Using what you’ve got to turn super affordable (in my case free) black cotton bandanas into pretty earth tone bandanas.
This may be a bit niche, but it’s what I’ve worked on lately. Here’s the story… A friend gave me bunch of black bandanas that she had leftover from something. And I thought I’d change the color to something more earthy and natural looking for a camp party I was helping with at my son’s school.
I figured I would test it out and if it didn’t work, no harm no foul, since they were free. But it did work and I love how they turned out! The colors are more organic and dusty (in a good way) than typical bandana colors and it was a really easy project from start to finish.
It would work great with clothing too. So here’s how I went from black bandanas to pretty earth tones ones for parties, wearables, and maybe even something for my dog.
I’ve done bleach projects before. Actually, in the past, I shared something similar with this bleach tie dye technique.
But the main difference with this one is that I added a dye color AFTER bleaching this time, instead of relying on the bleach to create the subdued color.
Materials
- bleach
- gloves
- dark colored clothing or bandanas
- bucket
Instructions
Before you get started: Because you’ll be working with bleach, it is important to work in a well-ventilated area outside.
1. Wet bandanas. First, get the bandanas wet with water. Then wring out the excess water.
2. Add bleach into a bucket outside. Next, put on gloves and pour bleach directly into a large container or bucket (just enough to fully submerged the fabric). Again, make sure you’re in a well ventilated area outside.
3. Dip in bleach briefly. Dip bandanas into the bleach and as they start to change color, remove from the bleach. This can happen pretty quickly (within 30 seconds).
4. Remove from bleach and rinse. Wring out the excess bleach from the bandanas and run them under cold water for 1-2 minutes.
5. Wash and dry. Wash in the washing machine and dry as normal.
6. Re-dye the bandanas. Once the bandanas have been washed and dried, they can be re-dyed new colors. I followed this dyeing tutorial.
Notes on Bleaching Textiles
Before dyeing and after washing and drying, all the bandanas looked like some variation of these colors (below). The longer you keep them in the bleach, the lighter they become. But also, the longer textiles are soaking in bleach, the quicker the material breaks down. So, you don’t want to keep them in there too long.
Anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute should be enough.
I only took a couple of photos from the camp party, but here’s a quick snap (below). We used the bandanas as napkins at each child’s place setting, but also had paper napkins. So, the kids mostly just grabbed the bandanas from the table and put them on. And used the paper napkins as actual napkins so they didn’t dirty up their bandanas.
And since we had a couple bandanas leftover after the party, I gave one to our dog. Wouldn’t say he loves wearing it, BUT it does look cute on him.
Making Pretty Earth Tone Bandanas
Equipment
- gloves
- bucket
Ingredients
- bleach
- dark colored clothing or bandanas
Instructions
- Before you get started: Because you'll be working with bleach, it is important to work in a well-ventilated area outside.
- Wet bandanas. First, get the bandanas wet with water. Then wring out the excess water.
- Add bleach into a bucket outside. Next, put on gloves and pour bleach directly into a large container or bucket (just enough to fully submerged the fabric). Again, make sure you're in a well ventilated area outside.
- Dip in bleach briefly. Dip bandanas into the bleach and as they start to change color, remove from the bleach. This can happen pretty quickly (within 30 seconds).
- Remove from bleach and rinse. Wring out the excess bleach from the bandanas and run them under cold water for 1-2 minutes.
- Wash and dry. Wash in the washing machine and dry as normal.
- Re-dye the bandanas. Once the bandanas have been washed and dried, they can be re-dyed new colors. I followed this dyeing tutorial.
Notes
