I was at Jo-ann's this afternoon and tried to buy retayne and/or synthrapol. I talked to four different clerks (one I think was a manager), and no one had heard of it, no one knew what it was for and no one knew if it was in the store.

They have both online and it says "online only."

No, not really. Retayne is for setting fiber reactive dyes in any cotton fabric, hand dyed or commercial. It is to be used before the fabric is combined with other fabrics (e.g., made into a quilt or washed with other fabrics), otherwise it may set the dyes from one fabric onto another. Retayne is a 'fixer'.

Synthrapol is a 'scrubber'. It suspends loose dyes (and other chemicals) found on the surface of cotton fabrics so they float away with the wash water. It can be used on hand dyes and commercial fabrics and is generally used for completed quilts when there may be a bleeding issue. It is also used to prepare commercial fabrics for dyeing (i.e., it turns any cotton fabric into PFD...prepared for dyeing).

Neither product is limited to cottons from any particular maker, dyer, source, country, etc.

I've learned to soak each color separately in hot water - then if the water starts to turn color, I try to isolate which piece is releasing the dye - and then that one gets special attention.

I'm starting to sound like a stuck record on this - but I think a commercially dyed fabric should not bleed . I consider a bleeder to be defective. I can deal with excess dye that is 'gone' after one or two washes - but why should I - as the final consumer of this fabric - have to buy anything else to set the dyes?

If I WANTED to deal with the dying process - I would see some point in needing to buy Retayne and Synthropol. Needing to buy it to set dyes on supposedly 'finished goods' really ticks me off!

From my experience - and I have washed hundreds of different fabrics - I can't tell ahead of time which one will be a problem. Brand name and cost don't seem to have much to do with it. I've had inexpensive fabrics ('no-name' fabrics from WalMart) behave well and some not-so-inexpensive fabrics (a red Moda from LQS, for example) release color.

Also - I've had at least one fabric from every color family be a bleeder. Turquoise and purple - are to me - as notorious for bleeding as red.

If JoAnn's won't make this right, dispute the charge with your credit card company. They will support you, period. JoAnn's will just be 'sol'. better them, than you!!

good luck!

I have seen someone on this board say that bleeding is not only caused by the dark fabric, but by the light fabric accepting the bleeding dye. You can put a piece of your bleeding fabric in hot water with light fabrics that you intend to use in the quilt to see if they absorb the turquoise. If they don't, then you shouldn't have the problem.

To be picky -

If a bleeding fabric is still bleeding - it's still bleeding

It's a problem if the OTHER fabrics pick up the dye/color - some are dye resistant - some aren't
It even seems that with some fabrics, only some AREAS pick up stray colors

Thanks, Scissor Queen,
I looked on the internet and found them both. I think I would not need the retayne. I also found that synthrapol might be found at places like Walmart or grocery store laundry aisles. It's just a soap.

I tried some of the red today in cool water. The water did turn a little pink. This was some red fabric that I bought yesterday, but some of the other reds that I have been using may be many years old. I'll have to test more of them with a wet paper towel to see if they release color.

Sometimes it takes more than a few seconds for the fabric to release color.

Very good and accurate answer.