Originally Posted by Flying_V_Goddess
In the debate of whether or not you pre-wash your fabrics, I take the side the pre-washing because I don't want to run into any sort of surprises. I wash my fabrics one at a time on the smallest load because I worry about colors running together.
That's kind of a problem. Though I am trying to put in an effort to change this, I still live with my mother. It seems like she'll nag at me about every little thing. The other day I went and washed one of the fabrics for my Shuriken Packer quilt and she nagged at me because it was the only item in the wash.
I guess this is not a huge problem as I don't have a lot of fabrics to wash.........................yet. My big project requires about 70 or so different colors of marble/watercolor fabrics. I definitely worry about color fastness on this one as there are so many fabrics and a lot of subtle color variation that I don't want to ruin because excess dye got into other fabrics. But even if I had my own washer and dryer, doing 70 loads for each individual fabric is a bit ridiculous.
What can I do to avoid colors possibly running together without having to do so many loads of laundry?
I wash my fabric in buckets of hot water with wool wash to allow not only shrinkage but getting rid of lose dyes. I usually put them in by colors and leave them in the water for about 10 minutes. Any thing that is still bleeding after that time I spin out the water and add to clean with salt and vinegar and leave it for at least 30 minutes or until the water goes cold. It works every time --SO FAR. Why not give it a try then your mother wont be able to complain. I then hang them on the line to air dry.