Pinteresting Summer

Challenge 23- DIY Bleach Decal Shirts- The possibilities are endless

I bought the supplies for this pin weeks ago and finally decided to give it a try after I finished a bunch of housework this afternoon. The pin comes from http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/01/diy-bleach-t-shirt-tutorial-perfect.html which is a great blog that quite a few of my pins have come from. The only place I differed was using contact paper instead of freezer paper to make the decals.

Supplies needed: Cotton t-shirts in any color except white (I got mine at Dollar Tree but I had to hunt awhile for the right sizes), Bleach, Spray bottle with the ability to mist, clear contact paper, a semi large piece of cardboard (I used a flattened cereal box), and an image to trace (Thank goodness for Google Image Search)

We are a super hero family so I knew when I did this I was going to have to do super hero logo's. I found a black shirt in the husband's size and a blue on that would fit the toddler (it was still a bit big) so I chose the Red Lantern symbol for the husband (FYI bleaching black fabric makes it turn a reddish orange shade) and Wonder Woman for the kiddo. I searched for the images through Google, put the pictures in Power Point so I could size them and then I printed them. Because the contact paper is clear you can put the image underneath it and trace.

The Wonder Woman logo was pretty easy to trace and cut out with scissors, however the Red Lantern symbol was a bit more intricate and involved an Exacto knife to get the decal finished.

Peeling the back off of the contact paper took a bit of practice (and having decent thumbnails didn't hurt either). I laid the shirts out flat and did my best to center the decals. I feel like a did pretty good with Wonder Woman but my Red Lantern ended up a tiny bit right of center.

The blog suggested putting a flatten cereal box inside the shirt to keep the bleach from soaking through the back of the shirt. I took the shirts into my bathroom to use the tub as my spraying area (I figured kill two birds, bleach the shirts and disinfect my tub). I mixed the bleach/water mix (70% Bleach, 30% water) in my spray bottle and went to town. (Turn on the bathroom intake fan if you are doing this inside, Rookie mistake #1)

The second the bleach hit the black shirt it started changing color. I went a little overboard with the spraying and ended up spraying most of the shirt (Rookie mistake #2).

I hung that one up to dry and started working on the second shirt. I tried to be a little less liberal with the spray and I think it came out better looking. However, it did take more bleach on the blue shirt to see the change.

After they dry completely (took about hour and a half), they need to be washed (after you take off the decal) in an empty load to get all of the excess bleach off of the fabric. Then run them through the dryer. These are the finished products.

I think these are super cute and easy to do (once you get the hang of spraying). I'm still trying to figure out what decal to do for me (I'm totally up for suggestions). Pin #24 is up tomorrow and I have a special surprise for my 25th Pinniversary.