LOOKING 4 SOMETHING?

Honestly WTF

DIY Bleach Tie Dye

Posted by on

Last summer, we were obsessed with shibori indigo tie dying. No, really . . . we just about dyed anything white in sight. So when Free People asked us to include a DIY in their guest blogger series, we knew a new tie dye project was absolutely in order. And as the weather is beginning to warm up, what better time than now to start experimenting with reverse tie dye using bleach! Black tees and tops: watch out!

You’ll need:
- a 100% cotton black shirt (we used this Free People tee)
- a few cups of bleach
- a bucket
- a pair of gloves
- a few rubber bands
- 2 flat shaped objects used for binding

To make a grid-like pattern, fold the shirt like an accordion and bind it between two pieces of wood or other flat shaped objects. Hold the shirt in place by wrapping a series of rubber bands around the bind. Anything used to bind the clothing will prevent the bleach from penetrating, and the rest of the exposed fabric will bleach and turn color. Click here for more binding alternatives.

Before you start bleaching, make sure you are wearing gloves and working outdoors or in a well ventilated area. Dilute approximately 4 cups of bleach with 1 cup of water. Submerge the shirt into the bleach for only a couple of seconds. Watch it very carefully because depending on the thread count of the clothing, the color can turn very quickly and the bleach may start to erode the fabric. As soon as the black transforms into a rusty brown color, immediately remove it from the bleach. Give it a quick rinse, unbind it, and then hang it. (Click images to enlarge)

The rusty brown color will slowly fade into a beautiful lighter shade as it begins to set. Once its dry, wash the shirt in a washing machine.

Your reverse bleach tie dye shirt is ready to wear!

(top image from here, rest of images by HonestlyWTF)

126 Comments

  5. Karen    March 16, 2011

    Have wanted to try this for a long time! I did once use bleach to paint a design on a dark shirt. It looked good but the shirt developed holes where it had been bleached after a few months.
    So I would highly recommend not leaving the bleach on too long and treating the bleached garment very delicately. On the other hand, its so easy to do, if the first one falls apart, you can always make another!

  11. Michelle    March 16, 2011

    i love that grid pattern but i can’t seem to figure out how you folded it. it looks like a lot of shirt got bleached but it turned out that only bits of it was. how did you do it??

  12. sarah    March 16, 2011

    I totally tackled a similar DIY recently, not tie dye, but bleach spattering a black garment. I love the results of bleach on a colored garment! If anyone wants to see how I did my bleach treatment you can follow this link. http://huntgatherfashion.com/diy/

  18. Andrea    March 16, 2011

    I dip dyed a plain black tank top dress that I had bought second hand, and it turned out amazing. The hem stayed black but the fabric turned into a lovely rose/creme/brown array of colors. I splattered a little bit of bleach around too for effect. It reminds me of gypsies and looks great with other tops layered over it. Bleaching is so easy and cheap!

  19. Lia    March 16, 2011

    This is incredibly amazing! I cannot WAIT to do this! Killer ideas as always ladies!
    xoxo
    Lia

  25. Scarlett    March 16, 2011

    Oh my gosh, thank you!! I have had a plain boring black kaftan and it needed spicing up. So, with your powers combined, I am going to shibori bleach tie-dye it!
    YAY!!! thanks for refreshing my wardrobe. :)

  28. Nina P    March 17, 2011

    Ahh! OMFG! All your DIYs are so friggin cheap and easy. Its eating up all my spare time. But frankly, I LOVE IT!!! :-D

  29. Miranda    March 17, 2011

    Aaaaa! Now my shopping list includes black t-shirts, rubber bands and hex nuts to make that bracelet DIY. I will be visiting your site daily now! Thanks!

  30. Aubrey    March 17, 2011

    Adding this to the list of DIY projects I need to do over spring break. Love you guys!!

  32. jamie    March 18, 2011

    GAH!! I love love love this!! I have been looking for the perfect top top tie dye but I wasnt exactly going to do it this way. I LOVE how yours came out though so I am totally stealing the stick method!!

    http://www.glamlatte.com

  33. Kujaku    March 18, 2011

    Really adore this. I bought a black shirt for another project the other day, then realized that I couldn’t use it. So now I know what I’ll be doing with it instead. Thanks so much for the DIY. :D

  37. Kenners    March 21, 2011

    Oh So Pretty. And I love your one Nomadic D – it turned out beautiful, even if unexpected :)

  41. Barbara    June 19, 2011

    http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/FAQ/neutralizingdischarge.shtml

    This is a great project and to make it even better, read the info at the link above. Be sure to read the part about using Hydrogen peroxide (readily available at your local drug store) to neutralize the bleach so you fabric will not be weakened. If you read Paula Birch’s site you can learn all kinds of things about dye and discharge. (she is a chemist)

  42. Tia    June 20, 2011

    I have been working with bleach dye ever since I saw this tutorial– the results are fantastic and I can’t thank you enough! However, I do have a couple of questions…

    Q1: How long does it take for the bleach to usually fade to a white?
    Q2: Is there anyway (other than bleaching again) to aid in the fading process?
    Q3: Is there any way to stop the fading?

    Thanks!

  43. K    June 22, 2011

    do the shibori techniques also work for bleach tie dying? For example the one with stones?

  45. Elaine    July 6, 2011

    Can you give more step by step instructions on folding please? I made two shirts and did the accordion style, but they both did not come out with the grid pattern as the example above. the first time I did not bind the boards together tightly enough and the second shirt came out with only vertical stripes. Love this idea, but I need a bit more help. Thanks!

