How To Reverse Tie Dye: 3 Different Ways

If you are looking for a unique twist on tie dyeing, then its time to give reverse tie dye a try. The basic idea is simple:

Take a dark shirt or item and create a tie dye pattern.
Add bleach to remove the existing dye.
Once the dye is removed, add new dye colors to those areas to create new, interesting patterns.

Since there are a number of ways to create a reverse tie dye, we are going to go through the most popular three out there right now, so you can compare and decide which is right for you:

Any tie dye pattern can work, but I found the spiral and crumple patterns both easy to create and having interesting results, so I used these 2 with each reverse option.

In keeping it fair, so you can compare the different ways and patterns, I used a black adult medium shirt (well, 6 actually) for the boldest results. You can, however, experiment with other dark colors, such as blue and red. For the tie dyeing portion, I used my go-to favorite Tulip One Step Tie Dye Kit. I did keep the colors consistent for each pattern, so you will be able to see how the same colors look different for each reverse way.

PREP NOTE: When you tie dye, it is very helpful to wear old, ‘can get stained’ clothes. The same goes for the bleach tie dye portion of this. In addition, however, it is EXTREMELY important to have good ventilation. All bleach options give off fumes that are strong and can be harmful if inhaled. Ideally, outdoors or in an open garage would be best. Since I didn’t have the luxury of either option I did the reverse tie dyeing options in my kitchen with an open window and a fan in the window blowing the fumes outside. That worked fine.

Ok, ready to create some cool items!?!

FOR COMPLETE TIE DYE 101 BASICS: HOW TO TIE DYE: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE

LOOKING FOR MORE THINGS TO TIE DYE? 30 THINGS TO TIE DYE

REVERSE TIE DYE

What you’ll need:

Dark Shirt (I chose a black one)
Rubber Bands
Bleach (& Spray Bottle) OR Bleach Toilet Bowel Cleaner OR Tulip Reverse Tie Dye Kit
Plastic/Rubber Gloves
Baking Tray With Rack (optional)
2 – Gallon Plastic Bags or Plastic Wrap

Bleach toilet cleaner — Option 2: Bleach Toilet Cleaner

Tulip reverse tie dye kit — Option 3: Tulip Reverse Tie Dye Kit

Optional – IF YOU WANT TO RE-DYE THE SHIRT

Tie Dye Kit (Which Includes Rubber Bands, Gloves, And A Plastic Sheet)
Plastic Covering For Work Surface
Painter’s Tape (optional)
Paper Towels/Rags
2 – Gallon Plastic Bags or Plastic Wrap

CREATING THE PATTERN

For all reverse tie dye options, start out with a dry shirt (which is different then when you typically tie dye). In each option there is enough liquid to absorb into the shirt, so no additional water is needed to create a nice pattern. Also, the water tends to dilute the bleach, making it less effective.

Spiral Tie Dye Pattern

1. To create the spiral tie dye pattern, lay the shirt flat on your work surface. Using a clothespin or your fingers, pinch where the center of the spiral should be and start twisting. Keep twisting while the shirt winds up around the center.

2. Once the shirt is completely twisted up, remove the clothespin. Place the first rubber band around the spiral by carefully sliding it under/over the shirt and across the center of the spiral. Add the second and third rubber bands as shown below, so it resembles a 6 slice pizza.

3. Once you have the 3 rubber bands on, adjust them, so that they are evenly spaced around the shirt. You can also tuck any loose ends into the rubber bands, so the circle shape is nice and tight.

Creating spiral tie dye pattern — Creating A Spiral Tie Dye Pattern

Crumple Tie Dye Pattern

1. To create the crumple tie dye pattern, lay the shirt flat on the work surface. Using your fingers, start to scrunch the shirt together in the center. Continue to gather it together towards the center until you have a crumpled circle of a shirt.

2. Place the first rubber band around the crumpled pattern by carefully sliding it under/over the shirt and across the center. Add the second, third, and fourth rubber bands as shown below, so it resembles a 8 slice pizza.

Creating crumple tie dye pattern — Creating A Crumple Tie Dye Pattern

3. Once you have the 4 rubber bands on, adjust them, so that they are evenly spaced around the shirt. Tuck any loose ends into the rubber bands, so the circle shape is nice and tight. You can also add a rubber band around the shirt to help hold everything together.

Finishing securing shirt with rubber bands — Finishing Securing The Shirt With Rubber Bands

REVERSE TIE DYEING THE SHIRT

OPTION 1: Bleach Tie Dye

NOTE: Bleach does EXPIRE! I found this out firsthand by using some bleach that I had sitting around (probably bought it a little over a year ago). Sprayed a 50/50 bleach/water mix and then 100% bleach on a black shirt and it remained COMPLETELY black!! I would strongly suggest for this project that you buy a fresh bottle, so it has the best possible effect.

