How to Tie Dye with Bleach

Co-authored by Emily Zahniser and Amy Bobinger, BA

Last Updated: November 23, 2024 Fact Checked

Tie dyeing is a fun way to give new life to clothes, but darker colors don’t always take dye very well. If you’re looking for a way to update your dark clothes, try tie dyeing with bleach! You'll get a cool white design that stands out well against dark or bright colors.

Part 1

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Finding a Garment and Work Area

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The fumes from bleach are extremely strong and they can be dangerous, so make sure you set up your project in an area with plenty of fresh air. If you can, try to work outside. If that’s not an option, choose a large room and open a window or turn on a fan.^{[1]
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Bleach is a strong chemical. Even when it’s diluted it can cause chemical burns on your skin. Be sure to wear heavy rubber gloves (like the kind used for cleaning) to protect your skin while you’re tie dyeing your clothes with bleach. You can get these wherever cleaning supplies are sold.^{[2]
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Black is the best color for tie dyeing with bleach because you will get the best contrast, but you can use any color as long as it’s dark enough to produce an effect. Experiment with different colors to find what you like!^{[3]
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Bleach won’t affect synthetic materials like polyester because they are designed to be colorfast. In addition, bleach can damage more delicate fabrics such as silk.^{[4]
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Lay down old towels or a drop cloth. If you’re working inside, you’ll need to protect your work surface from bleach, so cover it with a drop cloth or old towels that can get messed up. If you’re using an absorbent material like a towel, be sure it doesn’t get soaked or the bleach will seep through and ruin whatever’s beneath it.^{[5]
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- If you’re working outside, you’ll want to have something laid on the ground to protect your garment from getting dirty during the tie dyeing process.

Part 2

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Creating Cool Designs

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Twist your garment to create a pattern and secure it with rubber bands. Space the rubber bands several inches apart. The parts of your garment that are rubber-banded will stay the original color, while the exposed fabric will turn white when you bleach it.^{[6]
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- You can get creative with your designs or you can just bunch up the fabric and put rubber bands on it to get a random and totally unique look.
- As closely tied as the rubber band or the string you use will be, the tenser removing it will become. If you want, instead of removing, you can cut off the rubber bands carefully, in the end.
To create a traditional spiral tie-dye pattern, hold your garment with 2 fingers and twirl it so it twists tightly. Keep twirling until the entire garment is twisted into a tight knot. Secure the twirl with several rubber bands, then apply your bleach mixture. You can use a string to tie it up too. The tighter the spirals are secured, the better the distinction between darker and lighter areas will be formed.^{[7]
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If you want to create a haphazard tie-dye, try using rubber bands to create several tight, small knots on the garment. Bunch these all together and secure with more rubber bands, then apply the bleach. Secure them tightly so the bleach doesn't seep through the knots.
If you want to create a layered look, twist up your garment and apply rubber bands, then apply bleach to your fabric and let it sit for about 5-6 minutes. Take all of the rubber bands off your garment, twist your garment again, put the rubber bands back on, and re-spray the garment with the bleach mixture. Leave the second batch on for the 8-10 minutes, then rinse.^{[8]
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After you’ve tie-dyed your garment, you can make a cool faded effect by dip-dyeing the fabric. In a large bucket, dilute another mixture of 1/2 bleach and 1/2 water. Dip the bottom few inches of your garment in the bucket and leave it for 5-10 minutes to create an ombre effect.^{[9]
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Part 3

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Applying the Bleach

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Fill a spray or squeeze bottle with a mixture of 1/2 bleach and 1/2 water. You can get a bottle for your project at almost any store which sells cleaning supplies. You can use either a spray bottle or a squeeze bottle. A squeeze bottle may produce a slightly more precise effect than a spray bottle, but the results will be similar with either one.^{[10]
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Spray or squeeze the bleach mixture from your bottle onto your garment. You can vary the amount of bleach that you use depending on how intense you want the color change to be. A heavier application of bleach will cause the fabric to lighten more, and you can create different looks by applying the bleach only to some areas and not to others.^{[11]
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You should be able to see the bleach changing the color of the garment within about 2 minutes, but it will take 8-10 minutes for the bleach to really seep into the fabric. If you leave it on much longer the bleach could damage your garment.^{[12]
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Wash the garment in mild detergent when the time is up. Remove all the rubber bands. You want to wash your garment right away to stop the chemical bleaching process. You can either put your clothing in the washing machine with a mild detergent or you can hand wash it in your sink or bathtub.^{[13]
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- If you hand wash your garment, make sure to leave on your gloves until you’ve finished rinsing it so you don’t come into contact with any bleach.
- Have your bathtub rinsed well if you washed in it.
Once your garment is thoroughly rinsed, you can either air-dry it or put it in the dryer, depending on how you normally prefer to dry your clothes. After it’s dry, it’s ready to wear, so put it on and enjoy your new style!

Community Q&A

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Question

How would I be able to do a 1960s pattern out of tie dye?

Community Answer

To get the 60's spiral effect, lay your shirt flat on a table; I like front side down because the spiral looks better on the other side. Place a fork in the middle of the shirt and turn the fork, twisting the fabric as you go, until you end up with a small, flat spiral of fabric. Now hold it together with rubber bands, across the middle top to bottom, left to right, and diagonally; it should look like pie slices. Wet the shirt in diluted bleach just a few minutes, then take off the rubber bands and rinse all of the bleach out. Voila, a spiral. If using colored dye, dip and hold about 1/2 of the shirt in one color, then 1/2 in another color.

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How can I get an orange color? It is getting almost white and I don't like it.

PhoebeAmelia24

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Bleach removes dye, and it makes the color of the fabric lighter. If you’d like it to change to a different color, like orange, for example, you can dye the fabric you bleached to that color.

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I want to make a galaxy tie-dyed shirt. After dying and washing, should my shirt be damp or dry before splattering with bleach?

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You can actually splatter your shirt with bleach prior to dying and washing.

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