I can remember when Clorox and a number of other companies started selling bleach pens. It wasn’t long before crafters figured out that they could essentially draw and paint with this gelled form of bleach.
At one time, there was a section dedicated to crafting with bleach pens on Crafty Tips. Someone had actually requested it though I thought it was pretty cool too. One of the original websites only lives on through the magic that is the Internet Archive. Another was a single crafty article on a news website. The other two are from clever crafters who have generously shared their own ideas and tutorials on crafting with bleach pens.
Bleach Pen Crafts Ideas
Before dying fabric and crafting with bleach, you should really check out the article from Paula E. Burch. She explains how different fabrics react to bleach and how to protect your fabric from being damaged by the bleach. She also explains how to prepare a stop-bleach bath to neutralize the caustic properties of the bleach. And, she also reminds everyone that you should never mix bleach and vinegar; it can cause toxic fumes.
After you check out Dr. Burch’s (yep, she has a PhD in biology), then you can check out these two resources to get your craft on and make your own bleach pen crafts.
Vanessa Brady of triedandtrueblog.com shares her bleach pen project that cleverly created a wonderful scarf keepsake of her wedding day. She wrote their song on a scarf. How cool is that?
Deborah Merlo’s wonderful arts and crafts blog is gone. But, thankfully, Archive.org saved her site and her lovely bleach pen tutorial. You can find her tutorial along with several great tips on creating art with bleach pens by clicking on her photo.
The folks at Arizona Republic shared their experienced with bleach pen crafts too. They shared a project one Mom did to adorn her daughter’s jeans.
Instructions and several great tips can be found on their website by clicking the photo.
Bleach Pens for Crafts
The next time you head out to the grocery store or your nearest big box store, you might want to wander through the cleaning section and grab a bleach pen or two. I’ve seen where some folks tried toilet cleaners with bleach to some success but for the most of us, the bleach pens would probably provide more than enough bleach to get our project done. If you do go the toilet cleaner route, you’ll probably be able to control the flow of bleach gel better if you put the cleaner into a squeeze bottle.
Like so many really cool products, it would appear the folks at Clorox have discontinued their bleach pens. For crafts, seems like toilet cleaner or gel bleach is your best bet now. Amazon has a 2-bottle pack of gel beach cleaner for just a bit more than the pens used to cost. Add on a pair of squirt bottles and you’ll be ready to start creating.
Just keep in mind that while this can be a fun family crafting project, bleach may not be a great crafting medium for very small children. Save this one for teens or yourself.
