Name: Josh
Message: Hi, I have a t-shirt that got spots of bleach on it. I am thinking of tie-dying it to cover up the problem. But there is a print on the shirt that I want to protect. I don't think it is a screen-print. It is plastic-like and doesn't seem to be just ironed-on, but I'm no expert. The shirt is 100% cotton, pine green.

Do you know of any dyes that would dye the fabric but not the print?

Cool water fiber reactive dyes, when used in room temperature water, will not affect the plastic-like print. These include Procion MX, Drimarene K, and Cibacron F dyes.

To mail-order fiber reactive dye, see my list of different companies around the world that sell dye supplies. In the US, you can order an excellent "tie dye kit" from Dharma Trading, ProChem, Scarlet Zebra, or Tie-dyed.com.

Also see "How can I fix the bleach spots on my favorite clothing?" for other solutions. Tie-dyeing is a very good solution, though, since the variation in the design can hide a lot, and the shirt will be more fun afterwards anyway.