Home Sign Up!

Explore Community Submit

All Art Craft Food Games Green Home Kids Life Music Offbeat Outdoors Pets Ride Science Sports Tech

Bleach Spritz Clothing

by prank on July 27, 2006

Table of Contents

intro: Bleach Spritz Clothing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

step 1: What this is . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

step 2: Get your stuff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

step 3: bleach=perfume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

step 4: Send your message to the world! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

step 5: Finish up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Advertisements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Customized Instructable T-shirts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

http://www.instructables.com/id/Bleach-Spritz-Clothing/
intro: Bleach Spritz Clothing
Renewing my all-too-brief love affair with bleaching my own designs into clothing

step 1: What this is

This is a really simple way of putting text or other designs onto a T-Shirt. It takes about 1 minute, once you have all the materials. Basically, I put bleach into a perfume
spritz bottle, spelled things out with magnetic refridgerator letters, and then spritzed over them onto a dark thrift store shirt. It works really well--Check it out!

enjoy,
alex
http://www.artiswrong.com

step 2: Get your stuff

You need:
Bleach. Get it from any market/gas station/convenience store. Costs about $2
A dark cotton T-shirt. Support your local thrift store. Costs about 20 cents
A cheap perfume spritz bottle. The finer the spray, the better. $1 from Jax, a cheap retail outletish thing. I went for the JOOP variety of perfume. It smelled like joop.

Magnetic fridge letters. About $7 from your favorite toy store. Go Stellabella toys!

http://www.instructables.com/id/Bleach-Spritz-Clothing/
step 3: bleach=perfume
Pour the perfume into the neighbors' backyard, or douse yourself in it. Refill the bottle with bleach, and put the cap back on.
It's probably a good idea to label the bottle, since even if you're smart enough to remember that it now is full of death-and burning liquid, rather than the original, more
benign foul-smelling liquid, your friends/husband/dog/cousin you keep locked in the attic probably will mistakenly perfume themselves with bleach at some point. Bleach
is a really good perfume, in that a really small amount will make you smell like it for days.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Bleach-Spritz-Clothing/
step 4: Send your message to the world!
This is a good outside project. That way you don't have to worry about bleaching the hardwood floors your landlord is sooooo proud of and would whack you over the
head with a cattle prod if you mess them up.
(I wish I had thought about that before etching circuit boards. EIT!)

Anyway, put on your best collection of punk covers of the song "Hole in my heart(all the way to china)" by Cyndi Lauper and spread your shirt out flat on the ground.

Spell something out on your shirt with the refridgerator letters. Alternatively, put something cool on your shirt, like a buzzsaw or chains and sprockets or your neighbor.

Now, spritz that bleach like you were born to do it!

You don't need much--don't soak the fabric, but just get bleach all around the letters. It starts changing color instantly--it's magic!

step 5: Finish up
Let the shirt sit for a minute or two, to make sure the bleach can fully destroy the color (how does bleach suck color out of stuff? Isn't that absolutely terrifying?)
Then, take the letters off, being careful not to smear any bleach, and rinse the shirt in a sink for a minute or so, kneading it. Rinse it until the water running off the shirt is
clear.

Now, put your shirt out into the sun to dry.

Go take a shower--it's a hot day.
The shirt will be dry by the time you get out.
It it's not, take another shower. Or write an instructable or something.

By now, it's about 2 in the afternoon--time to get to work. Put on your creation, and go dazzle your friends with your artistic ability!

happy shirting!
alex
http://www.artiswrong.com

http://www.instructables.com/id/Bleach-Spritz-Clothing/
 Related Instructables
Advertisements
Customized Instructable T-shirts

Comments
50 comments Add Comment view all 57 comments

suicidalwally says: Aug 8, 2006. 1:02 AM REPLY

great idea - i've been looking for a better way to put writing and stuff on shirts than just using sharpies, and this is terrific.
one question - any idea how you might do images or designs that aren't purely black and white?

CrystalDyes says: Oct 23, 2008. 5:22 PM REPLY

Many black fabrics are actually another color underneath and can be stopped at that point by rinsing in cold water and placing in an Anti-Chlor (from
www.prochemical.com)solution. In some cases, manufacturers have an over-run of a particular color of fabric so they will dye it black and use it for
something else. The underlying color may or may not pop up. It depends on the initial dye process and whether direct dyes (like Rit) were used or
whether a fiber-reactive dye like Procion MX was used. There are several other classes of dyes as well. Some are dischargeable to a rust, cream or near
white from black. Some can't be discharged at all. As a dyer, I alway ask for a small sliver of any black fabric I want to buy and go do a bleach test in my
car. I do this EVERY time because different bolts from the same company can discharge to different colors. Some colors cannot be discharged with
bleach such as Procion MX turquoise. I also use other colored commercial fabrics to bleach besides just black. It makes sense to pick a dark color rather
than pastels since you're looking for contrast. There are some very interesting results. Virtually all dyed fabrics are a mixture of dyes to get a particular
color. One of the colors used in manufacturing may not be dischargeable and the others will so you will get one of the underlying colors and it will never
go to cream or white. Sorry to be so windy here but it is really an involved process that some people have made a career of. Personally, I am a hobby
dyer but love the process. Besides spraying, you can make up a thickened bleach to paint on specific area altho now that the Bleach Pen is available I
don't do the thickner anymore.

