I've been accumulating a nice collection of vintage fabric lately. A while back I made a post about washing a very stained piece and got some good advice. Actually, I need to make an update thread for the piece I asked about as a good soak in Retro Clean really worked wonders.
So far, my method with these fabrics (that aren't stained, but just need a gentle cleansing) mainly dating between the 1930's and the 1960's, has been a wash on cold, in a short delicate cycle while in a delicates bag and using Retro Wash powder. Before the wash, I'm using a q-tip to check color fastness. Never been an issue. Haven't used color catchers either. I color tested one part of the fabric I posted in this thread: (
http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...c-t261550.html) and everything seemed to be fine. But on one last lookover, I noticed on the yellow parts that some of the black dotten lines had turned brown and seemed a bit smudged. I tested the yellow again and noticed a bit of dye coming off on the q-tip. So I am trying to figure out the best way to clean this fabric. Hand-wash in cold with some color catcher sheets? Or my normal method with some color catchers? I know neither is guaranteed but I've got no experience so far (thankfully) with runny colors.