Bleeding darks will get you every time! I lways wash until the water runs clear. I hope the vinegar does the trick!

That much bleeding indicates the dye wasn't set properly into the fabric. The surest way to set dye is to wash it with Retayne. Retayne is available at quilt shops catering to hand dyers, and online from places such as Dharma Trading and ProChem.

Vinegar and salt were traditional methods of setting dyes, but they effective primarily with organic dyes. They often do not work with the chemical dyes used in today's fabrics.

If you don't have time to find Retayne, I would try to return the fabric to Walmart. You can call their customer service first to make sure they will take it back.

Walmart should take it back. The lady in our fabric dept told me to have them tag it & then take back to fabrics to have them measure it & then they will give you a refund. I bought 10 yards of some fabric & because it had a grease spot on they gave me the rest of the bolt. 14 yards. Took it home & washed it & when I was folding it I found that it had white spots down it ever so many yards. I still haven't taken it back. I'm going to try & work around the spots. The grease spot didn't come out either. Glad I got it on the markdown & didn't pay that much for it. You never know about Wally World's fabric. Sometimes you get good sometimes bad.

Patrice , it was a solid red fabric. After washing it with the vinegar ; I ironed an area of it with a white scrap fabric underneath. There is a faint pink tint coming through. my other red , I got at Hobby Lobby doesn't seem to have a bleeding problem. You can bet I will be taking this fabric back to WM , and making a fuss.
Elaine

if you have your receipt I would take it back. They should not give you a problem.

I didn't know that the vinegar and salt would set the colors in fabric.

if red bleeds for me, i always wash again with retayne. always. if that doesn't work, out it goes. you can never trust it. it will bleed forever. that's why pre-washing is so important. no surprises. if you have the receipt return it. but will they take it back ?

I took the fabric on Sunday. The gals at the return counter didn't know if they could take it back and give a refund . Isaid it is defective. One said to go back to fabrics and talk to the lady there. she looked at it and printed out a refund receipt. she said it was 65% polyester and it shouldn't have bled. So yes I got my money back. But so much frustration and wasted time.

YEAH!! :D I am so glad to hear that you got your money back. :D That is wonderful. :D So far, I haven't had any trouble with WM's fabric bleeding, but it is always a possibility. Hope you never have this problem in the future.

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:


so glad for you.