How to Do Bleach Shirts with Vinyl

After I shared my 7 best tips for how to bleach shirts at home, I got a lot of questions from people asking how I do bleach shirts with vinyl. 

Using adhesive vinyl as a way to block the bleach from areas of the shirt gives a really cool effect and it's not hard to do. 

Grab a shirt that you want to bleach - remember not all shirts will bleach. I would recommend getting either Gildan brand Women's Softstyle cotton shirts in Dark Heather or the Augusta Sportswear Tri-blend in Navy Heather as I had really good luck with them. They bleached easily and quickly. 

Pour the bleach into a spray bottle. I do not dilute the bleach at all. You'll also need hydrogen peroxide to stop the bleaching process so make sure you have that on hand too.

You want to start by cutting the vinyl design out of adhesive vinyl with your Silhouette CAMEO or Portrait.  I would recommend using Oracal 651 or another permanent vinyl.  

Make sure whatever design you pick doesn't have areas that are too small or thin or you may have trouble getting them to stick to the shirt. This You Had Me At Tacos design from So Fontsy was perfect. 

WARNING: Do not use HTV when making bleach shirts with vinyl if you want to be able to remove the vinyl after you spray on the bleach. 

Once the vinyl is weeded cover it with transfer tape. Burnish it just enough that you can pick it up off the backing, but don't press too hard - you need to make sure it will release onto the shirt. 

Now place the vinyl design directly onto the shirt.  Again use the scraper to burnish the adhesive vinyl onto the shirt. 

From one of the corners peel back the transfer tape slowly making sure the vinyl decal stays on the shirt.  If you kind of fold the transfer tape sharply as you pull back you can force the vinyl to stay. 

Once the transfer tape has fully released make sure all areas of the vinyl are stuck down onto the shirt. 

How to Make a Bleach Shirt with Sun

Now you're ready to start making your bleach shirt....as long as it's a sunny day.   If you're brand new to bleach shirts you may want to check out my 7 beginner tips for how to bleach shirts...otherwise carry on. 

Place a piece of cardboard inside your shirt and another under the shirt to protect the ground or area where you're working.  Of course you need to be outside for this...and remember you need full sun - no shadows. 

Have a large bowl or tub with a 50/50 mix of water and hydrogen peroxide ready.  I found one cup of each was the perfect amount of rinse for three small women's shirts.

With the shirt flat down on the work area spray a few sprays of bleach over the area where the vinyl is. Don't saturate the shirt. You don't want to over bleach it and you can always add a few more squirts if you need to. 

It only takes a minute or two for the shirt to start bleaching. If you see any areas that look like they could use a little more bleach go ahead and give another shot of bleach in that area.  Here's a quick video of the bleaching process for this shirt. 

< VIDEO > 

The goal is to make the area around the vinyl bleached enough that there's a contrast between the bleached and unbleached area enough to reveal your design. 

When you're satisfied with the bleach color it's time to remove the vinyl.  I would suggest laying a paper towel over the vinyl first to remove any bleach on it so you're not getting it on your hands.  

Use tweezers and work as quickly as you can to remove the vinyl.  

Remember you need to submerge the shirt in the hydrogen peroxide and water rinse to stop the bleaching, but you can't do that until all the vinyl is removed. 

After the rinse, you're bleach shirt with vinyl is just about done! 

Throw it in the washer and dryer for one or two cycles before wearing and you've made yourself a DIY bleach shirt using vinyl!! 

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