4. Fill a spray bottle with 50% bleach/50% water and gently shake to mix.

5. Set the shirt on the baking tray and rack or in/on another protected surface like a stainless steel sink. Liberally spray the top and sides of the shirt, allowing the mixture to soak in.

6. Turn the shirt over and repeat, so both sides are covered.

Bleach starting to remove dye from dark shirt — Bleach Starting To Remove Dye From The Shirt

OPTION 2: Bleach Toilet Cleaner

NOTE: As with the bleach, you will want to use a fresh bottle of toilet cleaner for the best results. Also, please check the cleaner to make sure that there is bleach in it. Not all toilet cleaners contain bleach and that is critical to a successful project.

4. Set the shirt on the baking tray and rack or in/on another protected surface like a stainless steel sink.

5. Squirt the cleaner on the shirt liberally and massage/rub it into the shirt using your gloved fingers.

6. Turn the shirt over and repeat, so both sides are covered.

Adding bleach toilet cleaner to shirt — Adding The Bleach Toilet Cleaner To The Shirt

OPTION 3: Tulip Reverse Tie Dye Kit

4. Mix a bottle of Tulip’s Color Changer solution according to the instructions. From mixing several bottles, I can suggest that luke warm water is better and giving it enough time (patience) for the powder to fully desolve is super important. (I used 1 bottle per shirt)

5. Set the shirt on the baking tray and rack or in/on another protected surface like a stainless steel sink. Liberally squirt the top and sides of the shirt, allowing the solution to soak in.

6. Turn the shirt over and repeat, so both sides are covered.

Adding Tulip color changer to shirt — Adding The Tulip Color Changer To The Shirt

RINSING AND WASHING

7. When both sides of the shirt are saturated, put it in a plastic bag. It will take about 15-20 minutes for the dye to be removed (and the color of the shirt to change to a light orange (for bleach) or light grey (for the Tulip solution)).

Once the bleach solution has removed enough dye, it’s time to rinse and wash the shirt. This is an important step as, if done in the wrong order or rushed, it can muddy up the nice pattern you created.

8. Take the shirt out of the plastic bag and put it in a sink or bucket (something that can get dirty and won’t stain). We have a stainless steel kitchen sink, so I use that. You can cut/take off the rubber bands and then rinse the shirt in COLD water. The cold part is critical because it allows excess solution to wash out slowly while not bleaching the remaining dark parts of the shirt.

9. Repeat this rinse process several times.

10. Once the shirt is thoroughly rinsed, you can wash it in the washing machine either by itself or with several other rinsed reverse tie dyed items. Wash on warm or cold with a bit of detergent.

11. Dry the shirt(s) in dryer or let air dry if you are not immediately tie dyeing the shirts (or do not intend to).

REVERSE TIE DYE RESULTS

Ok, so here are the results of the 3 ways I reverse tie dyed my black shirts. Personally, I liked the bleach tie dye shirts the best. The pattern edges were a bit fuzzy, almost like watercolors.

Spiral and crumple patterned bleach tie dyed shirts — OPTION 1: Spiral And Crumple Patterned Bleach Tie Dyed Shirts

Spiral and crumple patterned bleach toilet cleaner tie dyed shirts — OPTION 2: Spiral And Crumple Patterned Bleach Toilet Cleaner Tie Dyed Shirts

Spiral and crumple patterned Tulip reverse tie dyed shirts — OPTION 3: Spiral And Crumple Patterned Tulip Reverse Tie Dyed Shirts

TIE DYEING THE SHIRT

If you decide to tie dye (or recolor as I like to call it) your shirt, you can either follow similar steps to traditional tie dyeing OR you can freestyle “paint” the colors on the shirt.

For either method, I started with a damp, but not wet, shirt. It helps get the dye to absorb into the fabric easier. You can use a dry shirt, but it will use a lot more dye. Truthfully, expect to use more dye either way for this project. I found that I went through a lot more dye than if I was tie dyeing a white shirt.

Be sure to prep (cover) your work surface before starting to dye. For more details on prepping your work surface, please see HOW TO TIE DYE: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE.

OPTION 1: Traditional Tie Dyeing

12. For the spiral pattern, it was easier to re-tie up the shirt in a spiral pattern (steps 1-3). This allows the dye to create a spiral easier than trying to freestyle it.

13. Once the shirt is tied up, place it on a baking tray/rack or covered work surface and add the dye colors to the shirt. I start with the weakest (yellow) first. READ: Spiral Tie Dye for details on tie dyeing a spiral pattern.

14. Once the first side is dyed, flip the shirt over and repeat. Put the shirt in a plastic bag or cover in plastic wrap.

