How many of you have gotten into crafting during this social distancing time?

I know I’ve seen a ton of people distressing their own shirts on social media, and I knew I had to take a whack at it myself! Turns out, it’s extremely quick, easy, and you probably have all the things you need to do it right under your sink! I’ll show you guys how I did it and what worked best for me, since a few of you asked after I shared a shirt I was wearing that I had distressed last week. Here’s the three I’ve done so far!

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I did one this weekend, and I photographed along the way to show you how easy it is! Here’s everything you will need to distress and bleach dye your shirts!

materials

-Unused spray bottle
-Bleach
-Rubber bands or hair elastics
-Paper towels
-Outdoor space (best for ventilation)
-Shirts or items to bleach dye (best if 50% cotton or more)
-And wear old clothes that may get bleach on them in the process!

how to guide

First, you will want to dilute your bleach in a 2:1 ratio with water. Applying straight bleach to your items can cause damage to the clothes, and the 2:1 ratio worked best for me over a one part to one solution Mix this in the spray bottle and you’re ready to go. Now we need to prep our items and work on the dye pattern, which honestly takes more time than anything else! The more time you spend making sure you like the pattern and folds, the better the outcome. I applied in two different ways, one is the traditional spiral dye pattern, and the other I scrunched vertically with the length of the shirt like so:

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For the traditional spiral, you’ll pinch where you want the spiral itself to begin. Then give it a twist and keep twisting the shirt and you’ll see it start to fold in and make a spiral shape. Keep twisting and guide some of the folds in the shirt to fold in similarly. When you’re done, secure with 2-4 rubber bands across the shirt in a circle making a “pie”.

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For the scrunching pattern, I literally scrunched the shirt like I would my hair! I kept scrunching, allowing the shirt to make small folds up into itself, until it was a rectangle. I secured it with hair elastics (because I was out of rubber bands), all across the shirt to hold its shape. Now we are ready for bleach!

Now grab your bleach/water spray bottle and start spraying! You’ll want to give a good amount on each side, flipping it over in between applications until the shirt looks damp on both sides.

Once done, you’ll let this sit on the shirt for at least 5 minutes. Over that time you’ll notice the shirt start to lighten and “bleach” out (See pictures below!) Don’t be scared while this is happening! And if you want to let it sit longer than 5 minutes that’s fine, just probably not longer than 10 minutes if possible. It works fast! Much faster than traditional tie-dye which can take hours to set.

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After the 5-10 minutes is up, we will rinse the shirt with cold water, either outside or inside, just be careful to not fling your bleach shirt everywhere! I take mine inside, and run cold water over it while I remove the rubber bands. Give it a thorough rinsing, and when you’re done, run it through your washer on cold with some laundry soap. Be careful and wash it separately so you don’t accidentally bleach out any other items. Dry the shirt as you normally would, and presto! You have your own custom creation! I love how this green shirt turned out more random and in sort of a “camo” pattern! The pink and Rolling Stones shirts I did previously and followed the traditional spiral dye pattern.

Certain shirt colors will dye differently. Navy shirts lighten to a pretty pink, pink shirts lighten to a lighter pink or white, green lightened to this beige color, and black will almost always turn to a rust. It’s a fun way to spruce up some of your old shirts, or put a fun spin on shirts you may not wear as frequently or maybe already have some bleach stains! They’re wild, they’re fun, and they’re super trendy right now…so bust out your bleach (in a well ventilated area….) and have fun!

I’ll be back on Friday giving you guys my in-depth guide for the perfect at-home mani with dip powder! I’m loving doing it myself at home, and soon you will too!

xo, Chelsea