rnipper28150 says: Nov 24, 2007. 3:55 PM REPLY

I had one semi-failure when I use just a paper stencil. Some of the bleach soaked through the paper and 'sort-of' bleached the area around my intended
design. I tried to correct it and ruined it, or I would show you a pic. I was using half bleach-half water. by the way.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Bleach-Spritz-Clothing/
 prank says: Aug 12, 2006. 4:14 AM REPLY
nope.
well, actually, I'm lying.
I don't pretend to understand the chemistry, but most shirts seem to have an intermediate color that they bleach to as they bleach to white.
Black shirts, for example, tend to turn orange first. The longer you leave the bleach in, the more white it gets. So if you put on a mask, bleach is, wait a
certain amount of time, and then wash it out, you could do several masks, waiting different amounts of time for each one, and get a kind of 'grayscale',
except going from white to orange to black.

try it!

krazykat says: Sep 29, 2006. 12:02 PM REPLY

I tried this bleach spritz and everything went smoothly except it ended up that when I rinsed the shirt, the bleach went onto other parts of the shirt and
it looked terrible. Even tried a vinegar/water rinse to stop the bleach. Any suggestions on rinsing while keeping the bleach away from the rest of shirt?
THANKS.

kottoler ello says: Oct 23, 2007. 7:19 PM REPLY

i wasnt paying much attention in science today, but somewhere in there "bleach is a pretty strong base" actually go into my consciousness. i
know that lemon juice is an acid of fair strength and seeing as acids and bases are opposites(but both can be corrosive), if you wanted to
neutralize the bleach the chemical knowledge in me would say spray some lemon juice on there. at the least you'll smell lemony and nice :)

killerjackalope says: Dec 17, 2007. 2:12 PM REPLY

yeah but to confuise matters further, chlorine gas makes acid then bleaches litmus... unless it's like chlorine hydroxide... or something

Wisconsinmom says: Jul 16, 2008. 9:57 PM REPLY

I did this bleaching technique about 10 years ago in wearable art class I took. Try making the stencils out of freezer paper. Cut them out and then iron them
on to the fabric with a medium hot iron. Spritz on the 50% bleach LIGHTLY and wait only a minute or two, then plunge into a vinegar and water bath...sorry,
don't remember how much vinegar...then wash immediately in cold water.

Wisconsinmom says: Jul 16, 2008. 9:58 PM REPLY

Forgot to mention that you leave the stencils on until after you get it out of the vinegar water bath. Then, they should just peel right off.

CrystalDyes says: Oct 23, 2008. 5:05 PM REPLY

You can use any type of spray bottle, not just perfume bottles. I use the generic household spray bottles I buy at the big-box stores. Diluting the
bleach about 50-50 with water will buy additional time to finish spraying the entire area and also decreases the amount of damage bleach does to the
fabric. I've also used it at a 20% strength (2 parts bleach to 8 parts water) when working on a large project. A larger spray allows you to get the
bleach on faster. The dilution of the bleach is inversely proportionaly to the amount of time it takes to remove the color. Weaker solutions take longer
but are less likely to damage fiber.
Once the color is removed, you can remove the resist items like the letters or or other objects placed on the garment to block the bleach, before you
rinse the garment in cold water and then soak in the Anti-Chlor to completely stop the bleaching action. Washing in a regular wash is then
recommended.

gannon says: Jun 22, 2008. 4:41 PM REPLY

Hydrogen peroxide or Oxy-Clean will neutralize the bleach. Using vinegar or lemon juice can lead to nasty poisonous gas, I believe, if I remember high
school chemistry decades afo.

