Earth day is coming up (April 22, 2022 for those of you who were just about to google it) and if you’re looking for fun ways to recycle what you’ve already got laying around, we’ve got you covered.
If you’re a Campus Classics frequent flyer, you probably have quite a few Comfort Colors t-shirts hanging in your closet (or piled on your closet floor) and odds are you aren’t wearing all of them on a regular basis anymore. Whether they are from a Greek event two years ago, they remind you of a certain person you’d rather not think about, or you’ve just outgrown the style, we think it’s time to do some spring cleaning and recycle those old tees!
Here are our top ways to recycle old Comfort Colors t-shirts:
Cut them for a whole new look:
The oldest trick in the book! If you still love the color, pattern, or design of your tee but don’t need another oversized shirt hanging around, this is a great way to upcycle your old Comfort Colors. Need some inspiration on how to cut or tie your t-shirts? Our favorite ways are a simple crop (just chop off the bottom few inches of your tee in a straight line), an updated v-neck (check out this blog with great step-by-step instructions), or turn it into a totally different shirt and cut it into a tank top (inspo here)!
Bleach/Tie Dye them:
Such a fun activity now that the weather is getting warmer and one that you can do with your whole fraternity or sorority! All you really need for this is your old Comfort Colors t-shirts, some plastic gloves, water, and bleach or dye! You can make some pretty funky designs if you also have rubber bands or a lot of ice lying around.
All you have to do is dilute your bleach with water (50/50), dunk your shirt in some water to get it nice and saturated, and then apply your bleach/water mixture. Here are our top 3 tie dye techniques:
1) Crinkle up your shirt and apply the bleach mixture for an abstract bleach design.
2) Fold your shirt and apply some rubber bands before adding your bleach mixture. There are so many different ways you could fold your shirt, we recommend checking out this blog for folding inspiration!
3) The ice technique! Once your shirt is saturated with water, lay it over some kind of rack or anything with slits that will allow melting ice to drip through. After that is done, scrunch up your shirt like the first technique mentioned above. Then you will take your ice and lay it over the entire shirt (we’ve heard that crushed ice is best for this method!) Next you will apply your beach on top of the ice. Then, the magic happens! As the ice melts the bleach will absorb into the tee in a super fun, abstract pattern.
The Campus Classics team (with some help from Max) bleached some of our old shirts last summer - check it out on our tiktok!
Pass them down to your little:
Um, hello! Easiest way to recycle your tee is just to pass it down to your fraternity little. We know sewn-on letters are a popular item to be passed down from one generation to the next so check out our Comfort Colors Sewn On Letter Tee so you can pass down the best of the best to your little when the time comes.
Turn them into a t-shirt quilt:
If your shirts have a few holes or are too worn out to wear but you can’t bear to throw them out, a t-shirt quilt is the perfect solution! Now this one does take a lot more skill and tools than the other methods mentioned above but it will leave you with something that you can treasure forever.
Depending on how big you’d like your quilt to be, you could use anywhere from 22-30 shirts, give or take. But let’s be honest, who doesn’t have a massive pile of t-shirts from every fraternity event or sorority event you’ve ever been to? Once you’ve sewn them all together (tutorial here), you will end up with a quilt full of great memories and lots of love.
These were only a few of the possible ways you could recycle your old Comfort Colors shirts (we also recommend making a t-shirt rug, dog toys, or a produce bag) but we love the idea of repurposing and recycling something that’s special to you! If you repurpose any of our Comfort Colors tees, be sure to tag us on Instagram or Facebook so we can check it out!