Bleaching Designs onto Denim

I use the bleach pen, works great to put initials on the dark colored socks!

Several years ago I saw a lady on an HGTV craft show use dishwasher gel detergent to write on jeans and said it was much safer on the fabric then using bleach. Her designs came out perfect.

It was on a Carol Duval segment, try searching this link:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/hobb ... n/375620-hgtvs-carol-duval-show.html

Another idea is to use one of the bleach pens (like this one http://www.clorox.com/products/overview.php?prod_id=bp). The tip would allow you to draw the design on.

I have read where people lay the jeans in a bath tub and do the bleaching there. You would lay them flat and the bleach would go through both sides of the fabric. What they have done is cut designs out of self adhesive paper and stick the paper with the pattern cut out of it onto the fabric and to the areas that you don't want bleached.

This is called discharge dying. You can use clorox gel with bleach from the bottle to control where the bleach gel goes. Then rinse well in water when you've reached the desired effect. You can also apply the gel with an old paint brush, too, just don't expose the gel to air too long.