Thread: Soda Ash/ Soda Wash questions

Ok, so I am testing out using soda ash to pretreat fabric to print on and ran up against some questions:

1. How much soda ash do you use per gallon?
2. Some places I have read have said NOT to iron the fabric because the soda ash could turn it brown--but I plan on attaching this fabric to freezer paper to print on. Suggestions?
3. If I have a blanket that I forgot to prewash my fabric and am concerned about the colors bleeding, could I soak the blanket in the soda ash solution, let it dry and then wash it safely?

Thanks to all those who suggested soda ash, i am really looking forward to trying this and seeing how it does!

I don't have the answers to your questions, but am intrigued by the post. What kind of printing are you planning to do? If you are planning to attach to freezer paper, I assume you are going to use an inkjet printer.

I did find this website which I thought had some tips that might be useful:
http://thequiltrat.blogspot.com/2009...-homemade.html

I also do not know the soda ash answers, but for the quilt in which you did not wash your fabrics before hand, and are afraid of bleeding - many ladies use those color catchers in the wash.

Printing on an inkjet printer or possibly a Ricoh copier (that one is debatable). I do a lot of photo quilts, but more specifically, i am hoping to print out a family crest design, and use that for a center block of a wedding quilt for a friend. To do that, it would be a real pain to print it in 8 1/2 x 11 sections and piece them together- especially if I can get this to work on the Ricoh where I can print wider/longer sections. I did check out the website and it has some good information on it, especially with the amount of SA to use.