  46. Erica    July 6, 2011

    @Elaine, make sure you’re not doing a straight fold but an accordion/zig zag fold. once you’ve folded the shirt from top to bottom, fold the shirt left to right (accordion once again). be sure to bind tightly and you should be good! hope that helps!!

  47. AmyO    July 17, 2011

    To stop the caustic effects of bleach on fabric, you have to use something to neutralize the bleach. The easiest thing to use is hydrogen peroxide. Rinse your fabric after bleaching and just pour the peroxide right on, enough to saturate all the bleached areas. This won’t do a whole lot to stop the degradation of synthetic fibers, pure cellulose fabrics work best (cotton, for example) but it will slow it down a little.

    Don’t use vinegar! It can combine with the bleach to make a toxic gas. If you really get into bleaching, there is a product called Anti-Chlor that is excellent.

    Excellent tutorial, by the way. Love the look.

  49. Megan Leone    August 2, 2011

    Ventilation is key. I became obsessed with this process a few years back when we lived in a tiny studio in Seattle with no windows in the bathroom. I apparently did it for too long and ended up loosing my sense of smell for a few hours. Really freaked me out!!!

  50. Serena    September 1, 2011

    this turned out amazing, i did an american apparel dress and its so cute! thanks

  52. steph    September 29, 2011

    woooooooooooow this is awesome!! i’ll definitely try this one i love you guys for sharing such amazing stuff :)

  53. Rochelle    October 19, 2011

    This is a great idea for a colored shirt you accidentally got a bleech spot on. You can revitalize your closet! Perfect

  54. Anne    October 19, 2011

    How do I get the pattern to come out as white as the shirt in the picture? Every time I try it comes out very red instead.

  55. Dawn    October 29, 2011

    Would this work on brown? I have a cute brown summer dress that has a bleach spot on it and I’d love to recreate the same effect as the black top. Would I need to do anything differenty?

  58. Charlotte    February 3, 2012

    love it!! tried it myself today, so easy and a great effect!! thx

  59. Cheryl    March 30, 2012

    I have used this to revive old pillow cases. Wear gloves and something you don’t care about. String works well as a resist instead of rubber bands. Also…folding paper the way you will fold the fabric, and then mark the fold lines on the paper to test possible fold techniques, will help you with the design…makes for fewer disappointing surprises.

  62. Julie    June 20, 2012

    Thank you for this great tutorial! I really want to recreate the shirt in your inspiration photo. I can’t figure out though how to get the bottom part of the shirt to be darker than the top. Also, it’s shocking how few tutorials there are online on the shibori technique! I’ve only found a couple and not nearly as detailed and illustrative as yours. Thanks Honestly…WTF! :)

  64. Libby    July 21, 2012

    I’m baffled! I’m stunned! I’m flummoxed! I tried this technique with a $2.99 T-shirt from Walgreen’s, a Foot Locker irregular. It was deep purple and I thought pale lavender with a deep purple pattern would be cool. I tied it up to make dark circles, pinching up bits here are there and binding them tightly with stout button thread. I filled the sink with the right ratio of bleach to water and popped it in. I watched. I poked. I swirled. I waited. After a few minutes I took it out, grouchy that nothing seemed to be happening to the purple, but knowing I better not leave it in any longer. I started clipping the threads I had tied it with and my eyeballs almost came out of my head! The places where it had been tied had turned bright fuschia!! I continued clipping and unwrapping threads and more and more fuschia irregularly shaped circles emerged on a field of the same deep purple. I have no idea what it will look like when I machine wash it, but I can’t understand this at all. It looks like something you see under a microscope! Should be a lot of fun in microbiology class this fall.
    I can’t be certain, but I think my unexpected result might have something to do with the fact that the button thread I used was left over from when my great grandfather closed up his tailor shop in the 1940s. I can’t imagine how, but it’s the only thing I can think of.

  68. elyse    August 24, 2012

    I really like this but I don’t undertand how they show a picture of the whole shirt changing to the brown color and then in the end its black again??? I really want to do hthis so someone please help !

  70. jennie    September 27, 2012

    can you use dark blue to do this? As i really want to do my shorts, but i dont want to do them if it will ruin them

  71. Erica    September 27, 2012

    @jennie, if you want to reverse the method and use blue dye, I’d recommend using indigo dye for shibori. link to the supplies and tutorial here.

  75. artsy    December 26, 2012

    love this hope to do it soon but at my rate im going to get to this in a year
    (doing every single DIY)
    (what does DIY mean)

  76. eyka    January 13, 2013

    hye :) i wanna give some question.
    i’ve try to bleach a darkgrey shirt but i just a bit awkward why the shirt its not turn to solid white as what you have done
    teach me some technique please

  77. Janet    February 2, 2013

    OMG, and what are you supposed to do with all that leftover bleach water!? Just pour down the drain, I guess…it’s only some of the most toxic stuff on the planet, folks, come on…is cool really worth destoying the planet?

  78. gail    February 6, 2013

    Thank you for sharing – I’ve been looking for another creative avenue to go down & I’m going to jazz up some old shirts <3

  79. Lizzie    March 17, 2013

    Hi can you do this with any colour garment or does it have to black? Thanks :)

  80. tie dye    April 20, 2013

    This paragraph will help the internet viewers for setting up new webpage or even a blog from start to end.

Leave a Comment

© 2010-2013 Honestly Media
Pin It