Clothes Customisation- Bleaching Denim!

I was scrolling through my instagram discover feed recently, when I saw the coolest self customised denim jacket, that had been bleached and then covered in a load of patches. When patches became a trend (last year-ish?) I never jumped on the bandwagon, but after seeing this, I wish I did! Anyway, it made me want to try customising some clothing myself, so I thought I’d start with the basics.. Bleaching denim!

I already had the necessary items, bleach and denim (!) so it was easy for me to try on a whim. I dug out this old Primark shirt, which I haven’t worn in a while because I’d gone off it a bit. The colour was really nothing special, it’s not very summery, and it was pretty cheap in case this went wrong!

I had no real idea of method, and I wanted to dive straight in rather than using a Youtube tutorial or something. If I’d have used a tutorial this write up would just be plagiarism! So, in my very methodical and mathematics way (not) I squeezed quiteeee a lot of bleach into my sink, obviously with the plug in. I diluted it with a bit of water, but kept it pretty strong. Then I used my shower attachment to completely wet the shirt, cos I figured the bleach would spread better through a wet shirt (I dunno?).

But, before I did this, I tied up parts of the shirt into little bunches. I didn’t have string, just plastic freezer bags, but they worked!

I’ve seen people who’ve tie dyed before, and tying up parts of the garment is what makes the cool circle effect you get in tie dye. I had no idea what it would do with bleaching, but it was worth a shot!

Anyway, I put the shirt in the bleachy sink, and moved it around so it soaked up all the liquid. I guess this gives an indication of how much I used, as the sink was empty by the time I pulled it out. I left it in there, chilling in the bleach for a good 10 minutes.

When I thought enough was enough, I used the shower attachment again to rinse as much bleach out as possible. I must add, I didn’t have gloves, and the bleach did hurt my hands! So I recommend using gloves!!!

I then whacked the shirt in the washing machine on a 30 minute wash, with two towels as well, cos why not, and t h e n after that I put it in for a 15 minute cold rinse. It still smells a little bleachy now so I haven’t tried it on, but next time I do a colours wash it will be going back in.

I’m really pleased with the final result!

Obviously, it’s got a lot lighter in colour all over, but certain patches where it made first contact with the bleach have got that really cool effect I was after!

It’s a much more summery thing to wear now, and I’ll probably use it as an overshirt, for summer evenings where it’s just a littttle chilly and you want something on your arms!

Thanks for reading- I may delve further into clothes customisation in the near future!