There was a time when a bleached shirt meant an accident happened and that your shirt has been ruined. But nowadays, with fashion ever so evolving, a bleached shirt is actually considered a trend. More than just being a staple household supply, bleach can now be used as something to customize your plain shirts. Although a bleached shirt style can easily be found in your favorite shopping outlets (especially those who sell grungy or punk rock apparel), you can DIY them for a fraction of the cost! Most of the time, all you’d need are some of your old, ratty shirts, some bleach you can find at home, and some water.
There are a number of different ways to create a bleached shirt style. Here are a few ideas:
Word Search
Materials needed:
Bleach, water, plain colored t-shirt, felt adhesive letters, spray bottle, a piece of cardboard, gloves
Instructions:
Layout your pattern on a flat surface using felt adhesive letters. You may create words or just jumble all the letters up. Insert a piece of cardboard inside the shirt, then lay out your letter pattern on the shirt. Fill up your spray bottle with ½ water and ½ bleach. Spray the mixture all over the shirt then let it sit for about 5 minutes before peeling off the letters. To finish the bleaching process, rinse right away then throw in the dryer.
Bleached Stripes
Materials needed:
Bleach, water, plain colored t-shirt, painter’s tape, spray bottle, gloves
Instructions:
Starting at the front of your shirt, apply painter’s tape evenly to create your stripes. Make sure that you use more than enough tape that would allow it to wrap around the edges of your shirt. Flip the shirt over and continue applying tape to create the stripes at the back of the shirt. Once your tape is set, get your spray bottle filled with ½ water and ½ bleach then spray all over the shirt. Depending on how bleached you want your shirt to be, leave the concoction to dry for about 5 to 10 minutes before peeling off the tape. Rinse immediately, as you don’t want the stripes to get uneven. Throw it in the dryer after rinsing to lock in the bleach.
Tie Dye Bleach
Materials needed:
Bleach, water, plain colored t-shirt, spray bottle
Instructions:
Sporadically spray your shirt with your bleach concoction which consists of ½ water and ½ bleach. Using the cap of your bleach bottle, drop small capfuls of bleach to create larger bleached spots. Rinse then dry.
Bleached Ombre Chambray Top
Materials needed:
Chambray button down, 2 liters of fabric safe bleach, 1 large stainless steel pot, a pair of rubber gloves
Instructions:
Soak your shirt in water and thoroughly wring out the excess water. Fill in your large stainless steel pot with 1 liter of bleach. Place the bottom (or top) half of your shirt into the bleach with the rest of the shirt hanging out of the pot. Gradually add more bleach until you achieve the color you want. When the shirt has reached your desired color, take it out of the pot, rinse, and dry.
What other bleached shirt style DIY ideas have you tried?