CrystalDyes says: Oct 23, 2008. 4:52 PM REPLY

There is a better & cheaper product called Anti-Chlor available from www.prochemical.com. Otherwise, the bleach will eat holes in the fabric after a few
washings. We won't discuss how I know about the holes! There are many classes for dyers re: discharge of color and this is the recommended product.
There is also about 3 tons of How-To info on their website on dyeing and painting fabrics.

xenor says: Oct 7, 2008. 8:25 PM REPLY

I thought hydrogen peroxide was bleach.

mlmommy says: Oct 7, 2008. 7:39 PM REPLY

Use liquid dishwasher detergent. Cascade or just a generic brand. You can paint it on. My kids use cookie cutters dipped in it to make their patterns. Wait
about 30 minutes, then wash it off. Easy.

plashtic says: Apr 12, 2008. 3:36 PM REPLY

I am SO doing a companion cube shirt. GREAT INSTRUCTABLE - yet so simple :) +1

http://www.instructables.com/id/Bleach-Spritz-Clothing/
 diello says: Mar 11, 2008. 7:27 PM REPLY
Awesome trick, using magnet letters :)
You can also use masking tape and make some neat-o designs.
Also, if you want to stop the bleaching process before it gets this far (some like it barely there;), you can dip it in cold water at your desired level of bleach.

pyroelectro says: Feb 6, 2008. 9:14 AM REPLY

hey, nice instructable...will definately try

i think my chemistry teacher said that bleach oxidises things which removes the colour but im not sure how or why!

json684 says: Aug 3, 2006. 1:49 AM REPLY

I have done this too. But I used a more average spray bottle. The kind that usually holds cleaner. It's spray isn't nearly as fine as a spritzer, but I rather like
the effect. Almost like paint dripping. The bottle doesn't wear out, so you don't have to worry about that. The way I do it I also get a bottle of vinegar out. In
an attempt to neutralize the bleach so it doesn't bleach the shirt too much. I haven't tried it without it, but I like how it looks. Also, you might look into using
transparencies. Like for overheads and such. It is more expensive, but you can use it multiple times and not worry about it wearing out. And one final tip, if
you use a black shirt you can then use a can of plain spray paint afterward to add a little color. And it is hard to notice on the unbleached portion. The paint
will eventually wear off, but it takes some time for that to happen.

im_tux says: Feb 5, 2008. 5:44 PM REPLY

if you use a bottle of spray bleach like clorox klean up then ya hold it far away of the mist itll make the image clearer

j626no says: Apr 21, 2007. 11:23 PM REPLY

i really like json's work; however, here is my attempt at modern art. my art student friends really liked it, although most people said it was kind of
distrubing. i still think its really cool, any questions dont be afraid to ask. if you ever see this json, how did you make that cube...i REALLY like it and
wanna make one for myself. thanks

j626no says: Apr 21, 2007. 11:25 PM REPLY

ok so this pic didnt post, here it is (im going to try again, no promises)

j626no says: Apr 21, 2007. 11:30 PM REPLY

ok so does anybody know how i can post a picture in my comment? it never works for me and its getting really annoying. thanks

krazykat says: Sep 29, 2006. 12:01 PM REPLY

I tried this bleach spritz and everything went smoothly except it ended up that when I rinsed the shirt, the bleach went onto other parts of the shirt and it
looked terrible. Even tried a vinegar/water rinse to stop the bleach. Any suggestions on rinsing while keeping the bleach away from the rest of shirt?
THANKS.

Aestheticxtattoos says: Jan 17, 2007. 10:00 PM REPLY

let the bleach dry then rinse it off. but don't leave it on too long.

rnipper28150 says: Nov 24, 2007. 3:52 PM REPLY

I did one of these with my son (14) and I like the way it turned out too. More importantly, his friends were impressed. I used spray adhesive to glue the
printed image to posterboard before cutting out the stencil, then more spray adhesive to glue the stencil to the shirt. I think this made a huge difference in
making the image crisp and clean. Check it out!

http://www.instructables.com/id/Bleach-Spritz-Clothing/
 prank says: Dec 17, 2007. 3:40 PM REPLY
I've been doing stencils recently, and you're right--the spray adhesive makes everything SO much better

killerjackalope says: Dec 17, 2007. 2:14 PM REPLY

freaky i'm in the process of making myself a stencil for spray painting the exact same on to a shirt...

killerjackalope says: Dec 17, 2007. 2:10 PM REPLY

hell I was doing this aswell but keep meaning to get positive stencils so i can dot white letters on black, though I could just put black dye in the bottle...

sschu05 says: Sep 19, 2007. 2:28 PM REPLY

Im going to try and bleach a hoodie on friday for a concert on saturday-your instructions seems so easy and simple-Thank you!

dchall8 says: May 25, 2007. 12:14 PM REPLY

I'm no chemist but I'm pretty sure that if you mixed bleach and vinegar at full strength you'll have a really bad smelling bleach. The only thing I know of that
stops bleach is lots and lots of water.

Aestheticxtattoos says: Jan 17, 2007. 10:04 PM REPLY

to get a different color on black material you should try those dies they sell at wallgreens after the bleach is off. you could even try colored hair die.

=haineux= says: Jul 31, 2006. 12:25 PM REPLY

ALWAYS DILUTE BLEACH!

If you don't dilute the bleach, you will burn holes in the cloth. (Sometimes it will happen immediately, sometimes it takes 5-6 washings.)

