I like purple or blue the best. They seem to come out the quickest for me. But I've used red as well on a pure white background & that also came out no problem after a minute or two of hand agitation. I've learned to put a Color Catcher into the tub for that first soak to keep me from panicking that the white has absorbed the marker. Of course, if you don't forget about your quilt soaking for 30 minutes, that might not be a problem in any case.