DIY: DENIM TRANSFORMATION SERIES dip dye bleach

Denim Transformation Series:

Summer heat = needing more shorts! I have tons of old jeans so I’m turning them into cutoffs…with a twist!
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Here is another pair of shorts in my denim transformation series. I turned a pair of outdated JCrew Matchstick jeans into bleach dip dyed shorts.

Ok here we go...I have bleach in my possession! Let's be honest, I'm frightened of it. I once had a whole load of laundry ruined from the remnants of it while using a shared washing machine. GAH!

In the first bucket, I mixed half water, half bleach. How full you want to fill it is up to you. (You'd better believe I'm wearing gloves, I don't want that stuff to touch me.) I hung the shorts by their beltloops with my handy heavy duty design ruler. Suspended by the top of the bucket, I dipped the bottom of the shorts into the bleach and sat there waiting/watching like a little kid.
Ok bleach, do you thing!
I patiently waited a little over an hour and took them out and immediately put them in a bucket of half vinegar, half water. This acts as a stop bath. Bleach, you will not eat through my clothes.

After 20 minutes, I took the shorts out of the vinegar solution and rinsed them in water...then on the the washing machine! I washed them a few times to try to get out the bleach smell. After all the hype about hating bleach, I'm now a little more comfortable with it. Plans are in the works for the next bleach project!