Valentine’s Bleach Dyed Sweatshirt

In today’s post: This Valentine’s Bleach Dyed Sweatshirt is made using a cute wooden heart from Hobby Lobby and is super easy to make! Find step by step directions to make your own sweatshirt below.

DIY Bleach Dyed Hoodie

Today’s project is so fun. Seriously! It’s pretty awesome that you can make yourself a cool hoodie using a wooden cutout heart from Hobby Lobby and bleach water in a spray bottle. The heart was on sale for under two dollars, making this a really inexpensive craft idea for teens or adults.

Easy Valentine’s Day Craft

Bleach dyeing is basically reverse stenciling: you’ll use the wood heart as a stencil and spray bleach mixed with water over it. Everywhere the bleach touches the shirt it will remove color, leaving the parts covered by the heart dark. I was really impressed by the clean lines I was able to get using the wood heart as a stencil! The secret is to temporarily adhere the wood heart to the shirt using basting spray or a glue stick. This ensures that none of the bleach leaks under the heart, ruining your design.

Supplies

You don’t need many supplies to make this cute bleach dyed hoodie! Here’s what you need:

• Wood Heart Cutout from Hobby Lobby (or other wood sign or stencil)
• Hoodie or Sweatshirt: I used this bright pink hoodie from Amazon. Look for sweatshirts that are made of cotton or cotton/poly as opposed to other fibers because bleach doesn’t work the same on all fibers.
• Basting Spray (for quilting) or other washable adhesive spray OR a glue stick
• Spray Bottle
• Bleach
• Cardboard to go inside the shirt
• Trash bag or plastic tablecloth to protect the surface you’re spraying on

How to Bleach Dye a sweatshirt

Apply Temporary Adhesive

Working outside or in a well ventilated area, spread out a large trash sack or plastic tablecloth to cover the surface. Place the wood heart cutout on a piece of cardboad or paper. Spray the back of the wood heart with basting spray or other washable adhesive spray until it is sticky to the touch.

I think using washable adhesive spray is the easiest way to do this craft and will give you crisp bleach lines. You can find basting spray or washable adhesive in the craft or sewing sections of most large stores. However, if you don’t want to purchase that, you can use a glue stick instead. For best results, lightly rub the glue stick over the entire back of the wood sign to make sure it will stick to the shirt. I found it was easiest to use one of the purple glue sticks so you can see whether you’ve covered the entire area. Wipe off any little globs of glue that get stuck along the edges of the wood sign.

Place Wood Heart on Shirt

Place a piece of cardboard inside the sweatshirt to protect the back (or front) of the shirt from the bleach spray. Ideally, the cardboard should be big enough to fill the entire shirt. Place the shirt down on a trash bag or something else that will protect the surface in a WELL VENTILATED area. Place the heart sticky side down on the center of the sweatshirt. Press down on the wood making sure every bit of it is stuck to the shirt – you can gently lift the wood up and it should pull the shirt with it. (Because I used a hoodie a put the heart on the back of the sweatshirt.)

Apply Bleach Water

Make sure the spray nozzle on your spray bottle is turned so you get a fine mist (test this with water). Then mix 1 part water and 1 part bleach in the bottle and begin spraying it over the sign. I started by spraying inside the sign, then sprayed around the outside of the sign, trying to move around the sign in an even circle. You only need to get the fabric lightly wet, so DO NOT soak it with the bleach water. If you do you will ruin your shirt because the bleach will begin to leak under the sign.

Reveal the Design

If you did the spraying outside, bring the sweatshirt in to dry. You can let it air dry but it takes quite a while, so you can also use a hair dryer to speed up the drying. As it dries, you’ll be able to see how much the area around the heart is lightening up. If it dries all the way and you want the area around the heart even lighter, you can repeat the process with a little more bleach spray – but remember, DO NOT soak the fabric. Once the fabric is mostly dry, pull the wood heart off the sweatshirt to reveal the design.

Wash and Dry

To finish off the project, rinse the sweatshirt in cool water for a minute or two. Then wash it in a washing machine to remove all the bleach and any adhesive, and dry in a dryer (or hang dry). Then it’s ready to wear!