Tie dye is making a come back and I’ve fallen victim to buying just about every comfy tie dye piece out there which is very annoying because everywhere that sells these cute lounge sets are outrageously priced! Thanks to TikTok, we found an easy way to make them at home and since a lot of us are stuck inside, might as well get crafty! And the good news is that chances are you already have everything at home to make these. Just use an old pair of sweats, tee or tank and add bleach!
You’ll Need:
– garment of your choosing (see below for suggestions)
– bleach
– squirt bottle (we used this)
– gloves
– rubber bands
Instructions:
I suggest watching a few Youtube videos on different tying methods before starting as this will determine what type of tie dye your garment ends up looking like. I found this video to be very helpful. You can also watch a how to video of our DIY creations here and here.
Once you decide what tying method to use, simply twist, bunch and tie off your garment with rubber bands. Depending on how large you garment is and what design of tie dye you want will determine how many bands you will want to use. For reference, we used anywhere from 4-6 bands on each garment.
Before you start bleaching, make sure you are wearing gloves and working outdoors or in a well ventilated area. We chose to work in our laundry room sink with the vents turned on.
Fill your bottle up with 1/2 bleach and 1/2 water and set aside. Before adding the bleach to your garment, you are going to want to completely soak the garment with water so that it is wet. If you apply the bleach mixture to the dry garment it will not apply evenly.
Once the garment is wet, start adding the bleach mixture anywhere that you want but making sure to leave some areas without bleach so that you don’t die the entire garment. A good rule of thumb is do add your bleach mixture to every other segment that you’ve created with your rubber bands.
After you’ve applied your bleach mixture and set it aside, make sure to watch very carefully. Depending on what the fabric is made of and how thick it is will determine how quickly the color will start turning. Poly blend fabrics will take longer for the bleach to soak in while 100% cotton fabrics will turn much faster. How long you leave the bleach on is going to be up to you! For thinner items, we left the mixture on for about 10 minutes while the poly blend sweatsuits took more like 30 minutes. Just make sure not to leave it on too long or the bleach can deteriorate the garment.
Once the color is to your liking, give the garment a quick rinse and take the rubber bands off. Thoroughly rinse and the garment again until the water runs clear. At this point you can wash and dry your garment as normal! Washing tip: if you are tie dying multiple items at once I would suggest washing similar colors together as they do change a little in the wash. Also do NOT wash your bleached garment with any other garment that you are not tie dying as it could bleach or bleed onto other garments.
After you pull your garment out of the dryer it is officially ready to wear! If you try this out, I’d love to see your creation. Tag me on Instagram if you share. My handle is @itsallchictome.
And if you just aren’t the DIY type here are some tie dye sets that I’m loving!
$10 crewneck sweatshirt linked here
