Tye Dye T-Shirts

Tye Dye T-Shirts

What You'll Need:
One-gallon empty bottle
Pre-washed cotten T-shirt
3 plastic buckets
rubber gloves or clothespin
bleach
an apron or smock (old shirt will work fine)
string or rubber bands
dye (Ritz or Tintex), various colors
newspaper
old towels

For light colored T-shirts, use dye. For dark
colored T-shirts, use bleach. Before working
with the dyes, put on an apron or smock.
1. To prepare the dye: Pour a package of dye
powder, any color, into the gallon bottle and
fill it with hot tap water. Put the top on and
shake well. Pour the liquid into a plastic
bucket. To prepare the bleach: Pour the bleach
about 2" deep into another plastic bucket. Do
this outside or near an open window. Don't
Touch The Bleach or Smell It Directly! Fill the
third bucket with plain water.
2. Now tie string or rubber bands around the
fabric in as many places as you want.
3. Always Wear Gloves When You're Dipping Fabric.
If you don't have gloves, use a clothespin to
pick up the fabric. Dip the fabric into the dye
or bleach for 2 to 3 minutes. You can put the
whole piece of fabric in, or just dip the parts
that are tied. For light-colored fabrics, wait
until the fabric is a little darker than you want
it to be. For dark-colored fabrics, wait until it
has turned as light as you want it to be.
4. Pick up the fabric and swirl it in the bucket
of plain water.
5. Wrap the fabric in some old towels and press
down on it to soak up the water.
6. Take off the string or rubber bands and hang
up the fabric to dry. Put newspapers below to
catch any dripping water. You'll have a great
piece of tye-dye overnight!

You can tye-dye the same shirt or piece of
clothing in different colors. Get an extra
bucket for each color. After the first dipping,
rinse the fabric but don't remove the string or
rubber bands. Then dip the fabric into a
different-colored dye. Change the water in the
bucket after each color. Try tye-dyeing old
pillowcases, bedsheets, or curtains.