Backing Fabric bled to front
 

I made a cute baby quilt with lots of white on the front. The back was prewashed flannel with red and purple in it. After I finished the quilt I washed it (with Color Catchers) and found that both the red and purple had bled to the front. Ugh.

I hit the spots with Shout and rewashed, again with Color Catchers. Still had spots.

I've washed it again two more times, still with Color Catchers. IDK if it's a trick of the light but it seems the spots are gone now. I'm going to wash once more though just to be sure. After I run it through the dryer, I'll update this thread.

If the spots are not gone, any suggestions?

What about this flannel backing fabric? I have another 4+ yards of it and it's quite attractive too. I was originally going to throw it out but now I wonder. Maybe if I wash it 3-4 times and/or only use it with a dark colored top? What do you all think?

Thanks.

I would wash it a couple times and use it with a darker quilt. 4 yards is a lot to throw away

I agree with cjsews...wash your remaining yardage and use with dark fabrics on the front.

I also would wash it with either color catchers or white rags that you can later bleach to see if the fabric is continuing to run. If after 3-4 washings it's still running, I'd probably toss it despite it's being that large a piece of fabric. For me, knowing it was still going to be problematic, would make me not want to use it.

Sorry to hear this terrible problem. Most of the time, if a quilt is mostly white I use a mostly white backing. Can you applique over the spots if they don't come out??

What about Rit Color Remover for the remaining backing? I wonder if that will take care of future bleeding. Then it may not look the best but you could use to make pet beds for the local animal shelter without worrying about it bleeding on their laundry.
https://www.ritstudio.com/techniques...color-remover/

My DH has a dark red plaid set of flannel sheets on his bed in the winter and I knew that I had to wash them first. I washed them, he went to bed and the next morning his "tighty whities" were pink. I washed them often during the past couple of winters and they never did stop bleeding - the wash water and the two rinse waters were always pink. They were very thick flannel. I think that using the fabric on a dark colored quilt top would be OK after multiple pre-washes.

The cost of water and power to wash the fabric so many times plus add the frustration level, I wouldn't even think about keeping it.

Using the flannel with a dark quilt top really doesn't solve the problem, since anything that rubs up against the flannel may get some of that excess dye on it. (As demonstrated by Nikki's DH.) I might try setting the dye with Retayne and washing a time or two more, but if that doesn't work I would have to toss the fabric out, or ask at guild if anyone could use it, knowing that it bleeds.

Thanks for the replies and suggestions. The quilt is in the dryer, fingers crossed! It looked pretty good but the proof is in the pudding. If there are just a few spots, I may go the applique route.

I think I'll try to wash the flannel once and see exactly what color the rinse water is.

I'll be back later today after the quilt is out of the dryer.

6 wash cycles later and the white borders are all white. yay!!

All the fabrics on the front have stars on them. I also attached a picture of that offending back fabric. Awful nice isn't it?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]555724[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]555725[/ATTACH]

congrats on your persistence and success. yeah! :)

Very pretty, and I am sorry it happened. I wouldn't suspect such bleeding from such a minimal amount of color, really. But your determination prevailed . Are you going to wash that flannel yardage now six times as well?

Are you sure the backing fabric bled (I can't see from the picture)? I'd be more inclined to think that one of the front fabrics bled onto the back.

Yes indeed I am!! I'll wait for a nice sunny day so I can hang it outside to dry. Then I think I'll cut off a few inches and make a tiny quilt with white fabric. I'll wash it and assure myself that it's bleeding days are over.

Either that or I'll make a very dark quilt. I will not take any chances with this fabric. I do like the pattern though so I hope I can continue to use it.

I know - right??? But the red spots and purple spots were right where the same color designs were on the back. And I did prewash this fabric before I used it. How odd.

Use Carbona. Great stuff.

Cute quilt, looks like the "bad" colors are gone! I would wash the fabric that is left a few times, it looks too nice to waste. You already know that the running will stop!

It's a sunny day. I have the flannel in the wash. I'm on the 2nd cycle. The first one ran purple. I wonder if it will take the full 6 cycles again.

I totally agree with both of these quilters. Another reason I prewash and I have a couple white cotton terry towels I use for bleeding purposes with the color catchers. I wash with hot water and sometimes soak in my sink or tub also if I have a large amount of fabric.

It's done. I lost count of how many cycles I ran it through. My sewing area is near the laundry so I just kept popping over and re-doing the rinse cycle. I think I rinsed it 5 times before the water was clear. It turned 2 color catchers purple.

I'll definitely use the rest of it with dark fabric!! Definitely!!

Wow I never would think that flannel a suspect bleeder like that. Just out of curiosity, do you have a water saving front loader washer? Sometimes they don't use enough water to fully suspend loose dye particles. I am thinking that may be a reason you had to run it through so many cycles.

No. I have a 15+ year old regular washer with one of the largest tub sizes available. I'm shocked too. This is my first experience with fabric bleeding to this extent. I don't really understand.

After it dries I'm going to make a tiny quilt with all white fabric, wash it and make sure it's ok. Even if it is, I'll use dark fabrics for the "real" quilt I'll use it on.

What a cute quilt. I'm glad that the spots came out. I'm shocked that your backing fabric bled. I expect it with a solid, but not with a mostly white print. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Wash your remaining fabric in Retadyne to set the color! I hope this helps!