How To Tie Dye With Bleach in 6 Steps

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In fashion trends have a tendency to go full circle every couple of years. Major fashion houses use inspiration from past decades to create new collections and trends we thought dead are coming back.

The Tie Dye Trend is back in fashion

One such trend is Tie Dye. The tie dye print was introduced back in the 60s with its psychedelic designs becoming somewhat of a trend mark. In 2019 we saw a hesitant comeback with mixed reactions. Some people saw it as too old-looking while other, including many young groups of fashion lover, embraced it for its vintage feel.

In 2020 the tie dye trend is still going strong and even though many popular retailers offer a variety of clothing in tie dye patterns I decided to try a DIY tie dye project. The good news is that it is super simple to make your own tie dye shirt (or any clothing) and you probably already have all you’re going to need in your house.

Before starting my own attempt I made my research and found out a few ways to achieve the tie dye effect but in the end I settled on the easiest way which using bleach.

The things you will need to make your own tie dye shirt are:

Protective gloves
A bleach resistant worktable or an old wash bowl
Rubber bands
Bleach
A plastic bottle
A shirt in a dark color

Step one: Gather your things and find a suitable space to work

Since you’ll be using bleach an outdoor space you be ideal since you don’t want to inhale all that bleach. If you don’t have an outdoor space to work, make you use a well ventilated room. Once you find the space you’ll be working on make sure you cover it with a plastic to prevent any bleach damage or you can use a washbowl (remember you’ll be using bleach so it may get damaged).

Step 2: Find the shirt you’ll be Tie Dying

A very important thing to have in mind is that the shirt you’ll choose must be 100% cotton in order to bleach it. Synthetic fabrics don’t bleach. Black clothes usually bleach into an orange color. Also, if you’re unsure about the outcome you can always use an old shirt; you may want to leave your favorite shirt alone.

Step 3: Make your Tie Dye pattern

You can make all sorts of patterns from the classic spiral to more random scrunched pattern. Decide on your preferred pattern and secure it with rubber bands like the pictures below.

Step 4: Make the bleach mix

Put on the protective gloves and mix equal parts of bleach and water in a spray or squeeze bottle. You don’t want to use only bleach as it way to corrosive and may even damage the shirt.

Step 5: Apply the mixture and let it sit

Apply the mixture of bleach and water all over the surface of the shirt on both sides. Once you have covered the shirt thoroughly with the bleach mixture let it sit for about 10 minutes. You will see the color starts to change almost immediately and 10 to 15 minutes are more than enough. Don’t leave the bleach too long or it may damage the fabric.