bleach your jeans!

BEFORE & AFTER:

Ok, i finally bleached my jeans. Although it was not during the holidays, it was only a few days after the holidays so... still counted la!

INSPIRATIONS:

Let's start:

First, a list of what you'll need. I forgot to add jeans in the list but that's common sense right? I suggest using old/unwanted/extra jeans if this is your first time.

STEP 1: Research, research and more research!

Read up on the internet for tutorials to see different experiences/tutorials. And search for inspiration pictures! For me, i wanted more of a gradient effect. From (top to bottom) original colour to lighter blue to whitish-blue. After you're armored with your research, you move on to the real battle field.

STEP 2: I used a pin to mark down where i want the bleach to end, which is the end of the whitish-blue. Remember to leave about an inch just in case you make any mistake. You can always bleach more but you cant reverse the effect. If you want to be free and easy, then there's no need for pin.

STEP 3: Please use gloves because because you want to protect your hands, no? Er, its better to use rubber gloves but the only gloves i could find at home are the plastic ones. Mix your bleach and water into a pail. Make sure that it is enough to cover the area of your jeans that you want to soak in.

Ok, there are many differing ratio according to my research. You need to consider how strong your bleach is, the quality of your jeans and how long you want to soak your jeans. I recommend that you use 1:2 (chlorine:water). You can always add more chlorine later.

Soak your jeans in. Make sure that every part of your jeans that you want to bleach is IN the solution. Peg the top of your jeans on to the pail for precaution.

(I advice you to do this in a place with good ventilation. The stench of the chlorine really can make you dizzy. I did mine in my balcony.)

STEP 4: Wait.

Check your jeans after 15 mins. Since half of your jeans is soaked (and soaked means darker clothing), you might not see the difference. According to my research, if the jeans is fully bleached (which means fully white), you can see that it is actually white although it is soaked. If its dark, you cannot tell if its colour is due to the water or that it has not taken effect.

So 2 options now. Either you wait or you add more chlorine. I have to remind you that the longer you wait, the water will spread throughout your jeans. Which means your top half might get a little damp if you put your jeans in the solution for too long. If your solution has a strong mixture of chlorine, your top half might get a little bleached too.

I waited. You can now stretch your checking intervals from 15 mins to 30 mins to 60 mins. After about 2 hours if you see no sign of changes, hang your jeans to air dry for a while (30 to 60 mins).

You might be able to see some changes. If you're satisfied, you can move on to the next step. If you're not, continue to soak your jeans. And repeat step 4. Always remember to wear gloves.

(I might add that there is no standard amount of time needed. Some said that they need 15 minutes, some said 2 hours, some said 1 whole day. It really depends so the best way is to just keep checking the progress of your jeans. Trial and error la.)

STEP 5: Congratulations you have made it... or maybe not.

If you dont like your jeans and its beyond salvation well at least you tried. You can throw it away and skip this step. If you love your newly DIY-ed jeans, the last step is to just wash them! Run your jeans under water to wash off the chlorine. I dont really know what the others do to wash their jeans because they simply just say "wash your jeans". For me, i just soaked my jeans in a pail of water with washing powder for about a day? Hahahaha cause my mom wasnt home and i dont know how to use my washing machine.

I swear it sounds literally like a battle field every single time my mom works that crazy invention.
Every. Single. Time.

But you can soak it for about 30 minutes or so la. So yeah, after soaking just throw into the washing machine or you can hand wash if you want to.

Please be smart and dont mix it with other clothing hor.

STEP 6: TA-DAAAAA!

From boring to different!

Ok, at this point if you have a good memory, you might remember that on the list i stated toothbrush but didnt state when to use it. 

So during step 4 when you check your jeans, you can use the toothbrush to sort of mix the solution a little. Because some parts of your jeans might be above the surface of the solution so you need to push them back. 

And the toothbrush is good for the gradient effect though i didnt utitlise it. Before you wash your jeans in step 5 and you want a better transition of the colours, simply dip the bristles of the toothbrush into your leftover solution and scrub at your jeans. If the solution is not strong, just dip your toothbrush into 100% chlorine.

Honestly for me, i think that my jeans is not bleached enough. But i think i will leave it as it is now. I cant always bleach it again ^^ I feel very pleased with myself for writing this blog post. Other DIY tutorials suck ok?? They never list out their whole experience, details, advice and cautionary notes. So in the end i had to go through like a million different blog posts and youtube videos, omg. See, i make things simple by compiling everything here... just that you need to read this wordy post hahaha.

I love DIY! I want to do more soon, if i have the time (: