Originally Posted by
pamabla
I had this same problem recently with a long ago Christmas cross-stitch project, which I love. There was a lot of burgundy floss used and when I tried to gently wash this, all the burgundy bled! I went to the store to look for the color magnet type products, but most had to be used in a washing machine. I stumbled upon a product at Wal-Mart, called Carbonite--it comes in a small box and needs to be mixed with water. I placed my piece in the solution and the bleeding was immediately removed--but it did lighten the color a bit too. But at least the piece still looks good and I was able to salvage it. Good luck.
I just finished a year-long embroidery project using DMC no. 8 Pearle Cotton that indicated it was color safe. When I washed the blocks to remove the Sicky Fabric Solvy I had used, every block bled--I was beside myself so went to the Internet to try and find a fix if possible. I read a number of posts and chose your solution. I ran to Walmart, got Carbona, followed the directions, and no more bleed. Thank you for your suggestion, it saved my project.