How to Tie-Dye a Shirt
The process of tie dying your own clothes at home has been popular for quite a while now. By just adding some color in a specific way, you can turn a boring white shirt into a fun and stylish item of clothing. 5-Minute Crafts has listed 2 different ways to tie-dye your shirt: the traditional way and by using onion peels.
Traditional way
What you will need:
- White t-shirt
- 3 fabric tie-dye colors
- 4 rubber bands
- Plastic bag
Step 1
Lay your white t-shirt on a flat surface
Step 2
Starting from the middle, pinch your shirt and twist it.
Step 3
As it starts coming together, take the sides and shape them around the spiral. Make sure it looks neat and tight.
Step 4
Secure your t-shirt with 4 rubber bands.
Step 5
Take some gloves and start dying your shirt. Take the color of your choice and dye 1/3 of the t-shirt. Take another color and do another 1/3. When these 2 sections are even, you can add your third and final color. Make sure all your colors meet in the middle so you get a rainbow effect.
Note: If you don’t want white spots in the final result, make sure to cover any cracks with the dye.
Step 6
Clean your surface so it doesn’t mess up the color of your t-shirt and flip it over. Repeat the same process done in the previous step on the other side of the t-shirt. This time, it should be easier, as you already have some guidelines for where to color.
Step 7
After the t-shirt is completely dyed, put it in a plastic bag. Tie the bag up and store it in a dry place. Wait 24 hours.
Note: Make sure the t-shirt doesn’t drip too much on its way to the bag.
Step 8
After the 24 hours have passed, take your t-shirt out of the bag and start running cold water on it.
Note: The color has already set at its maximum potential, so it’s okay if you feel like you’re losing a lot of dye.
Step 9
After a while, you can take the rubber bands off and start wringing your t-shirt out until the water runs clear.
Step 10
Put your shirt in the washing machine to rinse it completely. Use a small amount of detergent and wash your t-shirt using cold water, and then leave it to air dry.
Final result
After the t-shirt has gone through the washing and drying process, your final result should look something like this.
Using onion peels
What you will need:
- White t-shirt
- Onion peels
- 4 rubber bands
- Plastic bag
- Large and deep plate
Step 1
Take some onion peels and add them to a pot. Add some water.
Step 2
Boil the onion peels in water over low to medium heat for about an hour, until the water achieves a kind of red color with a hint of orange.
Step 3
Drain out all the onions so you’re only left with the water.
When you get to this point, you need to copy Steps 1-4 of the traditional way so you get your t-shirt ready.
Step 4
Once your t-shirt is ready to be dyed, put it on a very large and deep plate and start pouring the onion water onto the t-shirt. Then, soak the t-shirt for half an hour. Half of the t-shirt should be under water and the other half above.
After waiting those 30 minutes, put the t-shirt inside a plastic bag and wait for a couple hours.
Step 5
After waiting a couple hours, take the rubber bands off and wash the t-shirt by hand using some detergent and cold water. Let it dry.
Final result
After the t-shirt is completely dry, you’re done and your t-shirt should look similar to the one above.