Well, I usually wash my dark colored fabrics before using however, my friend told me about color catchers that you add to the wash cycle and if anything bleeds, it is supposed to catch the color so it doesn't show up where it isn't supposed to. I made a quilt before Christmas and used this method as I didn't have time and it had burgundy, dark green, etc and I threw it in with the color catcher and no problem!!! I believe that the brand is Shout. Great to have on hand.