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Cost: $ $ $ $ $

Difficulty: • • • • •

Time: 25 mins

Find hidden colors you didn't know your fabric had!
I found a dress pattern that I wanted to try, but the only fabric I had that would drape right was shiny, solid purple. There's nothing wrong with that, but it just wouldn't work for the dress. I wondered if I could dye it with something I had in my cabinet, and what did I find but bleach!

Posted by Anna the Ewok from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States • Published 27th February 2011 • See Anna the Ewok's 22 projects »

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Taylor S. favorited Bleach Dye Fabrics 20 Feb 06:07
cristinakilljoyway favorited Bleach Dye Fabrics 29 Dec 19:27
Wiccan Kitten favorited Bleach Dye Fabrics 04 Jul 02:48

Step 1
Gather your applicator(s) and bleach.

Do this outside! Bleach is very strong and the smell will get trapped in everything in your house.
Step 2
Lay out your fabric. You should iron it first. I was excited.
Step 3
Get your applicator nice and soaked in bleach. Like, really soaked. Then tap off the excess since you don't want it dripping on areas you don't want bleached.
Step 4
Apply bleach. Make sure it gets into the fabric.
Step 5
Apply your pattern in bleach.

And then wait. For this silky stuff I had to wait about 4 minutes. Different fabrics will vary in time.
Step 6
Rinse it out in your bucket of water when you think you've waited long enough.
Step 7
Hang it up to dry and marvel at how it grew a lot.

And wait. And wait. Because you already know what you want to use this for and you can't wait to get started.
Step 8
When it dries, turn it into something incredibly awesome. I turned it into a dress that wasn't tacky and shiny purple all over.

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Comments

Kate C. · Kansas City, Missouri, US 20th June 2012

The bleach will continue to degrade the fabric regardless of how well it is rinsed, and you will end up with holes in the fabric. To prevent this, you need to immerse the fabric in a solution of water and anti-chlor (a sodium bisulfate compound) you can get it in powder form from pro chemical and dye, as well as through Dharma trading company. It's considered a dye auxiliary. It's worth the extra step, trust me! You need to take precautions with both bleach and the anti-chlor (wear solvent gloves and a respirator any time you work with bleach. The respirator seems expensive until you compare it to the amt you'd otherwise spend on medical bills)