How to Tie Dye Shirts with Bleach in a Spiral Shape

Bleach tie dying is the perfect first time tie dye project. You probably have all of the supplies you need at home already. So let’s get started. 

You’re going to take a plain t-shirt of any color (preferably a dark color), and turn it into a groovy spiral design tie-dye shirt. This is a great project for first-time tie dyers because it is almost impossible to mess up.   

So let’s get started. 

Supplies: 

• 1 tarp or work table
• 1 pair of gloves
• 1 clean plain dark colored t-shirt
• 1 fork
• 1 large zip lock bag
• 3 strong rubber bands 
• 1 plastic squirt bottle
• Water
• Bleach

Step one: Prepare your space 

• Collect your supplies and start with a clean work space. 

Step two: Twist your shirt into a spiral

• Start with a damp t-shirt that is not dripping, but not dry to the touch. 
  
• Turn your shirt inside out. 
  
• Place it face-down on the work table. 
  
• Plant the fork in the center of your shirt where the center of the spiral will be. 
  
• Twist the fork gently several turns until pleats start to form around the center. 
  
• Stop the middle from gathering too much fabric and height by removing the fork and pressing the top of the spiral with one hand. 
  
• Use the other hand to continue to arrange the pleats evenly around the spiral until the entire shirt forms a large cinnamon-roll shape. 
  

Step three: Secure the shirt with rubber bands

• Wrap your first rubber band around the twisted shirt. 
  
• Continue to wrap the other two rubber bands so they cross in the middle and create six wedge triangle shapes. 
  
• Make sure the shirt stays tightly bunched into the spiral shape. 

Step four: Apply bleach to the shirt

• Put on your gloves to protect your hands from the bleach. 
  
• Lay down your tarp on your table. 
  
• Prepare a mixture of half a cup of bleach and half a cup of water in your plastic spray bottle.  
  
• Thoroughly apply bleach to the t-shirt in every other triangle drawn with the rubber bands on one side. 
  
• Turn the t-shirt over and apply the bleach to the matching wedges on the other side. 

Step five: Allow bleach time to change you shirt's color. 

• Place your bleached t-shirt in the plastic bag. 
  
• Wait for roughly 20 minutes to an hour until the bleach lightens your shirt.

Step six: Rinse the bleach from your shirt and wash it. 

• Place your t-shirt in a wash basin and rinse the excess bleach from the shirt. 
  
• Remove the rubber bands and you will see how your spiral design turned out. 
  
• Wash your t-shirt on the normal setting in the washing machine. 
  
• You may need to wash it a few times before safely washing other clothing with it. 
  
• Dry your shirt. 

Step seven: Wear your new DIY tie-dye shirt 

• Take a picture and share it with us on IG.  

Now that you’ve tried a bleach spiral. Check out these other tie-dye instructions for your next project: 

• Rainbow spiral with plain white shirt and color dye
  
• Rainbow spiral 8 different ways from a real hippie
  
• Color dyed white shirt 3 different ways
  

Don’t be afraid to get creative and try different patterns and designs. Try it out on sweatsuits, cropped shirts and more. 

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Need some shirts to get these tie dye projects started? Get an affordable Goodfair Surprise Blank T-shirt to test out your bleach tie dye experiment. Or if you want to skip the DIY part and go straight to the tie dye, choose our Pre-Loved Surprise Tie Dye Tee. 

Article written by Erica Eller