How to Tie Dye with Bleach

Tie dying is one of the hottest DIY trends of the summer, and my daughters and I have had a blast trying it out! One of my favourite tie dying techniques? Tie dye with bleach! It gives you a fun, reversed effect, and today I’m showing you exactly how to do it.

Like most of you, I’ve been spending a lot of time at home with my kids, and trying to find new ways to keep them occupied. We’ve loved working on various crafts and DIYs, and our most favourite so far has been tie dying various things! We’ve dyed tshirts, shoes, and I’ve even “dyed” this dress… with bleach!

Keep reading to learn more, or watch my YouTube video to learn how to tie dye with regular dye or with bleach:

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Here’s how to tie dye with bleach

First, find an item of clothing that’s mostly cotton in content. Cotton will work the best for this DIY! I found this dark pink dress on Amazon. A darker colour will work better.

Next, gather your supplies. You’ll need your clothing item, a bucket of water, a spray bottle filled with half bleach and half water, some rubber gloves, some elastic bands, and something you can use as a tray for the bleached item (I’m using a recycled pie plate).

IMPORTANT: Follow the directions on your bleach bottle to work safely with bleach. You’ll need to wear gloves and work in a well ventilated area (like outside).

Dip your clothing in the bucket of water, get it fully wet, and then wring it out. The water helps the bleach disperse better over the garment. Then, fold your garment in quarters vertically, tie elastic bands around it every few inches, and then tie it in half and secure with more elastic bands. Your clothing will look something like the above!

Now, place your garment in a tray and spray it with the bleach & water solution. Get it nice and soaked with the bleach solution and let it sit for 10-15 minutes.

Finally, remove all of the elastic bands, and wash and dry your clothing (separately from other clothes).

Your clothing should look something like my dress, above! The fun of tie dye and bleach dying is that your pattern will look totally unique depending on how exactly you’ve folded your garment, and how your bleach takes to the colour of your fabric.

My girls and I have also done regular tie dying with kits, and I made the rainbow ombre sneakers below:

You can check out the tutorial for these on The Shoe Company’s Instagram page! I collaborated with them and it was a blast.

Happy tie dying!