant changes in the physical or chemical properties of the cotton samples resulted from the various bleaching treatments.