Bleach Resist Tee

I'm not a fan of mass produced printed tee shirts. Neither are my kids, they want unique clothing. Bleach resist is a great and cheap way of customizing plain coloured shirts. When sprayed on, the bleach pulls some of the colour out of the fabric and leaves behind beautifully muted totes of colour. I I recently bought a heap of tee shirts-purely to bleach resist, which were marked down to $2 each. I think these would also make great gifts. So here's how we did it.

Gather your supplies. You will need:

Bleach- I buy the Coles Smart Buy 2lt bottle for $1.30
Empty spray bottle
Elastic bands
Gloves-optional

Over a sink, carefully pour some bleach into the spray bottle, you will need 2 parts bleach to 1 part water.

Shake the bottle up well.

First spread the tee shirt out flat onto the table, then gather it up lengthways and secure it every inch or so with the elastic bands. Here's some other ideas on tie dye effects if you're not into the "bamboo" look we did, you could do swirls or knot the fabric just like you would for tie dying.

 

Next take it outside or into a well ventilated area and spray the entire shirt with the bleach and water mix. Leave it for half an hour or so. You should be able to see some colour change already. If not give it all another thorough spray. The more bleach you add, the better the effect. Once you are happy with the result, remove the elastic bands and place the tee shirt in the washing machine on a wash cycle. Then hang out to dry.

Enjoy your customized bleach resist tees!