Originally Posted by
PaperPrincess
With bright colors, and no pre-wash I would take it to a Laundromat. Use a large capacity machine with lots of water and several color catchers. You want lots and lots of water to keep any color run suspended in the water & not deposited on your quilt. I just use a tiny bit (like 25%) of my regular laundry detergent.
I do what PaperPrincess describes, as the front-loaders at the laundromat use enough water to dilute any dye bleeds. For the detergent I use Synthrapol, which helps suspend any loose dye particles in the water to be rinsed away (prevents loose dye particles from settling in other fabrics). In my opinion, Synthrapol is more effective than color catchers; I have used them together on occasion.
Here is a link to Synthrapol on Amazon (does not have to be Jacquard brand):
http://www.amazon.com/Jacquard-Synth...dp/B0009IJZPY/
Just be aware that Synthrapol requires hot water in order to be effective. I like washing my quilts for the first time in hot water and Synthrapol so recipients will not have any surprises no matter how they treat the quilt, but some people do not want to use hot water.