How To Tie Dye With Bleach? 6 Easy Steps

Due to the fact that bleach is a toxic chemical, bleach dyeing may seem like a daunting task. Reverse tie dyeing is the process of creating a distinctive tie-dyed shirt without the use of dye. Learn how to tie dye with bleach using a colored shirt and bleach solution. Then the bleach tie-dye method will be your favorite! It’s an original method of producing daring looks. For more information on tie dye with bleach, please read this article.

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What Is Tie Dyeing?

Reverse tie dye is probably a term you’ve heard before, but maybe you’ve never really understood it. I’m going to teach you how to reverse tie dye or tie-dye using bleach today. Processing truly original results are very simple.

When using bleach, you will need to exercise some caution. For example, you should work outside and wear gloves. But as long as working with bleach is something you feel comfortable doing, the process is really fascinating and definitely worth trying.

In a sense, the bleach will replace the dye. However, it won’t be coloring your fabric; rather, it will be taking the color out of it. Though you might not get the outcome you expected. It may not become white. Instead, it most likely will resemble the images in the pictures.

What You Need To Tie Dye With Bleach

Gather the materials you’ll need to bleach the tie dye first. What I apply to all of my bleach reverse tie-dye projects is as follows:

Dark colored shirt, 100% cotton
Tulip Reverse Tie-Dye Kit
(Or Hydrogen peroxide + Bleach)
Water
Gloves (included in the kit)
Rubber bands (included in the kit)
Squeeze bottle (included in the kit)
Plastic tablecloth
Wire rack (optional)
Face Mask and Safety goggles (optional)

How To Bleach Tie Dye

Step 1: Prep Your Station

Taking the necessary safety precautions is the most crucial part of bleach tie-dying. You should take every precaution to keep both you and your work area safe because bleach can be a very dangerous chemical.

To prevent breathing in toxic fumes, place your bleach tie-dye station in a well-ventilated area and put on a face mask that covers your mouth and nose. To avoid stains, cover your work surface with plastic, such as a disposable tablecloth or sizable trash bags.

Step 2: Mix Solutions

Utilizing the instructions provided, combine one of the Color Changer bottles from your Reverse Tie-Dye Kit. It’s the simplest answer. This is what you’ll use to tie-dye and bleach your shirt.

Another option is to make your own bleach solution by combining equal parts bleach and water. For a simple application, you can combine this solution in a sizable squeeze bottle; alternatively, combine it in a sizable plastic tub or bucket.

In a plastic tub, bowl, or right in your sink, combine 1 part hydrogen peroxide and 10 parts water to create your neutralizing solution. Since bleach works so quickly, it’s useful to have a neutralizing solution to halt the bleaching process once the desired lightness is achieved.

Prepare enough neutralizing solution so that it completely covers your clothing.

Step 3: Apply Bleach

A dark 100% cotton t-shirt is the ideal choice for this project. Blends of cotton will also work, but processing time may be longer. Your clothing should be prewashed (and dried, if desired), then folded in the desired tie-dye pattern, and fastened with rubber bands.

We will be using the bullseye tie-dye pattern for this tutorial. All you have to do is roll your fabric into a tube and add rubber bands to divide it into as many sections as you want.

When using a wire rack, place the shirt on it before applying the bleach solution and rotating the fabric as necessary. To help the bleach solution penetrate the fabric, work them into your gloved hands. Just dunk your folded clothing in the bleach solution if you’re using the bucket method.

Almost immediately, you’ll start to see the effects of your bleach tie-dye! Keep an eye on your shirt to gauge how much color is being lost. Depending on how dense the fabric is, this could take anywhere from five to twenty minutes.

Don’t let the bleach solution sit on the fabric for an extended period of time as this could harm it. After being washed and dried, keep in mind that your shirt will be lighter.

Step 4: Wash

Remove the rubber bands and wash your shirt with water after you are satisfied with the amount of color that has been eliminated. After that, submerge your shirt for at least 15 minutes in the neutralizing solution to stop the bleaching.

After soaking, rinse it once more, then put it in the washer. Use cold water and a small amount of detergent with the load set to large. Dry normally.

Step 5: Reveal Design

After washing and drying, your bleach tie-dye shirt is ready to wear! Those patterns will be as daring as you.

Step 6: Add Color

Make your creation even better by using your preferred Tulip One-Step Tie Dye! Apply colors to the bleached areas of your shirt after mixing the tie-dye solution.

After adding the dyes, carefully gather the shirt and put it in a plastic bag that can be sealed or wrap it in plastic wrap to keep it damp while the dye cures.

This will take 6 to 8 hours, or overnight if you want to give it more time. After the dye has been processed, rinse and wash as directed on the package. You now possess a stunningly colorful reverse-dyed shirt!

Tips For Bleach Tie-dying

You might be taken aback by the colors you notice after using bleach. That’s a fun aspect of bleach tie-dying! Dark blue or pink or purple hues will typically appear on black or reddish hues of fabric, respectively.
Apply a small amount of bleach to a discrete area to spot test fabrics to determine the color that will result.
100% cotton shirts work best, but 50% cotton/50% polyester worked well for me too. I used a 50/50 blend fabric on the black Gildan sweatshirt.
The liquid bleach from Clorox is not required! A bleach pen or other products like toilet bowl cleaner that contains bleach will also work. Anything that contains bleach should work, in theory!
The bleaching process can be stopped by hydrogen peroxide. If you want to stop bleaching right away, apply peroxide prior to rinsing.
You don’t need to create a spiral pattern in order to create a creative tie-dye design, so try some cool patterns! Shibori is a technique that involves folding your material accordion-style and securing the ends with cardboard or paper.
Everything should be removed from your work surface. Even when you’re not trying, bleach has a way of splashing on objects. My general rule is that if I leave it close to me, bleach will most likely get on it.
Use black dye to hide the error if you accidentally get bleach on your black shirt in an undesirable location. Simply adhere to the tie-dying instructions.

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