My friend RM made adorable bleached t-shirts for her family's Uganda adoption. I knew that once we were getting close to travel to China, I had to make these for our family. All truth be told, the first batch failed with only 1 of 4 turning out. It was definitely user error and being a bleach design newbie. However, I do think I learned from that first mishap not to use lighter colors. Sure, they will bleach, but it won't be as pronounced. Darker colors work the best! If you want to see how to do it for yourself, read on. Would make for a fun project for teens. (I can't imagine, nor would I suggest younger kids with spray bottles of straight bleach).
All the supplies you'll need.
- Dark colored t-shirts (I gave in to all black even though black isn't the most girly color). Keep in mind that reds will bleach pink which isn't very manly for the guys in your life. Sure, I wanted the red shirts for me and my daughter, but of course Walmart didn't have them. I got our shirts at Walmart for about $4.00 each.
- Reynolds Freezer Paper. I found mine at Safeway simply because the Walmart and Target by me are pretty tiny and didn't carry it. I thought this was outrageous at over $7.00 a box, but I'm happy to share it with friends and I'm bound to make more with this. The box is huge!
- Scissors
- Bleach
- Spray bottle. I've been told the finger spray bottle works better than the trigger style. Picture a hairspray bottle -- that kind of sprayer. I got mine in the travel toiletry aisle at Walmart for less than $1.00.
- OxyClean & water solution. Supposedly OxyClean neutralizes the bleach. Some websites say they skipped this step, but I did it and it seemed to work just fine. A small box of OxyClean was under $4.00 at Walmart.
- Your design. I printed out a map of China.
- Iron.
- Cardboard. Just a scrap to put in between layers of the shirt so the bleach didn't soak through to the back.
- Towel. Just in case!
Trace your design onto the paper side of the Freezer Paper.
Cut out your design.
Place on your shirt wherever you like, waxy side down, paper side up.
Iron with a hot iron.
I used the Cotton setting on my iron. Be careful not to move the iron back and forth because it could peel back your edges. The 2 little islands on my design were tricky.
Change into grubby clothes. (Yeah, I'd be the one to spill bleach all over myself. You too?)
Head outside or to the garage or your laundry room to do the bleaching. Mind the wind if you do it outside because the wind could take your bleach mist and send it just exactly where you don't want it.
Place cardboard in between the layers of the shirt so the bleach won't soak to the back side.
Using your spray bottle filled with straight bleach, lightly mist the freezer paper edges. Don't overdo this! My first time around I over saturated and the design bled underneath the freezer paper and the shirts bombed. Boo. Back to Walmart I went for 3 more shirts.
Wait until the bleach reaches your desired intensity.
Carefully remove the cardboard, making sure the front and back layers of the shirt don't touch so the bleach doesn't soak the other side.
With Freezer Paper still attached, immediately dunk into a bucket of OxyClean and water solution to neutralize the bleach.
Ring out the shirt. Some have rinsed it in clean water after that. I didn't do that. I just went straight to the washing machine. Peel off Freezer Paper before washing.
Wash and dry as you would normally. Keep in mind that the cheap shirts from Walmart will shrink, so plan accordingly with your temperature settings.
Enjoy your new creation! My little girl will enjoy hers when she's home this summer.
There you have it. Back to my waiting game for the Article 5. Next post when we're officially waiting for Travel Approval!
Fabulous...love it! Now, off to print of China & Vietnam. Must have a shirt with both our kid's countries!!
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