How to Dye a White Shirt Another Color

If you’re like me, then you sweat a lot, which means your white shirts have to be replaced all the time due to the sweat stains and nasty rings around the collar. Sure, you can get those stains out a lot of the time (see The Best Ways to Get Pit Stains Out of White Shirts ) but eventually that white shirt is bound to look permanently dingy and this brown, yellow, or grayish color. Rather than throw your white shirt away when it won’t come out bright white anymore, why don’t you dye it another color, so you can still have a great shirt without spending a lot of money? Here’s how, quick and easy!

The more natural your fabric is to your shirt, the better it will take dye. So if you’re dealing with 100% cotton, it will take the dye without looking splotchy or bleeding. To dye your shirt what you need is a swatch of cotton material in a super dark color, your washing machine, and your white shirt. You can purchase a solid dark cotton material swatch for super cheap at Wal-Mart, often in their $5 sale. A yard of fabric will do, but you won’t need that much if you’re wanting a lighter pastel color.

It’s important to make sure that the swatch of fabric you are using has never been washed, which means you can’t use dark fabric you already have if you’ve washed it already. You will be using this fabric to dye your white shirt, as the fabric color will bleed into your shirt and dye it a softer version of the material color at hand. I wouldn’t imagine a yellow color will transfer well, nor do I think it would look good, but most other colors (I did green) would look great.

Cut the yard length of dark cotton material into 3 even strips. Place your white shirt in the washer, and turn the cycle to hot. Wash on small or x-small, adding 1 strip of the dark material for a very light version of the color (for example, red material will turn a white shirt light pink, navy material will turn a white shirt light blue, dark green material will turn a white shirt light green), 2 strips for a medium-toned color, or all 3 strips to get a darker color of the material onto your shirt. Allow to go through the entire cycle (don’t use any soap), then dry your newly colored shirt as usual.

If dye is left in the washer, run it through another cycle with soap to clear out the dye so you don’t get it on your clothing in the future. Using swatches of material to dye your white shirt is cheaper than using RIT dyes or other clothing dyes, and the result is more subtle and won’t bleed. For the darkest hue for your shirt, be sure to use all 3 swatches of material at once, or if you aren’t satisfied with the results after washing with one color swatch, repeat the cycle with a second one and you should get a darker color to your shirt.

I figured this out by accident, washing a white shirt I was going to turn into scrap material with material I had just bought and wanted to soften up a bit. I ended up with a super light (almost mint) green shirt from the forest green material I was washing. I think it’s a super cool way to dye white shirts another color, especially when your only other option is to throw it away or turn it into rags!