How to Tie-Dye Shirts Using Bleach — Easy & Foolproof Way!

When I was in primary school, I had a wardrobe full of colourful, hand-painted apparel. Some were souvenirs from trips, but most were memorabilia from endless summer camps where kids gathered around to learn how to tie-dye shirts.

In my attempt to konmari my life, I’ve since thrown out and donated all my tie-dye shirts. But two decades later, this psychedelic pattern seems to be making a comeback. As of writing, I’m seeing one online store having sold 37,000 tie-dye apparel in just three months!

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Why learn how to tie-dye shirts

Online shopping for tie-dye apparel is just one hobby. But if you’ve found yourself adding too many tie-dye shirts to your cart, you might want to seek alternatives! Learning how to tie-dye shirts may be more economical for you in the long run. Plus, it’s certainly an easy and fun quarantine activity you can do with your housemates!

I know, I know — learning how to tie-dye can sound overwhelming if you’re not super into arts and crafts. So, I’m proposing an alternative: reverse tie-dye. All you need to do this is a shirt and bleach, so you’re basically good to go!

For this article, I got in touch with my friend and tie-dye enthusiast, Maxine. Since the quarantine started, she’s created such beautiful reverse tie-dye pieces out of her old shirts, tanks, and jackets! Read on to learn how she tie-dyes her shirts.

How to tie-dye your shirts

Method #1: Submerging technique

Materials needed

• Coloured shirt
• Household bleach
• Rubber bands

Instructions

1. Start with a clean and damp shirt.
2. Pinch your shirt where you want the spiral bleach pattern to start.
3. Twist the rest of the shirt around the area where you are pinching it. Make sure to flatten the shirt as you twist.
4. Once fully twisted into a spiral, wrap the shirt with rubber bands. (Imagine wrapping a bilao securely!)
5. In a container, pour a splash of bleach.
6. Dip the wrapped shirt into the container for a few seconds. Do the same for the other side.
7. If you see sections that are still unbleached, you may rub more bleach over the shirt. Make sure to do this indirectly, so that the bleach won’t seep through the rest of the shirt.
8. Rinse the bleach off under cold water.
9. Cut off the rubber bands and let the shirt dry.

Method #2: Direct technique

Materials needed

• Coloured shirt
• Household bleach
• Rubber bands
• Squeeze bottle

Instructions

1. Clump your shirt into sections. Sectioning it will support more evident patterns. You may start crumpling the sleeve, then secure the clump with rubber bands. Then, crumple the body and secure again. Repeat this process until your shirt is all sectioned off.
2. In an empty squeeze bottle, pour in 50% water and then 50% bleach.
3. Squeeze the bleach onto the sections of the shirt quickly.
4. Once the bleach is dry, you may already cut the rubber bands carefully.
5. Wait for around 10 minutes, then rinse off the bleach. Wash in cold water. Finally, dry it out.

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Some reminders

1. Set-up your workspace to make sure that you won’t leave much of a mess. You can cover your workspace with plastic; better yet, work outdoors!

2. You must allow as much ventilation as possible when working with bleach. As much as possible, use gloves and a mask to protect yourself as well!

3. Different ways of tying the shirt will yield different results. Enjoy the process and keep experimenting!

4. Of course, you can use different types of textile for reverse tie-dying. Be creative! You may try out these methods on masks, handkerchieves, shorts, and other apparel.

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Start revamping your old shirts with this fun reverse tie-dye activity! If you’re trying either of these techniques out, don’t forget to tag us on Instagram! Let’s get creative this quarantine, shall we?

Featured image credit: Maxine Ignacio | Instagram