Tailgate DIY: Reverse Tie Dye
I wanted to see if you can tie dye/reverse tie dye clothing that's been screenprinted...and guess what? It worked!
Reverse tie dye is the process of removing colour rather than adding colour. Check out this relatively easy and inexpensive way to customize your own clothing:
1. Ensure your tee is 100% cotton - I can't guarantee this project will work on any sort of blend tee or alternate material.
2. Fold tee in any pattern you prefer. I did an accordion fold then wrapped in a spiral for this project. Wrap elastics around the tee to hold it in place
3. Mix regular household bleach with water in a spray bottle. For this project, I started with a 50/50 mix. But with this deep red colour, I would choose to do 75% bleach to 25% water next time.
4. Take your shirt and bleach mixture outside to spray and set - you definitely need a well ventilated area for this project because of the bleach.
5. Place the elasticized tee on a rack. I have an old cookie cooling rack that is designated for craft projects which I used for this project. Spray one side of the shirt until it's very saturated. Try to get the edges as well. Flip the shirt over and do the same on that side. The more you spray and the more areas you cover, the more tie dye the tee will look.
6. Let the tee sit for at least 30 minutes (if it's a hot, sunny day, this process will be less time). Evaluate the colour of the tee for your preference. I ended up repeating the spray process three times on my Raptors tee so I could maximize the bleached areas.
7. Take the elastics off the tee and rinse with cold water.
8. Wash and dry like normal. You may want to repeat the wash and dry if the bleach smell is still too powerful for your liking. Be sure to wash alone or with other bleached projects - you don't want to get any bleach on your regular clothes.
Important safety tips:
- Be sure to designate a spray bottle and properly mark it so you don't mix any other cleaners into that same bottle and cause a reaction.
- Absolutely do this project outside. Bleach fumes in a high concentration are toxic.
- Wear scrubby clothes to complete this project - there's a good chance you'll get some bleach on you.
- Keep pets and kids away from the bleach and bleach project.
- You may also want to choose to wear gloves.
- I did this project using a 100% cotton tee with a screenprint design. I don't know how any sort of alternate fabric, heat-pressed decoration, embroidery or direct to garment decoration will work. Do so at your own discretion.
@tailgatemercantile Reverse tie dye ##tiedye ##raptors ##betonyourself
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