Originally Posted by Stummel
I also soak everything in white vinegar for a while, and then handwash, but just yesterday I did that and the fabric kept bleeding a bit. :?
Vinegar was used in the past to set natural dyes. Dyes these days are almost all chemical in origin, and vinegar usually does not work to set them.
This kind of fabric is a "bleeder", which means there are unset dye particles in the fabric.
Sometimes it is simply excess dye particles -- more dye than the fabric was able to absorb, and not enough rinsing to get rid of the excess. In this case, rinsing repeatedly until no more dye bleeds into the water will solve the problem.
However, sometimes the dye was never set correctly in the fabric. When this is the case, the fabric will continue to bleed every time it is washed unless you can permanently set the dye. Retayne is a solution that chemically sets most dyes and is available for home use.
Retayne is only appropriate to use on one fabric at a time because it permanently sets dye. It should *never* be used to wash a completed quilt because it will permanently set bleeds into other fabrics. Finished quilts are washed in Synthrapol.