How to Bleach Wicker

I thrifted these 1980's woven nesting heart baskets for $5 last week and challenged myself to upcycle them for chic Valentine décor this year! I wanted to lighten the wicker/rattan so I decided to bleach them - did you know you could do that?!

I had seen tutorials before for bleaching baskets so I was so excited to try this technique for the first time!

I placed my hearts in our laundry sink, but a large bucket would also work well. I used an entire small bottle of bleach and filled the sink with enough water to cover the hearts. Toward the end of filling my sink, the hearts began to float a bit so I just grabbed a few pieces of scrap wood to weigh them down in the bleach water.

After soaking for about 30 minutes, I drained the sink and thoroughly rinsed the hearts. I allowed them to fully dry outside. You are going to think the process did not work at first because the woven material is wet. But once the hearts were dry, the transformation was pretty dramatic and I love how they look!

You can see how I styled these hearts in my home here!

xoxo, L

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