just bleachy

When I was in Minnesota last weekend, I went bonkers over Rachel's pants. She had drawn the prettiest pictures and poetry all over them -- with a bleach pen! She in turn had been inspired by Jen, who once fiddled around with them on dishtowels, and I thought it a marvelous idea. I came home and became a bleaching fool.



These cloth napkins are from Tuesday Morning -- they came in sets of 12 for $19.99 each. I'm sure there are more inexpensive options available, but I loved the jewel colors and thought they were worth the splurge. Plus the tag said DO NOT BLEACH so I was certain these were winners.



Outside I went with my Do Not Bleach cloths and a protective placemat (to spare the bricks from what I don't know). I started out with the dual-tip bleach pen, which is $3 for 2 ounces, and it worked beautifully. The narrow tip and thick gel gave me plenty of control over how and where I placed my lines. However, I blew through 2 of them almost immediately -- it was only enough to cover 5 cloth napkins. Since I had bought the last two at our grocery store, I ran over to CVS to get a few more, but ours doesn't carry it -- so I picked up a 24 oz bottle of bleach gel for laundry for the same price and gave it a try instead.



The bottle of bleach gel is runnier -- and messier -- than the pen, so I had to work quickly. But in the end, I preferred the effects of the bottle. The lines are wider, covers more territory, and stuff just drips where it will. I think the results are much more natural looking -- not to mention that it is much more cost effective than the pen. You can see it working almost immediately here. Do not bleach, indeed.



After bleaching, I let each one sit for 5 to 10 minutes, then rinsed very very very very very completely and extremely well with cold water. As the gel rinsed off, it created a really nifty batik/marble type of effect across the cloth, while still retaining the pattern that I so randomly bestowed upon it.



After that, I let them flap in the wind. As Amy remarked when she saw these pictures on Instagram, "there goes the neighborhood."



When all 24 were dry, I tossed them into the washer with a smidge of detergent, put them through the hand wash cycle, dried them on low, and then ironed them. It is not in my DNA to do any of those things but sometimes we must suffer for crafting.



It was worth the effort, especially the final push with the iron (that I hadn't picked up for five years).

















Now I have two dozen smooth, crispy-edged, totally fake-batiked napkins -- and now my family knows what they're getting for the holidays! If you've made these before and have any tips you'd like to leave in the comments, I'd love to hear and/or see what you've made!

{Update: my favorite fiber mavens Candy and Traci recommend one final step in the process -- neutralizing the bleach in the cloth during the rinse cycle with hydrogen peroxide or anti-chlor, since it's hard to get out completely and can wear down the fibers over time. Check out Candy's links in the comment section for more info. Thanks Candy and Traci!}

{linking to Paint Party Friday.}