Help with bleach pen t-shirts!

[reader]

What am I doing wrong? I've bought 2 different brands of pens, draw my Mickey head silhouette on t-shirt and let sit for 15-20 minutes. When I rinse the shirts off, nothing, nada, no bleach outline like the cute ones I've seen on the disboards. I thought it was 15 minutes; am I supposed to let it sit longer? The spray bleach shirt worked great but this has me stuck! Thanks

 

[LockShockBarrel]

Are you sure you're getting bleach pens and not just stain remover pens?

 

[poohbear8]

Are you using generic pens or the Tide or whatever brand name bleach pen? I found the Dollar Tree pens did nothing, but as soon as I used the brand name I could see it work.

 

[reader]

I've tried dollar store pen and a Tide pen. I'm wondering if the Tide pen is actually some version that doesn't contain bleach. Frustrating waste of time but I"m moving on. Ironically, I also did a spray bleach shirt. On that one, I guess I got carried away and sprayed too heavily. Within moments, the entire front of the tshirt went from a teal blue to a pale pale green! No more bleach for me! Back to buttons, embroideries etc

 

[jacksmomma]

I have only had luck with the Clorox pens. Also, some shirts bleach better than others.

 

[MHSweb79]

Tide is a stain-remover pen, not a bleach pen. You need one containing a bleach gel like Clorox:

http://www.clorox.com/products/clorox-bleach-pen/

If it isn't fat and doesn't have a strong smell of chlorine, it's not going to work. Your shirts will be nice & stain-free, though. ha ha

Also I've noticed that bright orange and bright yellow do not bleach well, even using the Clorox pens. Some colors bleach in as little as 20 seconds and some need more time. Keep a close eye on your shirts - you should be able to get an idea of how well it's working. I found Royal Blue to be slow and I had to re-do it. The second time - going over the same lines -worked well.

 

[Goofygirl17]

I used the clorox bleach pen to outline our tie-dye mickey heads. It worked really well. It says bleach right on it.

Good luck!
Goofygirl

 

[reader]

Thanks, everyone. Will try to find the Clorix bleach pen. Your shirts are so cute...I want this to work! On the positive side, my embroidery and button shirts turned out lovely and the failed bleach didn't ruin the shirts so I can try try again!

 

[MHSweb79]

You can probably use Soft Scrub with Bleach if you can't find the Clorox pens (they are in the laundry detergent aisle at our grocery store and also WalMart).

Just put the goo in a heavy-duty plastic bag and snip off a tiny corner.

 

[reader]

Turned out to be all about the right pen. The winner was the Clorox bleach pen. Worked like a charm. $ store and Tide no go. Was interesting to see results on different color shirts. All 100% cotton tanks (<$3 from Sierra Trading Post). Darkish turquoise blue turned a fantastic limeish green. Black turned a very Animal Kingdom rusty brown. Red took the longest and really just faded to a pale pink on the red. I'm hooked. Used Mickey head silhouettes of different sizes on all of them including some partial ones peeking out of the hems or seams. Fast, inexpensive, satisfying.

P.S.
Helpful hint...when you shake the pen during your drawing, um, be sure the cap is on. Sigh.

 

[jacksmomma]

Turned out to be all about the right pen. The winner was the Clorox bleach pen. Worked like a charm. $ store and Tide no go. Was interesting to see results on different color shirts. All 100% cotton tanks (<$3 from Sierra Trading Post). Darkish turquoise blue turned a fantastic limeish green. Black turned a very Animal Kingdom rusty brown. Red took the longest and really just faded to a pale pink on the red. I'm hooked. Used Mickey head silhouettes of different sizes on all of them including some partial ones peeking out of the hems or seams. Fast, inexpensive, satisfying.

P.S.
Helpful hint...when you shake the pen during your drawing, um, be sure the cap is on. Sigh.

Next time use a coloring book page as your stencil. We used a Disney coloring book and got some cute results.

 

[momH2the4th]

Next time use a coloring book page as your stencil. We used a Disney coloring book and got some cute results.

That's a GREAT and inexpensive idea! I've got to get busy on my shirts for our surprise trip in June!

 

[jandka]

are there any pics? this sounds like something quick and easy i can do! do you just rinse it off?? or how are you getting it off w/ out it running?

 

[jacksmomma]

I will have to look and see if I can dig up pictures, I did it for our 2008 trip. After you get the bleach on there how you want it then you just rinse it off with cold running water. Use your fingers to lift off the beach gel directly under the stream of water. I did 3 shirts and did not have a problem with it bleeding.

As far as the design itself you want to choose a simplier one and put the bleach gel into a container with a very fine tip. Craft stores have paint bottles that have metal tips with an opening about the size of a pin, that is what you want.

You can use this same technique with Elmer's glue (plain ole' white school glue). Put the design on the shirt and let the glue dry. Then use the tie dye in a spray can and spray all over the shirt. After the dye dries launder the shirt as normal. Sometimes it requires 2 washings, but the glue comes out and is white underneath. It is a cool look as well.

 

[mommy2twocuties]

I would love to see some pics as well

 

[jacksmomma]

I will have to dig up the pics and post them. I made them back in 2008, but wore one to MK/Epcot today. I will post ASAP.

 

[Ladyhawke]

This sounds like a fun idea! I'd love to see pictures, too.

 

[jacksmomma]

Here is a full shot of the shirt...

And a close up...

This is just one shirt, I made 2 others. I will have to find pics of the other two.