Okay, my two cents worth. Ever since I found Color catchers, I wash all my fabric when it comes in the door and then is dried 10 minutes in the dryer and then hung up to get a lot of the wrinkles out. I use 3-4 color catchers in each washing and then check the color catchers (still mostly white or slightly colored) and lay them out to dry and use them several times. If it is red or black fabric, the colors are usually strong on the Color Catchers and they are thrown away. Otherwise on most regular fabrics, the Color Catchers may only be slightly colored or not at all so I use them over and over again. One of the first things that I learned was to wash everything before beginning all projects. My first quilt was a beautiful OSU quilt (the one in my messages) that had a lot red and it ran all over all the white.....live and learn. Love those Color Catchers.