DILUTE! DILUTE! OK!

prank says: Dec 7, 2006. 10:28 PM REPLY

I haven't had any holes in my clothes, and I've had them for ~3 months now (and I've washed them at least once)
I think the trick is to wash the clothing almost instantly--as soon as you see the bleach start to change the shirt color, rinse it out. There's so little spritzed
bleach that it doesn't eat through the coton all that quickly.

jammis says: Sep 28, 2006. 2:09 AM REPLY

Yay me, I just did mine. I used a $2 pull over sweat shirt from walgreens. I did my site logo and a duck head lol. I used some spritzer bottle my mom gets
from her hospital. I just threw it in the wash with some viniger. I used note cards for my stencils and covered the back with double stick tape. When i pulled
off the stencils it was nice and black behind them. Ill post pics when i dry it!

Wonderland42 says: Aug 21, 2006. 10:47 AM REPLY

Vinegar will actually help 'stop' the bleach. If you go all bleach crazy, and decide you like how it looks, throw it in a vinegar-water bath. it'll help keep it the
way you want it.
Sometimes Black also turns green before it goes whitish.

=haineux= says: Jul 31, 2006. 12:28 PM REPLY

ALWAYS DILUTE BLEACH. If you don't, it will eventually burn holes in your clothing. (It might take a few washings.)

http://www.instructables.com/id/Bleach-Spritz-Clothing/
 PetervG says: Jul 29, 2006. 6:07 PM REPLY
So I finally made my shirt and it really sucks. I used some hard printer paper to make a perfectly fine stencil, but the spray bottle sprayed out too much. I was
at my aunts. Well, I am at my aunts. The letters were all poofed out. I'll put a picture on in a few days.

mrscrumley says: Jul 30, 2006. 7:50 PM REPLY

This is a great idea and super easy to do. I used a freezer paper stencil, which really helped make the lines pretty fine. There is only the tiniest bit of
fading beyond the line of the stencil.

prank says: Jul 30, 2006. 12:18 AM REPLY

What kind of spray bottle did you use?
Cheap perfume bottles work really well, since they are designed to mist like nobody's business.

fungus amungus says: Jul 29, 2006. 8:33 PM REPLY

For spraying bleach, the paper stencil might not be the best choice. I think the paper can get soaked and bleed through since the bleach is so thin. If that
seems to be the case, then try the freezer paper technique.

AaronsAquatics says: Jul 30, 2006. 2:19 PM REPLY

Hmmm...I wonder if i could do this with a real fish that i caught-maybe on a blueish shirt.

tyler durden says: Jul 28, 2006. 9:36 AM REPLY

I am pretty sure the spray bottle will become useless after a couple hours exposed to the bleach. There are rubber rings in the pump that get destroyed by
the bleach. Once the rings are destroyed, the pump won't work any more. Plan on getting new spray pumps when you want to do another project.

The bleach (NaOCl) works by chemically reacting with the dye molecules. If you leave the bleach on the shirt too long, it will also react with the cellulose
fibers and eat holes in the shirt. Wash the shirt soon after spraying if you don't want it to develop holes.

prank says: Jul 28, 2006. 11:45 AM REPLY

That's good to know, about the bleach destroying the o-rings.
I wash the shirt pretty much instantly, after just a few minutes, and I haven't had any holes yet.

prank says: Jul 29, 2006. 12:47 PM REPLY

3 days later, the spritzer's still spritzing.
hooray!

fungus amungus says: Jul 27, 2006. 12:48 PM REPLY

I prefer using discharge paste.

Yes, it's real stuff. Look it up.

prank says: Jul 27, 2006. 5:30 PM REPLY

what's in it? It looks like a pretty nice alternative to bleach, which I hate using, since I hate getting it on me and smelling like a swimming pool for a week
afterwards.
Do you just paint it on?
Is there any way to thin it so that you could spray it? The stuff I saw online looked pretty thick

fungus amungus says: Jul 27, 2006. 7:08 PM REPLY

Here's a shirt that I did recently with the ol' paste.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Bleach-Spritz-Clothing/
 titaniumfrog says: Jul 28, 2006. 10:27 AM REPLY
Instructable?

prank says: Jul 28, 2006. 2:25 AM REPLY

that's really pretty. How did you do your stencils?
Really amazing work, dude

fungus amungus says: Jul 28, 2006. 12:36 PM REPLY

The ones I've been doing lately are simply out of regular printer paper. I should try out that freezer paper trick, but I have so many spare
sheets of paper and spray mount around that I haven't bothered.

I can do an instructable for the discharge paste. Wouldn't be too much new info, I'm afraid. Really just a description of the different type of
goop. I'll do it when I get a new design I need to put on a shirt.

view all 57 comments

http://www.instructables.com/id/Bleach-Spritz-Clothing/