Tie-Dying Using Bleach

Tie-Dying Using Bleach

Bleach is the new friend for crafters and this is another project that uses bleaching to create unique projects.

What you need

Bleach
Bright colored cloth

Instructions

Start by tying your clothes as you would for normal tie-dying techniques. For tie-dying techniques check out our tie-dying article.

Once you have tied up your fabric submerge it into a bowl of bleach.

I used a 50% bleach cleaner and it bleached within seconds. You can also add a small amount of water if you are worried about your fabric. It really depends on how delicate your cloth and color is.

Rinse the bleach off the fabric and then wash it in a washing machine on its own to remove any extra bleach.

Comments

  1. How should I bleach my black and white elite socks for a nice design

  2. Just to clarify here… Vinegar and bleach do NOT create a harmful gas when combined. The combination of AMMONIA and bleach WILL create a gas that is potentially lethal.

    Very cool idea! I remember doing something similar to a pair of jeans when I was YOUNG! I may have to do something for my kids now!!

  3. Be careful using vinegar after bleach, the two combined create a gas that can be very dangerous.

  4. Suggestion: When done bleaching the fabric drop the fabric into a bucket of 50/50 vinegar and water. The vinegar will neutralize the bleach and help “set” the pattern. Then follow the above instructions. Bleach is base and vinegar is acid so they neutralize each other.

  5. i did this by mistake in a load of washing in the machine. I threw the bleach in without putting the waterin first, then turned the water on for normal wash. Oh well accidents happen lol

  6. What an absolutely interesting project . Thank you much and God Bless. Kristy W.

  7. how would you tie-dye softball socks with bleach??(:(:

  8. I just did the “circle” knot designs from the “tie-dying article” with bleach, and it made my green dress look awesome! Although, it took longer than I thought (about an hour), I am thrilled with the outcome. I absolutely love it, and I cannot wait to wear it out today.

  9. we did this with an orange t-shirt and twisted the sleeves and put 4 rubber bands on each sleeve – making lines around the sleeves. We also took 5 small stones and twisted them into the front and back parts of the shirt and then tied 3 rubber bands around each stone – making sunburst patterns. We used a 50-50 household bleach/water solution and (tried) to dip only the sleeves and stones up to the rubber bands into the solution. Left it in for about 10 minutes. Then washed and dried the shirt as directed. Ended up with a mostly tone-on-tone pattern, though in some places it went almost white. Turned out pretty cool and my 6th grader is happy with it! thanks!

  10. liz_fierce says

    i am going to try this 😀

  11. does color-safe bleach work for this project?

  12. thanks for all the tips buddy!
    it workeeed great!
    le x

  13. whaaat the heck??

  14. i want to do this for my friend for a birthday present & now im thinkin i wanna do it for me to 🙂

  15. i just finished two shirts. one red one and a blue one. but i used a small squirt bottle for the bleach so i could contain it a little bit. the red one came out really cool looking. i let it sit for about 10-20 minutes. then rinsed the bleach off.

  16. I made sure to tie my shirt with about 10 rubber bands and then I let it soak for about ten minutes. After that, I rinsed it of without removing the bands and left whatever was left in the crevices to soak overnight. When I took off the bands in the morning and washed it I had the most awesome shirt I own.

  17. I tried this without seeing the instructions but my shirt just turned out speckled.

  18. CraftBits (Shellie Wilson) says

    The bleach becomes diluted so when you wash it out it does not remove the color.

  19. Wondering – it says rinse the bleach off, but won’t that spread the bleach around on the garment?

  20. What kind of method did you use to create that pattern?

  21. can you use bleach for bleaching clothess?

  22. okk, so im aboutt to use thiss to tie dyee my pantsss, soundsss cool:]

  23. It is sooooo cooool I go soooooo many compliments when I wore the shirt I bleached to school! Everyone thought it was the coolest thing they had ever seen!

  24. Thank you for posting this. I want to do this for my kid’s sleepover and I had no idea how to do it.

  25. i like this web site but i can’t seem to be able 2 find my science fair project about bleach anywhere!!! Can you help me to find it somewhere? It’s about this:you take three pieces of cloth and you put them in bleach for 2 days and see if they are dyed.

  26. this is the best way to tie dye.
    sincerely,
    karen payette

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