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Thinning Cotton: For That Soft, Vintage, T-Shirty Feeling

Don't you just love those rare thrift store finds, the perfectly soft, perfectly worn vintage t-shirt that fits you as perfectly as it fit the original ten-year-old softball player (or whomever) who owned it? Like most things, it is fakeable. I found instructions on Glitter [here] this week. Take a t-shirt, (one of the posters recommended avoiding 100% cotton - go for something like a 50/50), and soak it in 2 gallons of warm water with about 3T of bleach and 1/2 cup of sea salt. Let it soak for a couple of days, then wash it. I haven't yet attempted this, but next time I'm getting ready to do laundry I'll give it a go and let you know if it works.

Posted by jessica at January 12, 2004 7:28 PM
Comments

Yeah, I was interested in that post too. I'm a bit iffy with bleach, though. I'm going to try this out tomorrow and get back to you!

V
(glitter:bumblev)

Posted by: vanessa at January 12, 2004 7:50 PM

yay! thanks for being a tester :)

Posted by: jessica at January 12, 2004 7:56 PM

OK...maybe it's me. The bleach ruined my baby blue t-shirt. Good thing it was a thrift buy. It's not even *that* soft! I'm not sure what I did wrong but let me know if you successfully complete this. :0(

V

Posted by: Vanessa at January 17, 2004 10:06 PM

ooh. sorry to hear about that. it makes sense that it would only work with white fabrics - after all, it uses bleach. for some reason i hadn't even considered that. what type of fabric was it - 50/50?

j

Posted by: jess at January 19, 2004 7:23 PM

I think it was 40/60. That would suck if it only works for white tees. How many soft vintage-y white t-shirts do you need? Hmm, I'm going to research this a bit more!

Posted by: Vanessa at January 20, 2004 12:27 PM

So you use the bleach because it eats the cotton fibers, but could I use some other caustic material/liquid to preserve the color.
and if it has man made fiber, e.g. polyester, wouldn't it still be color fast?

Posted by: brandon at February 2, 2004 9:47 PM

I tried this technique with a black 50/50 T-shirt. I used 3 teaspoons of bleach, 1/2 a cup of rock salt, and 2 gal of water. My shirt was not bleached and came out soft after a day and a half of soaking. I think using too much bleach is why most people have a problem. Take it easy on the bleach and longer on the soaking. Remember patience is a virtue.

Posted by: Loren at April 9, 2004 11:47 PM