Design Yer Own Shirt

Use bleach to turn your clothing from drab into grab!

Step 1: Intro

This project will show you how to use bleach to make pretty pretty things in dark cotton shirts

Comments

[falloutman19]

no offence but who are those people try shinedown

[rnipper28150]

Here is a shirt I did for my wife for Christmas. It started out as a vacation photo. I think it turned out well. What do you think?

[altrker]

great shirt! how did you make this shirt? with bleach? did you use stencils?

[rnipper28150]

Yes I made a stencil from the photo. It wasn't just paper, though. I mounted the image on a piece of posterboard with spray adhesive before I cut it out. That keeps the bleach from bleeding through. I also used the spray adhesive to temporarily glue the stencil to the shirt. That keeps the edges of the image nice and sharp. Be sure to mask the rest of the garment well, as any overspray will show up on the shirt. The bleach solution I use is about 1 part bleach, 3-4 parts water. I think this gives me more control. I can spray it on, wait a few minutes, and spray more if I like. Good luck!

[Amadeos]

So what you are sayin is this: 1) Make a stencil of your picture 2) put it on the shirt (optional spray adhesive to tac it down) 3) and use a spray bottle with a 1:3 Bleach:Water ratio? I want to add the Godsmack sun onto a hoodie. So would that work out? (P.S. That is an awsesome job on the t-shirt!)

[rnipper28150]

Yep, that is pretty much it. Be careful of the stencil material, the bleach/water solution can bleed through easily. I would also carefully cover the rest of the garment because the overspray can make a good job look a little 'hackier' than you might intend. I would definitely do a test on another, less important piece of cloth first, just to get a feel for it. Post a pic of what you do!

[Amadeos]

K, cool. What material should I use for the stencil?

[corrie]

you can also use hydrogen poroxide to nutralize the bleach.

[noremakk]

I have used this method to make a shirt saying "The cake is a lie." à la Portal. I love Portal. :D Good job, prank, kudos to you. Little tip to everyone else: the longer you leave the bleach on, the whiter it gets. If you only leave it on for about 4 or 5 minutes, it gets red/orange. :)

[mleak]

I did a lot of discharge dyeing in a surface design class a couple of years ago, and more on my own. There are a few things we learned that some people might be missing, which could be causing the holes. First off, you don't always have to use 100% bleach. For brushing or spraying bleach, it's good to use 1 part bleach to 1 or 2 parts water, and if you're going to submerge your fabric to achieve a tie dyeing effect, it can be closer to 1 part bleach to 4 or 5 parts water. You want to use the weakest solution necessary to achieve the effect you want. If you're looking for a pure pure white, 100% might be the trick, but depending on the fabric, it may not be necessary. Also, be careful not to leave the bleach on for more than 10 minutes or so tops. Also, just making sure, is everyone using cotton? You'll have problems using synthetics or animal fibers. Bleach can still damage cotton fibers, but not as easily. One last thing. After using the bleach, even if you rinse it out really well or put it through the washing machine, the bleach can continue to act on the fabric and weaken the structure of your garment over time. To stop this, you have to neutralize the bleach with something like Bleach Stop or AntiChlor. I was actually taught to use a watered down vinegar mixture, though a heads up on that — mixing vinegar and bleach is a Bad Thing, so if you're going to do this, first rinse out the bleach very, very well, and do the vinegar soak outside or somewhere with great ventilation. Hope this helps! There's nothing worse than a great design turning into a great big hole.

[GMoney1]

There's no dyeing here, but this site has some killerdesigner baby shirts and some really cool baby clothes

[hole-mole-frijole]

haha! thank you for the additional enthusiazm to your instructions, it made me pee my pants with laughter.

[drjones]

One time my brother tried to bleach a white shirt by just pouring the bleach right on it and then rinsing it off. When he pulled it out of the dryer it just ripped apart like tissue paper.

[farrelltale]

FYI: Bleach Pens are made by Clorox, but Dishwasher Detergent *w/bleach* works just as good as the bleach pen gel stuff and smells like lemons. WOOHOO!

[WalScrap]

When I was around 13, I did something like this to make my own NIKE shirts : I made the big swoosh sign, and then used an aerograph to spread the bleach over a black T-shirt. The T-shirt last for three washing-machine cycles : the bleach had transformed the nice white swoosh into a big hole ! This trick works, but be really carefull with the bleach, if you want to wear your T-shirt for more than a month... Special paints for clothes do exist, and stay a long time on clothes even through several washing machines cycles.

[prank]

the shirts I've done have been around for a few months and are still intact. I use a very small amount of bleach, so that probably helps

[funwithastungun]

Have You thought of using a blech pen, and does that work?

[prank]

I've never heard of a bleach pen, but this method sounds like essentially the same thing. Give it a shot, and let me know how it turns out

[Miss Kreant]

I've done this, and it's true - it does damage the fabric of the shirt, and it is nearly impossible to get consistent color or line width. For a cheap pseudo-screen printing tutoril look here: http://community.livejournal.com/craftgrrl/3674467.html. I've done it, and it works great, and you can use the designs a couple times at least.

[Bos.jon]

Your playlist is the shit.

[prank]

if you enjoy it, there are more (along with disk images of mixes I've made) at
http://www.artiswrong.com/alex/mix/
I like music

[hensonkid]

Nice pearl necklace too! You are the feces.

[hensonkid]

That's a compliment.

[prank]

thank you