I pre wash everything, even pre cuts, which I just wash by hand in the kitchen sink & spin in a salad spinner.
I agree with washing the uncut turquoise backing with Retayne. I have a front loader and follow the instructions on the bottle for treating the fabric in a bucket. Works great!

How old were these clerks? Salt and/or vinegar haven't been effective in years!

I like to give "worry-free" gifts. If a fabric is going to need washing with color catchers, I do NOT use that fabric. Needless to say, I pre-wash all fabrics, before using.

Again Thanks to all of the ladies for your advice on this problem....I tried the salt and vingar and two color catcher and the catcher can out a dark turqouise so I know that the vingar and salt didn't work...
Neesie wow 10 washes and it still was bleeding. I'm up to 6 washes so far and still bleeding, yes I agree with you about not giving someone a quilt they have to worry about..

Majormom, I have used color catchers in all the washes and it is a top loading machine, I'm also wondering if it is the falut of the company or just this dark color. So far JoAnn's is giving me a hard time, I guess I will go in again and talk to someone higher up and see if they will refund or give me another color ..that was 10 yards of fabric!
Katenanna...I did iron the fabric after the first wash and then got to thinking I better wash and check again to see if it would bleed...
rush8888...oh boy now the bad part I misplaced the receipt for the fabric...not a good thing,,I did put it on my change card so I have that it shows what I spent that day but not what... so this may be a big problem,,,

I think I will go and look for some other fabric for the back and it will be a lighter color and not turqouise..

I'm not sure where to buy retayne or synthrapol and do I use the retayne first and them the synthrapol? I think I will go to the quilt shop and talk to them and see if they have this stuff..what a pain this has been..

if all else fails I will use the bleeding fabric for one of my wagon wheel rugs that I make so it will not go to waste but it just makes me disappointed that I have had so much trouble getting this quilt done,

A big Hug and a big Thank you for all of your advice...

Every once in a while I also come aross a piece of sh - I mean, fabric - that is just a dud!

Sometimes one just has to cut one's losses and go on.

I feel your pain. When making a baby quilt using primary colors I decided that I had better prewash (I don't usually). I sure was glad I did the green bled and kept on bleeding - nothing helped including vinegar. Finally I just decided not to use the green.

I think I would email Joann's and complaing because I don't think that the stores response was reasonable. Truth is many of the staff at Joann's know nothing about fabric, sewing, or quilting. Good luck

Just because they're pre-cuts, don't assume they won't bleed. One of the worst bleeds I've had was with a quilt top made with jelly rolls. I washed it in cold water, small amount of orvus soap, and 3 color catchers. The darks bled into the lights, and it was unsalvageable. I was sick! I now pre-wash ALL my pre-cuts. Mainly I let them soak overnight with quilt soap and slightly warm water. Hand agitation only. I use vinegar in the rinse just to get the soap out. I know it doesn't "set" anything. If there's any color on the color catchers, I try to identify what colors, and those go back in for more washing. The rest are dried flat on a sheet outside. They are also tested for bleeding before being used (anything that came from a wash where there was bleeding is re-tested). Even after drying and pressing (not ironing), they are again tested for bleeding. I'm a fanatic about this. I work hard on my quilts, and to have one ruined by bleeding is just sickening. And I do blame the manufacturers for this. They're making cheaper fabric, and taking less care of it, so they can sell it to us cheaper, so we can spend money and time on excessive pre-washing and products like color catchers, retayne and synthrapol. I'd spend more money on the fabric if I knew it was true quality fabric, but you can get bleeding fabric from the knock off manufacturers, as well as the very best manufacturers.

Retayne and Synthrapol are available from Dharma on the web. The site describes when and how to use each product. Some LQSs carry them. The product has directions for use on the package. Retayne of for setting hand/home dyed fabrics. Synthrapol is for MOST of the ones we buy in fabric stores.

fabric
 

I went throught this not long ago with the green well I took it back to Joanns raised h-- with the recept in hand and they ended up giving full refund just demand it as all I can say you;ll get the money

Retayne
 

I made a indigo blue batik and white quilt. I was afraid of the blues running on the whites. I washed the blues in retayne before i sta rted the quilt and their was no bleeding after it wa s finished whe n I washed it. I would use Retayne prior to cutting the fabrics. Hope this helps.





QUOTE=quiltlady1941;5539065]I bought 10 yards of dark turquoise fabric from Jo ann's it was the country classic solids, for the back of a quilt, I washed it and oh my goodness did it bleed so after 5 washes with Shout color catcher in the wash the catchers are still coming out the same color as the fabric a very dark turquoise.. I did go back to Jo ann's and they told me they could not give me a refund as I washed the fabric.. I could not believe that they would say that, how would I know if the fabric would bleed if I didn't wash it.. they also told me to put vinger and salt in the wash and wash the fabric again..so as I speak that is what I am doing..Maybe this will work..

Now the top for this back.... I made a single Irish chain quilt and used a precut jelly roll of different color turquoise some light and some dark for the chain with white for the background, now I am wondering if this fabric will bleed like the backing..I did not wash the jelly roll, do any of you wash your precuts before you put them in a quilt top? I was afriad that the fabric would fray a lot and it would end up not the 2.5 inches that it started out to be.

Wouldn't you know it... this is a quilt someone asked me to make, it's the first quilt that I am making for someone that I am getting paid for. but oh my all the trouble ...if it was for me I wouldn't worry about it.. anyway thanks ladies for all your advice...[/QUOTE]