Household Bleach and Plants Resist Experiment

This is one of two experiments I made with resists.  In the first one, I was comparing products specifically designed for drawing on fabric versus plain old Elmer's washable glue.  Guess who won?

Today, I overdyed the rayon napkin of the previous experiment, and also dyed a square of silk and a linen napkin.  I decided to work with the silk and linen.  The silk is on the left.

Again, for the purpose of a quick and dirty experiment, I used dark brown Rit dye. A quick bike ride around the neighborhood yielded several more-or-less two dimensional bits of greenery to work with.

Using a 50% solution of bleach in water, I proceeded to lightly spritz the fabric.  The linen quickly began to react to the bleach.

The silk, not so much.  I thought I saw a shadow of some of the vegetation after I lifted it up, but what I was actually seeing was just a dry spot versus a wet spot.  The silk did not react to the bleach solution at. all. 

Not that this discouraged me... I put the silk aside to play with later (with less than spectacular results).

Now remember how I said I overdyed the rayon napkin I had used in the previous resist experiment?  Well, it's sitting there on the driveway, and I'm sitting here with bits of vegetation with a light misting of bleach on them... so... 

I took the bleachy greenery, put it on the napkin, and pressed it with my hands for a second.  The results were instant and far more satisfying!

What I learned:

• A 50% bleach solution is strong enough.
• Less moisture on the foliage worked better than more.  It gave it more of a ghostly appearance.
• I liked the wispy/frilly vegetable matter better than the solid/heavier prints.

I'd love to hear what you come up with... Remember, the joy comes from the creative process just as much as from the results.