# Compost Clothing



## Hallomarine

Hi Folks - I have seen a few posts on distressing clothing for zombies & etc, but I have never heard of this idea before. I used to bury the clothing in the garden, but last year I forgot some items, and turned them into rags with the rototiller. 
I recently purchased a large com-poster to help with the garden fertilizing. so I thought why not age clothing in the com-poster over the summer and see how it goes. I bought only cotton, or mostly cotton clothing from the second hand store, loaded it in, and gave it a spin. I did do some hand distressing first like a few rips and tears, plus a little fraying on the edges. If nothing else, I'll get some good staining (body fluids) on them. A quick rinse with a hose in October and I should be in business. If nothing else the smell should be authentic. HM


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## darkmaster

Yes, these should be pretty realistic looking.


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## Frankie's Girl

If you leave all cotton clothes in a composter all summer and continue to add water and materials, I'd be surprised if you have anything left that would be wearable. 

At least, it wouldn't be anything I'd want to put on - maybe shreds for zombie props.


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## partsman

When I've composted my cotton clothes for some of my monster props, it only took a couple of weeks to get the needed effect, longer than that and they wont be usable. Remember, a compost heap is using live bacteria to break down organic materials, cotton clothes break down very quickly.


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## Hallomarine

AH! Thanks for the tip partsman and F's G! I wonder how it works on polyester? I could go back in time and wipe out the 70's. Ah, hahahahahahahahaha!


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## Frankie's Girl

Hallomarine said:


> AH! Thanks for the tip partsman and F's G! I wonder how it works on polyester? I could go back in time and wipe out the 70's. Ah, hahahahahahahahaha!


Polyester with not break down as fast natural fabrics (cotton/wool etc..). After a few months, it will probably look pretty much like when you first buried it but with lots of dirt and other moldy stuff happening. I definitely wouldn't want to wear something myself that "authentic" but if you're doing it for props, you should have no problems with that part. 

Here is a good link to a few methods for distressing clothing (composting and wearable techniques):
http://www.hauntproject.com/projdetail.asp?category=Distressing Clothing


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## tranzlusent

Frankie's Girl said:


> If you leave all cotton clothes in a composter all summer and continue to add water and materials, I'd be surprised if you have anything left that would be wearable.
> 
> At least, it wouldn't be anything I'd want to put on - maybe shreds for zombie props.


Yup


Cotton will prob be gone by october, especially living in Nevada. The hotter a compost pile is the faster it decomposes, and your pile will prob average 120+ degrees in summer (I compost here too ). Polyester though, will probably take more than a few years to break down in a home pile. Also keep in mind that there is a lot of bacteria in a compost pile and you may end up wearing a bacterial infested dreamcoat if you use it as a regular compost pile. Ill bet however, if you dedicate the composter to these clothes you could probably get really good results from using just dirt, yard waste and water. 

Also, I can't imagine what that outfit will look/smell like after a year in storage......


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## partsman

I find the clothes that work the best with this method are the cotton/polyester blends, the cotton breaks down and the polyester holds what's left together for that true risen from the grave look.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*I thin it out*

The cloth in clothing by laying ontop of the cement sidewalk and smacking it with a hammer. Watch it closely it will eventually rip through.
Of course if I were that clothing I would be more than just distressed, I would be bleeding and unconscious! (Left for dead?)


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## Frankie's Girl

Gym Whourlfeld said:


> The cloth in clothing by laying ontop of the cement sidewalk and smacking it with a hammer. Watch it closely it will eventually rip through.
> Of course if I were that clothing I would be more than just distressed, I would be bleeding and unconscious! (Left for dead?)


Love this technique! I do similar - I go at the cloth with a wire brush and sandpaper. I have also been known to run over clothes in my car.


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## Johnson724

I dumped some ripped up and wadded up clothes in a mix of hot water, tea bags and coffee grounds and got a pretty good effect.


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## HauntedHotSauce.com

Cotton will be totally decomposed and deteriorated in a matter of a two weeks and synthetic fabrics will look the same as you buried them months later. I guess the best dressed zombies wear polyester!

I sew and distress my own zombie shrouds (ala Fulci's Zombi) using a cheap light colored cotton blend fabric and make big stitches with jute twine. I tatter the edges with scissors and further unravel them by wire brushing them on a piece of plywood. Then I soak the shrouds for a few days in a bucket of strong coffee and water (I dump more used grounds in every day). After that they get a quick rinse in cold water (because I don't want my zombies smelling like Starbucks), I wring them out so they're wrinkly, hang them on a coat hanger against a tree and paint them using water based latex paints while the shrouds are still wet so the paint bleeds naturally into the fabric. If I get too heavy handed with the paint, I spray it down with a water bottle so it bleeds and runs.

I layer the colors using black, rusty brown, a little mossy green and some red for the freshest bloody areas. I water them down quite a bit and mix shades on the plywood palette. I'll then dab and spatter the paint and spray it with the water bottle.










You can outfit a whole army of zombies like this as if they were all dressed in similar burial shrouds. Tie dirty ropes around the waist and wrap the neck area with fabric strips distressed and painted the same way as the burial shroud.

A few more pics:

Finished sewing

Soaked in coffee with grounds painted around the neck

My color palette The little dish in the center is just filled with water.


