How amazing is that?! Yes, here’s a step-by-step guide to bleach dyeing with leaves and heat; creative bleach printing with leaves; natural botanical patterns onto fabric.

This almost magical technique gives a beautiful aged or botanical print effect and works especially well on dark cotton fabric, not to mention it is almost immediate.

Materials Needed

• High cotton content fabric (100% dark-coloured is best)
• Real leaves (flat ones with strong veins, e.g. ferns, maple, oak)
• Household bleach (full strength or diluted 1:1 with water)
• Soft brush
• Plastic sheet or garbage bag (to protect your work surface)
• Iron (no steam)
• Pressing cloth, parchment paper or old towel
• Rubber gloves
• Ventilated workspace

Step-by-Step Process

1. Prepare Your Workspace

• Cover your surface with a plastic sheet.
• Wear rubber gloves and ensure the room is well-ventilated.
• Collect your leaf specimens. Choose ones with defined vein pattern and unique shapes.

2. Arrange the Fabric

• Lay the fabric flat on the plastic-covered surface that cab be ironed on.
• Smooth out any wrinkles — you want the surface as flat as possible.
• If thin fabric place a layer of parchment paper underneath

4. Apply Bleach Solution

• Pour a small amount of liquid bleach into a bowl (couple tablespoons)
• To soften very dried leaves and avoid breakage place under a damp towel and steam iron.
• Brush the bleach onto the leaves — avoid over soaking.
• A tiny bit of detergent like Blue Dawn can help break the surface tension of the leaves.

3. Position the Leaves

• Arrange your chosen leaves flat on the fabric with vein side down.
• Be careful to not drip bleach onto fabric.

5. Press with an Iron

• Place a pressing cloth (an old towel, parchment paper or piece of cotton) over the leaves and fabric.
• Dry iron (no steam) over the area on medium heat for 30–60 seconds at a time. Ventilate and do not breathe fumes.
• The heat speeds up the bleach reaction and helps transfer the leaf shape.
• Lift the leaf & cloth to check progress — you’ll see the fabric begin to lighten under the leaves.

6. Remove the Leaves

• Once the desired contrast appears, carefully remove the leaves.
• Rinse the fabric immediately in cold water to stop the bleach action.

7. Wash and Dry

• Wash the fabric thoroughly with mild detergent and some Oxi-clean (similar to a peroxide rinse) to neutralize the bleach from further damage to the fibres..
• Dry flat or hang to dry away from direct sunlight initially.

Optional Finishing Touches & Troubleshooting:

• Outline the leaf prints by painting fine details using bleach if desired (missed sections of print)
• Use this fabric for pillows, wall art, or tote bags, anything you like…

⚠️ Tips & Warnings

• Never mix bleach with ammonia or vinegar – it creates toxic fumes.
• Test on a scrap piece of fabric before committing to a larger design.
• Do not overheat – bleach fumes can be irritating when heated.
• Keep bleach covered when not in use, only use small amounts at a time.

What type of fabric for Bleach Printing:

This is such a quick process that has so much artistic potential. When looking to up-cycle garments or fabric choose ones that are mostly cotton. A small amount of polyester will still work but may give the print a slight yellow colour since the polyester tends to yellow (or orange) when bleached. Some black colour fabric will bleach to an orange colour, not quite pure white.

Some denims work well but in my experience some modern jeans are now dyed to resist the usual fading so they do not bleach easily. I usually test a small dot in an inconspicuous place.

Generally it is the dark colours that will bleach the best; black hoodies and t-shirts are often quite inexpensive. Some fabrics with polyester content up to 50% even work. Avoid rayon as it will deteriorate with bleach. I found this out by trying to remove colour prior to tie-dyeing and holes appeared in the fabric. Natural protein fibres such as wool, silk, alpaca, cashmere, will greatly damage from the leaf bleach printing.

As you keep reusing the same leaves they do become somewhat more absorbent as some of the fleshy part of the leaf deteriorates. I love the way they could provide such leaf pattern detail!

Notice the cute curly stems?! Those are from the fine brush painting I added afterward. This allows so much creativity to be added – ‘think outside the box’!

Who said it is limited to just leaves?!

Take a walk, gather some inspiration from nature and make something… Perhaps use up what you have instead of buying! Happy Making!

Black hoodies and sweatshirts are easy to find. They print amazingly great. Design as you like. Maybe some flowers or other botanicals can make some interesting shapes! Let me know how you like it!