Experience with bleaching denim?
Hey y'all. Picked up these cool vintage 501s recently with some really lovely fading & honeycombing, I just wish they were a slightly lighter wash.
Has anyone here bleached denim before? I'm thinking of just doing a really weak bleach solution to try and lighten them ever so slightly while still maintaining the contrast, but don't want to just wash all the fades out. Tips appreciated!
7 Replies
Aiming to replace the gap in my wardrobe from getting rid of these in pic 1. Currently the new ones seem a bit too close to this 2nd pair tho so feel a bit redundant
Maybe I'll bleach the baggier pair actually??
yup, and it's fairly easy š
the bleaching ratio i used was 1 cup bleach to 1 gallon water, though you can use less bleach for a weaker solution
put your bleach solution in a vessel (bathtub, basin, anything nonmetal), dampen the jeans in water, and then submerge them into the bleach
shift the pants periodically for an even coat, but it won't take long for the bleach to work, maybe 5-10 minutes
once it hits a color you like, take the jeans out, rinse them (either by hand or in a washing machine with no detergent) and air dry
and imo i'd bleach the baggier ones, there's always a risk in bleaching that it works too well and it's better to do it on a pair you're less worried about wrecking
Ok cool, less time than I expected so I'm glad I asked haha
Thanks for the run down, really helpful stuff!
Did you use warm or cold water btw?
cold for the bleach solution and the rinse cycle
I canāt add anything to whatās been posted above, other than I had fun bleaching jeans - was really cool to see them change shade and get new life out of an otherwise unused pair
I did have to do a few washes to get rid of the smell though
I may even do it again and see if I can get them a tad lighter š
I'll try and take some progress pics and post here!