Is there any hope for this quilt?
 

I have a friend who was given a beautiful quilt as a wedding gift, and she recently washed it for the first time. The quilt was blue and yellow, and unfortunately the blue bled onto the yellow and turned it green. She used some oxyclean on it, and got the green to kind of a grayish color. She was planning to get some of that Rit color remover, but I'm thinking that will probably make everything even worse. It doesn't seem to me like there's much hope for fixing it, but I told her I'd check with the experts. Any suggestions appreciated.
Thanks!

What was the fabrics used ???? Batiks???? I heard they bleed alot????? I don't have any ideas.

This serves as a reminder to make sure i wash the quilt the first time and make sure to pass along washing instructions.

Tell her to try warm water and some color catchers. Make sure there is lots of water. Can't hurt and I believe it might be the answer.

The only one I ever had bleed was a batik. Never been a fan of batiks and now less than ever. Good luck. I would try what was suggested with the color catchers.

Maybe the lesson to be learned from this is to ALWAYS use a color catcher when washing a quilt fior the first time!

Always pre wash fabrics, like colors together and use color catchers when there is more than one color in a quilt. Others will be along to tell you what might work.

This is the nightmare that haunts me and why I always prewash before creating.

and me as well :thumbup:

:(What a shame. I can't offer any advice because I would be afraid of making it worse now. Maybe it will fade out over time and be less noticeable.

Thinking a good soak in a tub (so it lay's relatively flat) with a lot of water and synthrapol might work. Certainly wouldn't hurt. Note that you need VERY hot water for synthrapol to work. I would go so far as to say that to get enough hot water in a bath tub - I'd be boiling a big ol' pot to add to the bath water. I'd also toss in a color catcher as an "indicator" to see if the darn thing is done bleeding.

I've never used the RIT color remover product.

This is such a sad situation. The problem is "loose" dye that is not set. It is probably still loose, both in the original fabric and on the yellow pieces, so a color catcher is worth trying. And it may take more than one session.

It is not only batiks that bleed. This morning I did a Retayne treatment on some Debbie Mumm SSI fabric that has little candy corns on a dark background. On original testing, it blend an orange/brown color terribly. The Retayne has set the dye, and I now feel safe using it in a Project Linus Halloween quilt for the hospital's holiday party in the children' ward.

I hope your friend has some success on her wedding quilt.

Dayle

Is she using a front loader? They make color bleeds about 10 times worse because there just isn't enough water to float away the excess dye. Tell her to take it to a laundry mat or borrow a friends top loader and wash it several more times.

Tell to NOT ever use the Rit color remover. It will remove all the color, not just the color that bled.

how sad I had that happen once and learned the hardway to always prewash fabric as sometimes it will also shrink and be just as big a problem besides with all the chemicals in ths fabric just safer to prewash especially as a gift as some people are also alergic to the chemicals

I saw a post on here the other day that addressed this very topic, there were alot of different things to try.....do a search and you should be able to find it...good luck..

This is why I could never use a fabric that hasn't been washed.

I see so many threads about Batiks bleeding when washed. I have Never had a Batik bleed, I made a King Size quilt as a wedding gift and the colors ranged from Teal to Deep Pink and it never bled. Maybe I'm lucky but so far so good and I've given away tons of Batik quilts. Maybe I'll have to buy a bottle of Retaine :o)

I'll be watching this thread later in the day. I'm learning so much here. Right now I'm working on a RED quilt with WHITE blending fabric backgrounds. YIKES ! I'm going to have to do something with it before I give it to my friend.

Great suggestions on here - appreciate the information. I'm not a fan of batiks - and ALWAYS wash material before I start a new project....have heard about 'bleeding' material one time too often.

So sorry to hear this. I am sorry to say I would not offer much hope for your friend of ever removing the dye that bled.
Ask me how I know, I made a double wedding ring quilt for my daughter in 2005, queen size, cream background with different shades of green and mauve - I definitely prewashed all of the fabric. Gave it to her for Christmas and wanted to show it at a fair the next fall, she had never used it until just before I wanted to show it, and had the quilt on her bed - she has indoor cats and I thought well I need to wash this before entering it BIG mistake. I used -COLD water, and woollite - but some of the greens faded in different spots all over the quilt, mostly on the cream area, which is the background color of the quilt. Did not dry it in the dryer. I have since washed it several times now each time using a color catcher. I have used everything on this quilt to try and get the excess dye out nothing so far has helped - color catchers, oxi, synthrol alcohol, even tried Mr. clean Magic erasers on the spots. The quilt has never been in the dryer. I spent a year working on this quilt, and working outside the home at the same time so a long process. I wanted to scream and cry at the same time.
If your friend finds something that works, please p.m. me and let me know. I truly wish her luck. Now I not only always prewash all of my fabric, but use retayne in the first wash and color catchers in every other wash. I am a great bliever in prewash.

