The worst has happened. A stain. Right on your tie-dye. Stains are something we all fear. No matter your skill level, you’re only one mistake away from disaster. It can happen when dyeing, rinsing, or even washing.
You can fix a shirt by covering the stain or by discharging it. Dye, paint, and bleach can be used to hide or attenuate a stain.
In this guide you will see that it isn’t so bad making a mistake. There are many ways to make your tie-dye look better.
Some cases only require a minor operation, while others may require a complete overhaul. Every situation is unique, but most cases can be solved by one of these methods.
Can you Fix a Stained or Discolored Tie-dye Shirt?
Stains are most visible when they are over pale colors. White, blue, yellow are all easily stained. Some stains are harder to cover than others, such as large or dark stains.
Yes, stained or discolored tie-dye shirts can be fixed in most cases. Just like a bad tattoo, you can cover up a tie-dye mistake. With the proper tools you can transform a failure into success.
How to Fix a Stained or Failed Tie-dye
There’s multiple ways you can go about and fix your tie-dye. It all depends on what exactly you’re trying to achieve. Are you working on a single, small stain? Do you have a whole shirt to make over?
You can cover a stain with dye or paint, remove it with bleach, or incorporate it into a new design. Dye or paint over the affected area. Alternatively, discharge the area with a bleaching agent.
1. Dyeing Over the Mistake
Using dyes you can cover mistakes. Whether your tie-dye has a stain or just isn’t looking great, you can typically give it a makeover.
Dye over the area using the usual tie-dye method. Dampen the fabric, then fold, bind, and dye it. Make sure to color over the area you’d like to change.
You can use any technique or use your tie-dye’s original technique. The advantage of using dyes is that they work well to change large areas of the shirt.
But to understand the final result, we need to know how dyes work.
Fiber-reactive dyes, like we use in tie-dye, work on the principle of subtractive coloration. Putting colors on top of one another combines them.
Putting red over blue, for example, will result in purple. Use this to your advantage and try new color combinations or try to use the original color.
Keep in mind that you cannot dye over black stains. Black is the result of all three primary colors (red, blue, yellow) mixing together.
To dye over black fabric you will need to first discharge it.
2. Discharging with Bleach
If your mistake is very dark or black you can’t dye over it. Using bleach is a great way to reduce the look of any mistake. Bleach reacts with the fabric, slowly eating through the color.
Follow all the proper precautions when using bleach. Pour regular bleach over the area you’d like to change. Wait a few minutes for the color to change, then rinse it out. In this post you can read more about reverse-dyeing with bleach.
While bleach cannot completely remove a color, it can weaken it and make it paler. Once bleached, you can dye over the shirt with new colors, or leave it with its bleached look.
Discharging produces different results depending on the original color. You can read more about it in this post explaining what colors you get when bleaching.
Bleach is a good option to remove small splatters of colors. If the spot is small or light enough, it can disappear altogether.
3. Cover the Mistake with Fabric Paint
Lay your tie-dye flat on a table. Using a paintbrush, color over the mistake with fabric paint. Make sure the fabric is dry so it’s easier to paint.
Paint is different than dye. It has the advantage of being able to cover any dye color. Fabric paint is made of pigments suspended in a solution.
Once applied to the fabric, it dries up and sticks to the fabric’s surface. Contrary to dyes, paint is not as permanent. Over time, paint can crack and fade.
The advantage of this technique is the high level of control that you have. Using a paintbrush, you’re able to specifically target the area you’d like to change.
The disadvantage is that is doesn’t work well for fixing large mistakes.
4. Cover it with Black Dye
Black is the ultimate dark color. It has the power to cover all other dye colors on a garment. It can be used as a last resort if you’re not confident that you can salvage your tie-dye.
Combine it with your favorite techniques to make a nice design. Alternatively, you can give the garment a whole makeover by dyeing it completely black. This way you can cover up anything.
5. Make a New Tie-dye
Sometimes it isn’t worth the time and effort to mend a shirt. When the design is just too horrible, you can always give it away or get rid of it altogether.
It’s okay if you don’t have the energy to fix your tie-dye. Ask around if someone would like the garment, you never know who might like it.
Starting over with a brand new white t-shirt is a great way to get back to what matters.
Final Thoughts
Depending on your specific situation there are ways to salvage and repair the damage done to your tie-dye. The use of dye, fabric paint, or bleach can revitalize your garment.