Red Fabric Bleeding
 

Much to my dismay - I was washing some face masks that I made using red fabric that i know I 'washed' - basically a few minute wash in warm water - and they are bleeding! The water has turned a lovely red cherry Kool-Aid color!

Moral of the story - I am now soaking all new fabrics in very hot water for at least an hour before washing them gently.

The "quick dunk" is not adequate.

It's even better to soak them in hot water with Retayne added. I do this for all my red, dk blue, dk purples, etc., etc. Retayne is made specifically to make dye permanent and will stop the bleeding. It's best used before you cut your fabric.

After you use the bleeding fabric in a quilt, it's best to use Synthrapol. It is made for dyed fabrics that have already bled and the fugitive dye has deposited onto nearby fabric. It is a product made to keep dye from settling back on fabrics.

This is probably stubbornness on my part - but if commercially dyed fabric won't behave "on it's own" after a couple of washes - without using color catchers, retayne, or synthropol , o whatever - I will not use it.

I do not know anything about hand-dying fabrics and what is used in the processes.

Excess dye and bleeding are two different things.

I soak any bleeders in hot water with a dab of Dawn over night. If they bleed after that, out the door they go. I have no interest in using expensive, specialty detergents, color catchers, or wasting my time and water on multiple washes. If it's good enough for Vicki Welsh it's good enough for me.
https://www.colorwaysbyvicki.com/upl...edingquilt.pdf
eta: I don't think bleeding is limited to "good quality" fabrics. I have a red P & B Textiles, Alex Anderson print that bled a lot until I fixed it with the hot water & Dawn method.

Thought y'all might enjoy this adventure in bleeding that happened to me just yesterday. Like Bear, I'm a bit leery of reds and I had this piece that I was most definitely going to prewash. These pictures show exactly why some of us really believe in testing/making certain are fabrics are stable.

This goofy panda print was in a bag of someone's tourist souvenirs, the sort of thing you'd pick up at a cheaper airport/tourist gift store, me I got it at the thrift store, it was full of some really nice stuff and this. The panel had been made into a skirt, just folded over into a casing but was still in its crisp cellophane wrapper when I got it. I have a pattern for some paper pieced Panda Blocks and I want to stretch them out by using these big panda families. I'll probably frame the black and white pandas in yellow which is another auspicious color.

Yikes! Look at that top dye catcher, now there is a small possibility that somehow the catcher from the previous day's black load (that discharged quite a lot) somehow got back into the washing machine but that is a very small possibility.

The second one, all I did was wash again with hot water and my usual gentle laundry detergent. Better but not done.

I took it to the sink, used a bit of dawn and rinsed until clear, then I did my 20 minutes covered with water in a large/huge glass bowl in the microwave. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap! I'm another believer in Dawn, and in that heat setting in the microwave.

I have never heard of this method. I use Dawn for dishes to toilets and many things in between but have never used it for fabrics that bleed. I will have to try this on these types of fabrics sooner than later.

I am delighted by the things I learn here. And I taught a class about fibers and fabrics at the college level for twenty-five years! Thank you.

Who would ever guess that Dawn dish soap could be used for saving every thing from fabric to birds:)

Thanks for that link.