This basic, ultra-functional, little cotton v-neck was about to become a new headband, or flower pin, or whatever was the t-shirt project of the hour was on Pinterest. I unknowingly splashed some drain cleaner on it the last time I wore it and next thing I knew, it had little splotches on it.
I thought about trying to salvage by tie-dying, but I don’t really care for tie-dye, so I probably wouldn’t wear it. But, the bleach thing I could work with. Playing with bleach didn’t have to be in concentric circle format, after all. So I took a chance and decided to paint with bleach.
I grabbed a couple of q-tips, a shallow small bowl with a small amount of bleach, and some contraption to keep the front of the t-shirt from touching the back and keeping the fabric somewhat taut. I used a glass baking dish.
Then I went for it. I tried to use the splotches to guide my design. Obviously, with the q-tips as my “brush”, precision was not going to happen.
You are only limited here by your creativity, and tools. Obviously, if I had wanted to get really artistic, I could have used a finer point on my painting instrument. I did read online that bleach will dissolve synthetic fibers, so careful, both on the fabrics and brushes you use. Be patient, too. The fabric will continue to lighten and if you keep adding bleach to the design your shapes will run together. As when I was done with my design and satisfied with the bleachiness of my dots, I rinsed and rinsed and rinsed the shirt with water and then threw it in the dryer.
I also found out online that this is old news. I am not a genius. It’s been done before and there are a lot of posts about it. I guess now there is one more!
This was my end product, which I am pretty sure I will wear. If not, I can always make headbands out of it.
Life Improved 