15. Let the shirt sit for minimally 6-8 hours and up to 24 hours max, so the dye can cure. This will help produce the brightest colors.

Tie dyeing spiral pattern on shirt — Tie Dyeing A Spiral Pattern On The Shirt

OPTION 2: Freestyle “Painting” On Dye

12. For the crumple pattern shirts, I decided to freestyle “paint” the dye on the shirts. Lay the shirt on a baking tray (I used 2) or a covered work surface. NOTE: After a few test shirts, I realized that it was best to not use the rack as a lot of the dye dripped through and the colors weren’t as bright. So even though the pic has the rack, lay the shirt directly on the tray for brighter colors.

13. Starting with the weakest or lightest colors (light pink in this case), squirt dye on the shirt in whatever pattern you like. I went for a random pattern. Do keep in mind, though, that complementary colors (like yellow-purple, red-green or orange-blue) tend to create muddy, brownish colors when mixed.

14. When the front of the shirt is finished, either flip the shirt over OR fold over sections of the shirt to see if areas on the back still need dye. I prefer to fold over sections of the shirt (i.e. right shoulder, left shoulder, right bottom, left bottom) as I think its less messy and quick. Either place the shirt in a plastic bag or leave it lying on the tray or surface (if it won’t be disturbed during curing).

15. Let the shirt sit for minimally 6-8 hours and up to 24 hours max, so the dye can cure. This will help produce the brightest colors.

Adding dye to shirt — Adding Dye To The Shirt

Rinsing AND WASHING (AGAIN)

Once the dye has cured, it’s time to rinse and wash the shirt again. I will SAY IT AGAIN as this is an important step in tie dyeing. If you rinse/wash your item in the wrong order or rush it, the nice colors and pattern you created can become muddy and lost.

16. Take the shirt out of the plastic bag and put it in a sink or bucket (something that can get dirty and won’t stain). Again, we use our stainless steel kitchen sink for this. Cut/take off the rubber bands and then rinse the shirt in COLD water. The cold part is critical because it allows excess dye to wash out slowly while not bleeding into other parts of the shirt.

17. Repeat this rinse process several times until the water is fairly clear.

18. Once the water is fairly clear, repeat the rinse process once more, but with luke warm water (not HOT). This should get the last bit of excess dye out before putting it in a washing machine.

19. Once the shirt is thoroughly rinsed, you can wash it in the washing machine either by itself or with several other rinsed tie dye items. If I’m tie dyeing a bunch of shirts, I will put up to 6 in one load. Wash on warm or cold with a bit of detergent.

20. Dry the shirt(s) in dryer or let air dry. Personally I prefer air drying as it extends the life of the dye color (as they will eventually fade a bit with washing and wear).

NOTE: Wash the shirt by itself or with other tie dye items for the next few washings before adding it in with your other clothes.

REVERSE TIE DYE RESULTS (RE-DYED)

Here are the results of the reverse tie dyed shirts re-dyed. Personally, I’m still a big fan of the bleach tie dye shirts. I think they took the dye the best the first time, without any additional effort (read on for ways to make the colors pop more).

Spiral and crumple patterned bleach tie dyed shirts re-dyed — Spiral And Crumple Patterned Bleach Tie Dyed Shirts Re-dyed

Spiral and crumple patterned bleach toilet cleaner tie dyed shirts re-dyed — Spiral And Crumple Patterned Bleach Toilet Cleaner Tie Dyed Shirts Re-dyed

Spiral and crumple patterned Tulip reverse tie dyed shirts re-dyed — Spiral And Crumple Patterned Tulip Reverse Tie Dyed Shirts Re-dyed

TOUCHING UP THE COLORS

To touch up the colors, you basically repeat the process of freestyle “painting”. One thing I did do differently, however, was start with a dry shirt. It does use more dye, but it stays in one spot better. Since I was touching up the colors I didn’t need the dye bleeding throughout the shirt, particularly the remaining black areas.

TIPS:

Use the same or similar colors to avoid muddying the colors.
Touch the tip of the dye squeeze bottle to the shirt when starting to apply dye to an area. The connection helps the dye absorb into the shirt rather than sit on top (which can happen to dry fabric).
Don’t forget the back of the shirt. Since you are touching up the colors, any area that is missed will look very obvious.

Examples Of Touched Up Shirts:

Touched up shirt 1 - before and after — Touched Up Shirt 1: Before and After

Touched up shirt 2 - before and after — Touched Up Shirt 2: Before and After

Whew! Reverse tie dyeing in 3 different ways was quite an interesting (and long), but fun challenge. There are certainly more steps that traditional tie dyeing, but the results definitely pop in a way that stands out from traditional methods. Hopefully this helps you identify which option you would like to try.