Acid Wash Black Jeans
In acid washing, the top layer of color is stripped away on a piece of clothing to expose the white fabric underneath. The process is usually done on jeans or other denim clothing. It creates a worn, faded look that you can accomplish yourself at home. Follow these steps to acid wash black jeans.
Steps
- Wear old clothes that you would not mind getting bleached. Put on rubber gloves to protect your hands when handling the bleach.
- Soak pumice stones, the kind used in pedicures, in laundry bleach overnight. Do this in a well-ventilated place.
- Combine 2 parts bleach with 1 part water in a spray bottle. Shake the bottle to mix the bleach and water together. Lay your black jeans out flat.
- Bunch up areas of the jeans, if desired. Hold them in place with elastic hair ties.
- Spray as much or as little of the bleach solution as you want on your jeans, whether bunched up or flat, in the locations where you want the acid washed look to appear.
- Scrub the bleach-soaked pumice stones onto the jeans wherever you choose. This will wear the denim down and help acid wash them.
- Wait 10 to 15 minutes for the fading on the jeans to occur.
- Set your washing machine for a small load and fill it with water. Wash your acid washed black jeans several times by themselves or with clothes that are safe to be bleached.
- Put your faded jeans in the dryer and dry as normal. Leave them in the dryer until completely dry if you wish them to shrink. Otherwise, remove the damp jeans and hang them to dry completely.
Tips
- Soak your jeans or other denim clothing completely in the bleach water solution to create an all-over acid washed look instead of spraying them in places.
- If you would rather not have to soak the pumice stones or cannot find any stones, try rubbing dry sandpaper on your jeans before spraying or soaking them in the bleach solution. The sandpaper's coarseness will help wear down and soften the denim fabric to create a worn look.
- Experiment with acid washing denim clothing of different colors, such as red.
- Add 1 tbs. (15 ml) of sodium bisulfate to the water when preparing to wash your faded jeans in the washing machine. The sodium bisulfate will remove the extra bleach from the jeans and allow other clothes to be washed along with the jeans.
- Try acid washing an old pair of jeans first before doing the process on a favorite or new pair.
Warnings
- Never let the bleach solution remain on the jeans for more than 20 minutes before washing them. After 20 minutes, the bleach will start to eat away at the denim.
Things You'll Need
- Old clothes
- Rubber gloves
- Sandpaper
- Pumice stones
- Bleach
- Water
- Spray bottle
- Jeans
- Washing machine
- Sodium bisulfate
- Dryer
Related Articles
- Wash Jeans
- Wear White Jeans
- Streak Your Jeans With Bleach
- Dry Jeans Quickly with an Iron
- Keep Black Jeans from Fading
