Tea Stain Washes for T-Shirts

Tea Stain Method

• You will need a few materials in order to apply a tea stain wash to a T-shirt. Begin by bringing 4 quarts of water to a boil and then adding four large tea bags. You can use any type of tea, although green tea may produce the darkest color. Allow the tea bags to steep for 20 minutes. Place the T-shirt inside the pot of tea and let it soak for 30 minutes. Remove the T-shirt from the pot and ring out the excess tea. Rinse the shirt in cool water until it runs clear, and then rinse it in white distilled vinegar to set the tea stain.

Tie-Dyed T-Shirts

• Tie-dyed T-shirts came into high fashion during the 1960s and are still a part of fashion today. Typical tie dying consists of using chemicals to apply colorful dyes to cotton T-shirts. You can apply the same techniques with tea stain washes for T-shirts using the simple tea stain method. Squeeze several sections of the T-shirt together and hold them in place with rubber bands. Place the entire T-shirt inside the tea and let it sit for up to 30 minutes. Follow the same method when you remove the shirt from the tea and allow it to dry. When the shirt is dry, you will have a tea-stained, tie-dyed T-shirt.

Antiqued T-Shirts

• If you want to make a bright white T-shirt look older or you have a shirt with stains on it that you want to refurbish, simply use a tea stain wash. Using the tea stain method, place the T-shirt inside the tea and let it sit there for 30 minutes. You can test the color by pulling the shirt up with tongs and deciding whether you have achieved the antiqued color that you want. Remove the shirt, rinse it out and let dry. When the shirt is dry, it will have an antiqued appearance.

Suitable Fabrics

• Fabrics made from natural fibers tend to absorb dyes easily. Cotton and linen are two fabrics that will take the natural tea color and soak it in to dye the material. Synthetic fibers will not absorb the tea stain well. It is a good idea to check on the dyeing during the 30-minute process, as the tea stain wash will get darker the longer it sits. If the final color is too dark, you can bleach the T-shirt with a small amount of bleach and water.