I have recently finished a batik quilt for my SIL. 1 of the fabrics she chose was a deep burgundy that I prewashed 'just to be safe'. It ran a LOT. Used the above recipe then purchased Retayne & washed 2 more times, each time with a couple of color catchers. The last time there was just a faint pink of the color catchers. Should I get her Synthrapol along with color catchers or will it be safe with just color catchers now??? Thanks.

I'd suggest that you wait until the quilt is quilted.

If you feel that you can't wait, then fold the quilt into 1/8ths and pin it up so that it can't unfold. Wash on light /gentle setting in cold water, use whatever laundry detergent you normally use and add a couple of color catchers. Unfold to dry in the dryer or lay out to dry.

I did it that way once, but wouldn't go through the bother again.

Retayne sets dye, but is not guaranteed to keep working in hot water. Synthrapol requires hot water to be fully functional. In this situation I would give her color catchers and tell her to wash it in cold water in a machine that uses a *lot* of water -- a laundromat front-loader, if necessary. No one can be absolutely sure, but I would think that is safe. Keep in mind too that not all fabrics pick up loose dye particles so, even if a fabric does bleed a little, that doesn't necessarily mean that other fabrics will be discolored. Plus, with batiks, as someone else mentioned, a few mild bleeds do not stand out anyway.

Thanks Prism! After making this quilt I've started rebuilding my batik collection. I think I may still get both of us some Synthrapol & gift her that & color catchers. This thread just got me thinking to do all I could to prevent any problems.
Thanks again for all the info on this Board!!

I made a large white background of white muslin with a center of pink and red blocks forming a large heart. None of the fabric was pre-washed. When it was done, I washed it with three color catchers and they did their job beautifully, no coloration on the white anywhere. I too send color catchers when I mail a quilt to someone with instructions on how and why to use them if I have not washed the quilt .

I have made 4 batik quilts and never prewash. I did wash with 2 color catchers and never had a problem. There was red in 2 of the quilts and it was fine.

Just to clarify, I think she means throw THE FINISHED QUILT in the wash.........am I right?

The only problem I have had is I embroidered "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" in blue. The thread did bleed. I tried various things I finallyi soaked it in Oxy Clean. Worked quite well.

I wouldn't wash it until you had it quilted and bind it. You can't wash pre-cuts because they won't measure correctly since cotton shrinks.

I have used the color catchers but didn't know about the Synthropol (and now I do; that is half the battle !)