How to Tie Dye a Shirt with Bleach

If you've heard of tie-dying with bleach, you might be wondering how on earth you do it. Is it complex? Nope, dyeing with bleach is pretty simple, and you can switch up the results.

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Supplies you'll need:

+ An old t-shirt (must be cotton!)

+ Bleach

+ Water

+ Rubberbands
+ Spray bottle

+ A well-ventilated area outdoors

Other optional items to bleach:

+ Sweatpants
+ Sweatshirt

Hello, my dear friends! It's been a long time coming, but I'm proud to bring you a super easy DIY project. This is an easy bleach tie dye DIY project to do with any old t-shirt that leaves you uninspired. We all have some old tees that we never wear anymore. Once you learn how to tie dye with bleach, it gets easier to create patterns.

Of course, you could do this do-it-yourself project with anything you have, a sweatshirt, sweatpants, or an old towel. It doesn't have to be a t-shirt, but this is a great starting point. Go through your closet to look for items that need to be upcycled or tossed out. 

This bleach tie dye DIY project only takes a few minutes & you can witness the magic as it happens. Using bleach to tie-dye shirts is fun, but make sure you're safe. 

I recommend you find a well-ventilated area, and let's get to it, and wear rubber gloves. The total time of this tie-dye technique should take no more than 20 minutes.

Other optional items to bleach:
+ Sweatpants
+ Sweatshirt

Love DIY? Try this easy DIY sugar scrub.

Materials you'll need:

+ An old t-shirt (must be cotton!)

+ Bleach

+ Water

+ Rubberbands 

+ Spray bottle

Note: this is my way. I didn't do it the standard way, which required way too much bleach. I really like how it turned out. But that's usually how I roll. I like to do it my way. If you like how it turned out, here's how to do it:

Steps:

1. Grab an old shirt that you don't care for anymore. Make sure you're wearing old clothes yourself in case any bleach gets on them. Prepare your shirt for dyeing. Make sure it's clean and ready to go. Twist the shirt haphazardly and add 2 or 3 rubber bands. Locate your spray bottle. Now mix equal parts bleach & water. For this particular bleach tie-dye DIY project, my mixture amounted to about 1/4 of a cup. 

Protect yourself. You need to be in a well-ventilated area. Make sure you go outside for this. Bleach is extremely toxic, so get a lot of fresh air! Gloves are also recommended.

2. Twist or fold the fabric into a shape to create a pattern. You can do a spiral pattern, make it random, or follow a particular design online.

3. Applying the Bleach: You're going to spray the bleach solution mixture directly on the t-shirt. As you apply the bleach, the more you spray the solution (the more damp it is), the lighter it'll get. Depending on the color of your shirt or how dark it is, the bleach could potentially turn it white. You want to make sure the bleached parts are damp. On my shirt, the lighter sections had a considerable amount of bleach, versus the reddish areas that had less bleach. I like the contrast and color change. 

4. Spray your shirt. Now take out the rubber bands & relocate them. Essentially, you're going to do steps 1 & 2 several times until you get your desired result. Your bleach tie-dye DIY is your creation. If you only do it one time, your shirt will be mostly unbleached (& incomplete). Let it sit to let the bleach continue dyeing the shirt.

I would've taken a photo to document the process, but my hands were bleary, so that was a no-go. Keep spraying to keep bleaching. Take out the rubber bands & replace them until you have your desired look. 

5. After it's dyed with bleach, wash and rinse your shirt in the washing machine. Rinse it separately since there's bleach on it. After the rinse and washing, you can add color to the bleached areas if you want.

How long do you let the bleach tie dye sit?

Leave it for a few minutes to let the bleach continue dyeing the shirt.

This easy bleach tie-dye DIY method only takes 10 minutes, a maximum of 20. It only takes a few minutes to see the initial results. Of course, there are various methods, but this one is quite simple. If you're outside on a nice, sunny day, you can literally see the bleach working as you spray it. Give your revamped shirt as a gift to someone else or enjoy your 'new' shirt. It made this plain, black tee so much fresher & fun. 

You can even dye the bleached areas for added color and dimension. 

Before you dump those old, grimy clothes, you should see if you can DIY it first! Have a great day. Stay crafty and add this to your list of craft projects. The best thing about this home project is that you can use something from your own closet, something you might not have wanted. It gives you the chance to revamp it. You can experiment with different fabrics, too. Hope you enjoyed this tutorial.

So go ahead—dig through your tee pile, grab that worn-out cotton favorite, and get ready to watch bleach transform it from meh to masterpiece. It’s fast, fun, and endless experimentation in a spray bottle. Your wardrobe (and your followers) will thank you.