How to Bleach Dye a T-Shirt in a Few Easy Steps
So, a few weeks ago my daughter was all about this bleach dye phase. We had seen it on several sweatshirts and hoodies and thought that it looked cool, but the finished product always seemed expensive. So, we wondered if we could do it ourselves. How hard could it be?
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Then we saw t-shirts and long sleeved shirts in Michaels one day on sale. Fate. Serendipity. Whatever you want to call it. It’s all good and it clearly was a sign that we had to do this craft.
So, it was decided. We would bleach dye a t-shirt and maybe a long sleeved shirt too. We bought about three different shirts for trials. One was black, one was bright red and one was heather grey.
First up. The black t-shirt. We loved the way that the dark black t-shirt would turn to a rusty brown shade that made a random abstract pattern. Black seemed like a reliable and easy colour to tackle.
So, that’s where we began.
It’s super simple to bleach dye clothing. The only real secret was basically finding the best colour of clothing to start with, because the light grey did not work at all. I think the colour was simply too light and just didn’t have enough dye pigment in it to actually change.
My daughter loved the black t-shirt and how it turned out. We were both curious and interested in the process and we didn’t actually care to make it a strategic pattern. Like a lot of things, we just dove right in. All we really needed was bleach, rubber gloves, a spray bottle, a dark or bright shirt and an open well ventilated area.
Table of Contents
This is an Easy Take on Tie Dye
Bleach dye is the latest trend in tie dye basically. All you really need to do is replace the tie dye colours with bleach. But here are the instructions if you would like a play by play on how to make your own.
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This is anything but hard to do and the results are amazing.
How to Make a Bleach Dye T-shirt
Equipment
- spray bottle
- rubber gloves
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup bleach
- 10 elastic bands
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 t-shirt – dark or bright colours
Instructions
- Start in a well ventilated area. (crack a window open). Be careful what you wear. You don't want bleach splashing on your clothing. Put rubber gloves on.
- Crinkle up your t-shirt, no matter whether it is long sleeved or short sleeved.
- Take elastics and twist off pieces of the shirt. Use 6-10 elastics.
- Mix bleach and water and put it into a spray bottle.
- Place the t-shirt in a laundry bin or washing machine.
- Spritz the sectioned off bits of the t-shirt randomly. Don't be stingy. It should be good and soaked.
- Leave it for 3 hours to set.
- When time is up, remove the elastics while wearing gloves.
- Rinse the shirt and wash it in the laundry. Dry it in the dryer or let it air dry. Don't leave in direct sun or it might fade. Wear it and impress everyone.
If you like this then you will also want to check out this No Sew Blanket.
Make it for a Fraction of the Cost
Sometimes the latest fashions are also pretty easy to make on your own. This bleach dye trend is one of those trends you can easily do for a fraction of the price.
