Batik colors bleeding!!!
 

I usually only pre wash medium to dark colors, but thank goodness I attempted to prewash some batik strips before setting them aside for a new quilt project. The light multi tones are turning my water pink, after 3 times (warm water in sink, these are fat quarters) and retayne in hot water! And then I tried bright greens - ugh -even my nails have a green tinge. What am I doing wrong? Some are bali batiks by Hoffman. How do I control the bleeding?

This batik bleeding has me worried. This is my first time doing a batik project, is this normal?

I also have a Hoffman bali pops strip set that I want to use in another project and I am worried about bleeding and I am frustrated about paying so much money on this strip set. How do I wash the 2.5" strip sets? It is the green tea color set, and I will be setting them with bright white using the "blue Lagoon" pattern from my Jelly Roll Quilt book. Has anyone used this fabric? Any troubles with bleeding? Thanks in advance for all your help.

I wash my fabric with vinegar mixed with the water, never had the problem with batiks bleeding.

There is always discussion on here about washing VS not washing. I wash evey batik I bring into my house. I use hot water, detergent, and color catchers, and sometimes vinegar which is supposed to set your color. Generally I only wash once, however, on a couple of the in-expensive batiks, I have had to wash again.
I have a friend who thought she had washed a batik she used, (mottled purple/green/burgundy). When she washed the quilt, the burgundy ran into her white. She spent many hours working to "clean" her quilt. She was mostly successful in getting it out, but if you look hard you can still see where it ran.
I had a LQS employee tell me the manufacturers boil the batiks to get the wax resist out of them, which should make them not run color, but my experience has been different.
If I am washing a fat quarter, or smaller, I use my lingerie bag to help protect them on gentle cycle, hot water, etc. Also, I may start them out in the dryer to help them dry faster, but DO NOT run them the entire cycle. They fray terribly. With your 2.5 strips, I might just hang them and press.

Do you have a salad spinner? It is perfect and gentle for washing smaller pieces like charm squares, fat quarters and strips.

Great idea, I will use it with the bali pops when I pre wash them.

Most all batik's bleed some if not a lot. I always wash mine with a color catcher. If the color catcher comes out very dark they get a second wash. I have had some that got several washes before I used them.

you can use a mesh laundry bag to wash your strips- you should wash them with detergent- can toss in a couple 'color catchers' ---and wash them until there is no more color coming off- most batiks, hand dyes (can) be bleeders- you can also put synthropol in the water after the quilt is done (as a just in case) to keep any dye from getting on your whites---it keeps the dye suspended in the water. vinegar freshens & softens laundry---has no effect of setting colors---way back in the 70's dyes were changed (by law) and vinegar has nothing to do with setting the color- it only works on acid dyes that are no longer used on cotton fabrics.- so although it may help with smells & freshen the fabric- it is just a (wasted step) when it comes to any bleeders. sometimes one wash will take care of the problem- sometimes it is necessary to wash 2 or 3 times- (normally) it is excess dyes that were not adequately rinsed during the dyeing process-

I "Retayne" all my batiks, I haven't found one yet that didn't bleed.

I would never trust a batik not to run. Retayne is effective but the water MUST be 140 degrees..most hat water tanks are not set that high. One treated with Retayne COLD water wash only or the retayne will be removed and the bleeding will start again. Batiks are beautiful... but high maintainience.

Bleeding.that's the reason I pre-wash EVERYTHING. I have used vinegar if a second washing is necessary.