5.2 mm plywood (or any thin wood that you can cut)
Poster board - optional in place of wood
Bleach
Spray bottle
Cardboard - I use tri-panel display board with the middle cut out
Prepare Your Work Space Before You Begin
I use a 4-foot folding table but any level surface where you can spray without getting bleach on something important is great. (photo shows my dining room table but I work in the sunroom)
Position Your Shirt Over/Around The Cardboard
The cardboard goes INSIDE of the shirt. It is in place to both give you a smooth surface to work with and to prevent bleach from seeping through to the backside of the shirt.
Step 2
Cut And Position Stencil
I use 5.2 mm plywood from my local hardware store.
A one-piece design works best, so you do not have to manually place pieces.
Position your stencil so that the top part of your design is approximately 3 inches from the lowest part of the neck. If you are working with text only, you can drop to about 5 inches.
Line the center of your design up with the tag of the shirt.
Step 3
MIST the shirt with bleach
Using the fine mist setting on your spray bottle, mist bleach from directly above the shirt over the design.
DO NOT SATURATE THE SHIRT! If you spray too much bleach, it will bleed and can degrade the integrity of the shirt material. Too much bleach with leave holes after you wash it. (See image below of me wearing the skull tee, there are holes all over it. It worked for this design but is not a good look for every image!)
Spray in a circular, square, or oval motion
Walk away!
Leave your shirt sitting with the stencil in place until the bleach is dry. That takes approximately 2 hours. Once dry, wash and wear!
My New Favorite Halloween Tee
Notes:
To get the streaked look like on the hoodie, put your spray nozzle directly on the garment and move it quickly as you spray.
I used poster board for the skull design because I wasn't sure it would work. If you use poster board, move it from the design as soon as you spray it. Be careful that you don't drip bleach.
Different brand shirts work differently and even the same brand can look slightly different from one batch to the next. I prefer Port Authority brand.
Work in a well-ventilated area. Bleach fumes are nasty!
Do not wear anything you don't mind getting ruined while you work.
You can use white tees for this but you'll replace the bleach with fabric dye. This is even messier. I don't like doing it, but you can mix and match colors for really cool results.
Gather Your Supplies
You will need:
Shirts/hoodies
5.2 mm plywood (or any thin wood that you can cut)
Poster board - optional in place of wood
Bleach
Spray bottle
Cardboard - I use tri-panel display board with the middle cut out
Prepare Your Work Space Before You Begin
I use a 4-foot folding table but any level surface where you can spray without getting bleach on something important is great. (photo shows my dining room table but I work in the sunroom)
Position Your Shirt Over/Around The Cardboard
The cardboard goes INSIDE of the shirt. It is in place to both give you a smooth surface to work with and to prevent bleach from seeping through to the backside of the shirt.
Cut And Position Stencil
I use 5.2 mm plywood from my local hardware store.
A one-piece design works best, so you do not have to manually place pieces.
Position your stencil so that the top part of your design is approximately 3 inches from the lowest part of the neck. If you are working with text only, you can drop to about 5 inches.
Line the center of your design up with the tag of the shirt.
MIST the shirt with bleach
Using the fine mist setting on your spray bottle, mist bleach from directly above the shirt over the design.
DO NOT SATURATE THE SHIRT! If you spray too much bleach, it will bleed and can degrade the integrity of the shirt material. Too much bleach with leave holes after you wash it. (See image below of me wearing the skull tee, there are holes all over it. It worked for this design but is not a good look for every image!)
Spray in a circular, square, or oval motion
Walk away!
Leave your shirt sitting with the stencil in place until the bleach is dry. That takes approximately 2 hours. Once dry, wash and wear!
My New Favorite Halloween Tee
Notes:
To get the streaked look like on the hoodie, put your spray nozzle directly on the garment and move it quickly as you spray.
I used poster board for the skull design because I wasn't sure it would work. If you use poster board, move it from the design as soon as you spray it. Be careful that you don't drip bleach.
Different brand shirts work differently and even the same brand can look slightly different from one batch to the next. I prefer Port Authority brand.
Work in a well-ventilated area. Bleach fumes are nasty!
Do not wear anything you don't mind getting ruined while you work.
You can use white tees for this but you'll replace the bleach with fabric dye. This is even messier. I don't like doing it, but you can mix and match colors for really cool results.