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## Johnson724

HauntedHotSauce.com said:


> Cotton will be totally decomposed and deteriorated in a matter of a two weeks and synthetic fabrics will look the same as you buried them months later. I guess the best dressed zombies wear polyester!
> 
> I sew and distress my own zombie shrouds (ala Fulci's Zombi) using a cheap light colored cotton blend fabric and make big stitches with jute twine. I tatter the edges with scissors and further unravel them by wire brushing them on a piece of plywood. Then I soak the shrouds for a few days in a bucket of strong coffee and water (I dump more used grounds in every day). After that they get a quick rinse in cold water (because I don't want my zombies smelling like Starbucks), I wring them out so they're wrinkly, hang them on a coat hanger against a tree and paint them using water based latex paints while the shrouds are still wet so the paint bleeds naturally into the fabric. If I get too heavy handed with the paint, I spray it down with a water bottle so it bleeds and runs.
> 
> I layer the colors using black, rusty brown, a little mossy green and some red for the freshest bloody areas. I water them down quite a bit and mix shades on the plywood palette. I'll then dab and spatter the paint and spray it with the water bottle.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You can outfit a whole army of zombies like this as if they were all dressed in similar burial shrouds. Tie dirty ropes around the waist and wrap the neck area with fabric strips distressed and painted the same way as the burial shroud.
> 
> A few more pics:
> 
> Finished sewing
> 
> Soaked in coffee with grounds painted around the neck
> 
> My color palette The little dish in the center is just filled with water.



I take it the beer adds to the artistic effect. 

Looks good, I just did an old ripped up t-shirt in the tea and coffee grounds. I would ball the shirt around the coffee grounds and it gave a pretty neat uneven effect.










I thought I had a finished picture of it but this is after I let it dry and before I did anything more to it.


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## HauntedHotSauce.com

That looks great! Coffee and tea are such effective ways to bring down whiteness. And balling the shirt around in the actual grounds gives it that concentrated "leaking body fluids" look.



The beer is a "creativity enhancer" and an indispensable part of the process!


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## Johnson724

HauntedHotSauce.com said:


> That looks great! Coffee and tea are such effective ways to bring down whiteness. And balling the shirt around in the actual grounds gives it that concentrated "leaking body fluids" look.
> 
> 
> 
> The beer is a "creativity enhancer" and an indispensable part of the process!


Oh I totally agree. Beer is the secret ingredient in all my projects.


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## pagan

Distressing with a shotgun before you bury/stain it...hmmm.. Pics to follow perhaps.


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## GhoulishGadgets

Hi,
I like this idea for corpse clothing - must give it a go, thanks


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## HauntedHotSauce.com

Here's an example of some zombie clothing distressed in the manner I previously described.










Ryan from ZombiePumpkins.com elaborates:

"I painted the clothing with a water based latex paint. First I wet the clothes thoroughly, and then brushed on layers of brown, white, black, and green... and then red and black in the front. I used a spray bottle to mist the paint, so it would bleed together further, for a realistic blended look."

More info and more pics on his forum HERE


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## Breaker Mahoney

Thanks for the info Mr. Sauce. My previous zombie clothing was a little too white.
I do like to add moss and dried vines ( the kind you buy at the craft store) to my distressed clothing.


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## chop shop

That shroud looks great Haunted Hot Sauce......nice one!


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## Frankie's Girl

HauntedHotSauce.com said:


> Cotton will be totally decomposed and deteriorated in a matter of a two weeks and synthetic fabrics will look the same as you buried them months later. I guess the best dressed zombies wear polyester!
> 
> I sew and distress my own zombie shrouds (ala Fulci's Zombi) using a cheap light colored cotton blend fabric and make big stitches with jute twine. I tatter the edges with scissors and further unravel them by wire brushing them on a piece of plywood. Then I soak the shrouds for a few days in a bucket of strong coffee and water (I dump more used grounds in every day). After that they get a quick rinse in cold water (because I don't want my zombies smelling like Starbucks), I wring them out so they're wrinkly, hang them on a coat hanger against a tree and paint them using water based latex paints while the shrouds are still wet so the paint bleeds naturally into the fabric. If I get too heavy handed with the paint, I spray it down with a water bottle so it bleeds and runs.
> 
> I layer the colors using black, rusty brown, a little mossy green and some red for the freshest bloody areas. I water them down quite a bit and mix shades on the plywood palette. I'll then dab and spatter the paint and spray it with the water bottle.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You can outfit a whole army of zombies like this as if they were all dressed in similar burial shrouds. Tie dirty ropes around the waist and wrap the neck area with fabric strips distressed and painted the same way as the burial shroud.
> 
> A few more pics:
> 
> Finished sewing
> 
> Soaked in coffee with grounds painted around the neck
> 
> My color palette The little dish in the center is just filled with water.


That is a work of art... seriously awesome technique.


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## shrinkled

When I went as pyramid head, I had a butchers apron that was my welcome home mat for a month. It was wrinkled and dirty and worked out well.

That zombie shroud is very very good


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## Hallomarine

As always, I am in awe of the talent and ideas that pervades this forum. Thank you all for the help. HM


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## LadyAlthea

i do some rip and tear and wire brushing and wet the clothes. ive used all sorts of materials. some take better than others do. 

then i put them in black trash bags with dirt, potting soil..the cheap stuff because much of the good potting soil has anti bacterial agents. ill toss in a little compost, tomatoe and banana peels, coffee grounds, ect. i wet the entire mess down and seal up the bag and leave it in the sun. 

every now and then i go out and flip it around and mush it up. after about two months i open it, take out the clothes, hang them in a tree and spray the crap out of them with the hose. 

i get some great mold effects and stains. i then spray them down heavily with lysol, fabreeze and leave them hang for a few days outside. 

they dont smell and the lysol stops the mold from comign back.


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