Prism99

Using Dawn dish soap in a front loader would probably void the warranty. Front loaders are typically HE (high efficiency) and cannot handle a lot of suds. In any case, domestic front loaders do not use enough water to dilute dye bleeds, so it's kind of a moot question.

It should be fine to use Dawn in a top loader unless it's a high efficiency top loader; read your manual before trying to make sure it doesn't void your warranty.

The Dawn liquid that is recommended is Dawn Pure -- a clear version of the blue Dawn we are most familiar with. I am surprised that so many people can find it easily; I have not been able to find it in any of our local stores.

I noticed that the bathtub instructions use a *lot* of Dawn. Since the quilt is left to soak for long periods of time without agitation, I'm sure it is necessary to use quite a bit of soap to prevent movement of dye to other fabrics. (Note: if using a top loader you can still use quite a bit of Dawn; however, be aware that using the machine's agitation could create an enormous amount of suds. You may want to agitate by hand.)

One reason I like to use a laundromat front loader is that the quilt is continuously agitated, so one fabric does not lie next to another for a long period of time. Dye can travel from a damp fabric to another fabric when they are touching. Other reasons I like the laundromat front loader is because it is easy on my back and relatively fast compared to soaking. No risk of dying our expensive bathtub either. However, the bathtub approach is very interesting and I'm glad someone took the time to develop that method.

Here is a link to an older thread when someone had a bleed in a show quilt and successfully used a bathtub to remove the bleed: Fabric bleeding disaster, is it possible to fix it? . Note that she changed the water as it became discolored and added more soap until the water remained clear. I would be hesitant to leave a quilt lying in dark colored water for very long, even with all that soap in the water.