This terrible issue is just another reason for me to continue to wash all of my finished quilts before they leave my house. I wash for a couple of reasons, but primary to check for color fastness, to make sure none of my seams come loose, check for loose threads, make sure I quilted enough so that the batting doesn't shift and lastly because I love the look of a wrinkled quilt (personal opinion). I also sew into my binding seams a care label, think that helps the new owners with washing....

I wonder if the fabric was OLDER which made it less colorfast.
I wonder how it was washed ???? Hot water ???? and/or strong detergent ?????

I see that someone suggested using Woolite to wash quilts. In my opinion that is the WORST thing you can use on any quilt. I made a patchwork reversible jacket for a friend of mine. When she washed it the first time, she washed it in woolite liquid and it made the batiks bleed something terrible. It ruined the whole jacket as she never could get the stains out. Alot of work went into that jacket and she never wore it again. All of the material had been pre-washed a couple of times and I used Retayne on them. I won't ever use wool-ite on anything. What a discouraging thing for both of us.

I also think soaking in a bathtub could release dye and make the problem worse.

The thing is - the quilt was a gift - and the person did not have any control over what was done to it before she got it.

Good luck - the Rit dye remover is NOT a good idea for this project.

How sad for the Bride. Another reason I ALWAYS pre-wash and indicate on the instructions for washing that the fabric is "new" but I have pre-washed it.

I pre-wash all of my fabrics too. I would hate to have this happen to someone who gets a quilt of mine as a gift, either from me or a client. I have never been sorry to have pre-washed my fabrics before I sew. Why risk a disaster?

This is why I always wash before cutting. I also include color catchers with each quilt I gift, as well as care instructions. I'm sorry that happened to your friend.

I always prewash. I want my quilts to look the same after washing. As some yardage shrinks a lot, you could end up with mis-shapened pieces after washing.

And people laugh at me for pre-washing pre-cuts, like jelly rolls and fat quarters. One of the worst disasters I've had is a lap quilt made out of jelly rolls, not pre-washed, because they tell you not to do that. It was for a raffle for a child with cancer. Of course I washed the quilt when finished, cold water, small amount of Orvis soap, and 3 color catchers. It bled everywhere! I was just sick. Not only was the quilt ruined, but I had less than 10 days to do something for the raffle, and this was important to me. I knew the family, and the little girl. So I picked up the queen sized quilt I had been working on, and I went to work like a madwoman. It was a real beauty, a log cabin with stars and an unusual layout. Very striking. I worked virtually non-stop, and finished it up the morning of the raffle. That quilt was meant for my Dad, but when I explained the situation to him, he just said: "You go, Sweetheart." They ended up putting the quilt in the auction, instead of the raffle, and it brought $500! That's quite a bit for a quilt! Would it surprise anyone to learn that my Dad was at the auction, and he was determined to outbid anyone. The bidding was pretty feisty, and at one point you had 3 determined people bidding! But my Dad wouldn't back down. He told me later that it was his quilt, and he wasn't going home without it! Is he great, or what?

What a wonderful story! I have tears in my eyes, and your Dad is indeed great! (And so are you.)

Alison

I agree with the color catcher idea. I once got red fabric fading out of a solid red & solid white quilt doing this.

MacThayer - what a fantastic story :) I love it!

I'm sorry about the quilt in the OP - I wouldn't know what to do either. I hope whatever she tries works out.

I vote for the warm water and color catchers also. Hope she can get it cleaned up.

We made 3 wall-hanging quilts for the church wall. Since the border was purple batik, they were hung in the banner closet when Lent was over. Unknown to anyone, there is a small water heater in the ceiling above that closet to service the handicap/family bathroom that was added 10 years ago. As is the way with all water heaters, 10 years and they develop a leak. When I finally found it, the purple had run into the white setting triangles and blocks. The red felt banners and purple felt banners had also bled into their white lettering.

I was able to get the purple out of the white with Oxi-clean in a pre soak and paste. I even used a little Shout when I put it in the washer. And for good measure I always threw in a Color Catcher. I washed one quilt 2 more times. Then had to stop, because the purple was getting more faded than the other two. There is still a small lavendar tint in one area, but you won't be able to see it when it is up on the wall. Everyone who had seen the damage was amazed. I really think there were some angels behind me that morning.

I still have to repair the red banner, but won't need to hang that until the end of October.