meanmom

I am not a pre-washer. I have a flag quilt made of 6 reds, whites and blues. It had been washed it more than once. Not sure how many times. It doesn't get washed often. It hangs high up on the wall in my entry foyer and has been there about 10 years. When I washed it this time one of the reds ran into only one of the whites. I was really upset. I washed it with OxyClean and it came out.

QuiltE

A very good plan and great that it is working for you.
Howeverrrrrrr ..... what happens when some day you forget to put in a Colour Catcher?
Or that someone else does the laundry?

That's why I prefer to deal with it all, upfront, before I start to sew.

LaurMac

I just always expect a red fabric to bleed. I made a red and white quilt for my mom and was so disappointed after finishing it and I hadn't prewashed a black and one of the reds. As far as I'm concerned, this is the best and final answer for bleeding of commercial fabrics: http://www.colorwaysbyvicki.com/save...ing-quilt.html I used this several years after making the quilt and it worked!!!!

lovingLakeMich

I am curious. Did you use Retayne according to the directions or just throw it in with Color Catchers. I've had several colors that have run horribly but soaking in Retayne and following the directions has taken care of the problem. I use Color Catchers after that "just to be sure."

QuiltE

I asked similar questions earlier too ... no response!
Like you I am a big retayne believer, though after reading the Vicki Welsh link .... I really wonder!

Cogito

This is was a very interesting read so thank you for sharing! I do have to say that for me personally it would take ALL of the joy out of quilt making if I had to do this with every fabric. I have not had problems to date and maybe someday I will but ugh no way do I want to go through this! I guess I will just be sad when/if I ever have a quilt that bleeds.

coopah

If you have never had a quilt that bleeds, you might be leading a charmed life. :-) I say this nicely, trust me. In the past, fabrics that I used rarely bled. Now, it seems that many do...reds, black, blues, even greens. And don't even talk to me about batiks. The method used by Vicki in the post by Laur Mac does work. I have a quilt that was block of the month...my favorite quilt...and they gave us precut fabrics, so we couldn't shrink it...the cranberry color bled all over the place. Ruined it...and it was hand quilted by the Amish. So...count your lucky stars and hope you never have such a problem as bleeding fabric.

Jeanette Frantz

Several years ago, I encountered the problem of fabric dyes "bleeding like a stuck hog." Fortunately, I had a mentor who advised me to test the fabric BEFORE cutting, which I did. The following is my experience and my remedy.

This writer ran into the problem of a red fabric being used for a border -- it was bleeding rivers, and the borders were to go on a WHITE background whole-cloth embroidered quilt. A cousin, who had a quilt shop in Oklahoma cautioned me to check out the red fabric. This writer cut a half-inch wide by 6 inch piece and put it into the hottest tap water available, and it bled. It actually turned a white paper towel bright pink. I have attached a photo of liquid from a bleeding fabric together with white paper towels turned pink by “fabric bleeding”. My cousin had suggested using a dye fixative to "set" the dye in the red. A search throughout this whole town resulted in no finds, despite going into every retail dry goods stores in town, even JoAnn's, . An internet search located Rit Laundry Treatment.

The bleeding problem occurs because the dyes which are used today are not organic dyes, they're chemical. Therefore, vinegar won't work (tried it with 2 gallons of vinegar-- time could have been better spent pouring it down the drain). Epsom salts also does not work -- tried that, too.

An internet search for a "dye fixative" revealed Rit Dye, and found their product, called Rit Laundry Treatment with a description "Dye Fixative", which was ordered online. Three 8 ounce bottles including shipping, cost less than $20,. The red fabric for borders was treated according to instructions on the bottle. After it went through the dryer, the fabric was tested again -- No Bleeding Whatsoever. This writer has No financial interest in, nor any ownership interest whatsoever in either Rit Dye or its distributor, Phoenix Brands, but the product works.

This writer advocates treating your fabrics for quilts (vibrant colors, i.e., red, orange, purple, deep blues, etc.), whether you use the Rit product or whether you use Retayne. The work involved in a queen sized quilt (a wedding gift), not to mention the investment in materials, truly warrants taking the time and making the effort to keep the quilt you’ve made beautiful for decades. Test the fabrics you buy Before You Cut It, no matter where you obtain the fabric. A simple test is cut a ½” wide by 6” long strip. Place it in a glass of your hottest tap water. Then, either dip a white paper towel in the glass of water, or place the wet fabric on a white paper towel. If it bleeds, you know you must treat it or you may end up with a disaster.

Fabrics do shrink, so yes, do prewash everything, including the backing fabric, because if it's going to shrink (and cotton will shrink) it’s much better for the fabric to do it's shrinking BEFORE cutting out your quilt.

This writer is working on a very large quilt to be used as a bed spread. The quilt is a log cabin pattern, in shades of red and white tone-on-tone, and YES, everything in this quilt has been treated for prevention of bleeding, and dried in the dryer to eliminate shrinkage problems. Still Discretion Is The Better Part Of Valor so this quilt will be washed with new color catchers every time it’s washed. It's huge -- it has or will have about 27 yards of fabric in the quilt top only. Don’t risk ruining your quilts because the fabric bleeds. Not all fabric will bleed, but if it does, your quilt can be totally ruined; therefore, test every fabric you use. If it bleeds, treat it Before You Cut. If you wait until your quilt top is assembled, washing may ruin your top.

Jeanette

katesnanna

I do wash my fabric. The worst colour run was a bright pink from a very well known quilter/designer. I soak any fabric I think may run in very hot water. Let the water cool then rinse and soak again in very hot water. After that I let it dry completely (line dry) then iron. I find this sets the colour. If fabric only runs a little at the start I'll soak in hot water only once. I find the complete dry and ironing seems to work.

charlottequilts

When I lived in CA, a shop had a box of every shade of "crayons" (I think) by Patrick Lose for Timeless Treasures. I bought quite a few and every one of them bled like crazy. I was so disgusted I called Timeless Treasures in NYC and their response was something like "oh well. We aren't responsible for what happens after it leaves our warehouse." I have never bought their fabrics since. I wasn't expecting a refund but had hoped that they would care a little.

hugs
charlotte