Things You'll Need
White cotton T-shirt
Detergent
1 cup soda ash
1 gallon warm water
Light and dark soil
1 cup vinegar
Clothesline
Dirt shirts are a fun project to add color to your plain white T-shirts. Dirt shirts turn white T-shirts into unique colors produced by soil. Places such as Costa Rica and Hawaii sell dirt shirts made with the native soil. The dirt provides an all-natural way to dye shirts. Create these shirts with your children and explain the science behind dying clothes for an educational experience.
Step 1
Wash your white cotton shirt in the washer with detergent. Dry it.
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Step 2
Pretreat your shirt with soda ash. Soda ash is the active ingredient in washing soda. Buy it at a pool supply store. Add 1 cup of soda ash to 1 gallon of warm water. Soak the shirt for one hour. Remove the excess water from the shirt by wringing it out in your sink.
Step 3
Gather your mud. Use a mud hole outside or bring in dirt and place it in your sink. If you are making your own mud, add enough warm water to give the mud a thin consistency. Make 1 gallon of mud for each T-shirt.
Step 4
Add 1 cup of vinegar to the mud. Submerge the shirt in the mud. The shirt needs to soak for at least four hours.
Step 5
Rinse the shirt with clear cold water. Hang the shirt on your clothesline to dry.
Step 6
Wash your mud shirt in cold water. The washing machine will remove some of the mud. Place the shirt in a hot dryer to set the mud into the T-shirt.
Tip
Tie the shirt into knots with rubber bands to create a tie-dye dirt shirt.
Dye your dirt shirt in the mud two to three additional times to create a darker brown color.
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