I used 2 color catchers and they are as red as the fabric! I also used Dawn dishwashing liquid as my "soap"--a couple of tablespoons. I checked the water during wash and rinse. As the rinse water was still pink I decided to wash again with Dawn. The second wash was when the zippers broke. The second rinse was almost clear so I felt the dye was set. i also included larger fabric pieces in the wash (close to FQ size)...not in the bags and they did not get too tangled up. It was the wof fabric cuts that suffered the worst. I had a large softball size of "strings" that were tossed. I will admit the bags were cheap (a package of three from the Dollar Tree) and a more reliable brand of bag might not cause a problem. I think it will be worth it to go through the wash cycle for your blues, toverly, but I would definitely use a better quality lingerie bag...check the zipper quality beforehand. Lesson learned, you get what you pay for.