By: Brianna Kalina
If you have been keeping up with the latest fashion trends during this time stuck at home, then you definitely know there is a new obsession in the fashion world. Every clothing vendor is selling articles of clothing that are bleached and tie dyed! Social media is flooded with cozy quarantine pictures of people wearing their colorful sweat sets! Due to all of the free time we now have, tie dye and bleached clothing can be found in places that go well beyond the average clothing store. Many people have started their own small companies to make these types of products and earn their own profit. The only issue is that these handmade clothes are being sold at way too high a cost. Luckily, there is a solution: DIY (Do It Yourself)! You can easily hop onto this new trend for less than half of the prices you are finding on various websites and social media platforms. Not only will this be a good activity to take up some time in the day, but it will also allow you to be on top of the trends on a budget.
The first step is buying the clothes you want to style for low prices. Any article bought can be cropped and cut to your liking. Walmart and Amazon are only two of a number of places where you can find any article and any color clothing you want at a very affordable price. Walmart, for example, has sweatpants for $8 and sweatshirts for $7! That is an entire sweat set for $15, whereas you could be spending at least $60 from some department stores or boutiques. Cropped tie dyed tank tops are becoming super popular too, and you can find them for anywhere from $2 to $7 a piece. You also need to buy a dye set and bleach if you do not already have one, but they can easily be found at any craft store, Walmart, or Amazon for low prices.
Once you have your items, it is a good idea to look for inspiration. There are tons of pictures on every social media platform of people posing in their clothes. Once you see the color scheme you like, it is time to get to work! The first recommendation is to do all your designing outside or on a covered surface; things will get stained and a bit messy.
In order to do both bleach and tie dye, you have to “rubberband” your clothing in a certain manner to get the right look. There are many different outcomes based on the way you rubberband, so before you do it in the chosen way, make sure you like that look. It is recommended that before this, any newly bought clothes are prewashed to ensure there are no chemicals that can prevent the dye from penetrating. For tie dyeing, be sure to soak the clothing so it is wet. Then, once it is all rubber banded, it is time to add the color. Make sure you are wearing gloves, especially before you begin dyeing! Take whatever colors you are using, and run them all over your clothing. There is no correct way to do it because the first step is what really affects the look of the dye. Please note that when bleaching, it is not necessary to wet the clothing beforehand. Using a spray bottle filled with the bleach will definitely be easier to work with, but anything is fine. Just like the dye, spray the bleach all over in no particular way. The difference between the two is that you will be able to see the bleach working within 10 minutes, but with the tie dye, you need to wait around 8-10 hours before proceeding to the finishing steps. After the time is up for the tie dye, make sure to rinse out all of the dye in cold water. After that, chuck it into the washing machine, run a wash cycle, and you are done! For bleach, after it is set, do a quick cold water rinse to neutralize the bleach and then put it in the washing machine and run a wash cycle. Just like that, you now have your own trendy wardrobe!
In a time like this, it is important to keep yourself busy and on a budget! With these easy steps, you can walk out of quarantine in style and maybe even with your own business.
