patricej

i never use the pretreated fabric packs, so i can't even guess how well they'll perform for you in general.

you don't use bubble jet set to treat after printing. you only use it to pretreat previously untreated fabric. you are probably thinking of Bubble Jet Rinse. a fine product, i'm sure, but not necessary. it's very expensive and just about any gentle detergent will do just as well. i've read in many places that woolite is a suitable substitute.

i don't wash in retayne afterward. i soak the printed sheets of fabric. i do that for a few reasons. for one thing, i need only a capful of the dye fixative at a time, swished into a few inches of water in a plastic container big enough for the sheets to lay flat on the solution. by laying the sheets onto the surface one at a time, they absorb the solution and then sink flat to the bottom. that way, the fabric retains its shape and the print doesn't become distorted.

yesterday, i set up one bin of a water-mix solution and one of pure fixative. i was fascinated to see that i lost more ink to the pure fixative. i expected it to be the other way around. go figure. :roll:

reds and dark pinks have been the hardest colors to get really vivid prints from - whether i've used my Canon or my HP printer. for some reason, the reds and pinks migrate (float off the fabric) more than the other colors. if i don't have a lot of red in the print, i feel safe soaking more than one printed sheet at a time in the same bin of solution. if i do have a lot of red (or shades of pink) i either soak them one at a time or set up more than one bin of solution.

(side note: i use the dharma dye fixative, which is the same as retayne but less expensive.)

once the colors are set, they will usually stand up to any detergent - even Tide in warm water - but i always recommend cold water and the mildest bleach-free detergent possible anyway.