retayne, then synthropol, and always cold water. salt, vinegar or heat never worked for me.

Thanks! I just bought some Retayne. I have Synthropol but wasn't sure if I was using it right.

If I'm making up something with suspect fabric.. I first take a small swatch and place it in a glass of very hot water. If I see any color seeping into the water, I Retayne it following instructions in the bottle. After using the Retayne I rinse the fabric out and then put it into a tub of hot water and let it sit for another 10 minutes (to double check there is no leftover color (have never seen leftover color). Then I toss fabric into the dryer. The only thing I don't like about Retayne is it can be toxic to handle or breathe in the fumes. Nowadays I find I don't need to use Retayne like I did 10 years ago... and I can only assume it is because alot more of the manufacturers have listened to complaints about the bleed-through and seem to be fixing the problem before the fabric comes to market. I've gone from having to use Retayne 5–10 times a year to only once or twice in two years.

I would try to take it back and absolutely would not use it.

I know it is never good to "assume" - but I do assume that the recipient of a quilt will probably not have retayne, synthropol, or a color catcher "on hand" when/if that person wants/needs to wash a quilt.

Especially a child's quilt.

I have a question. I have a kit I purchased from Keepsake Quilting. It is all precut strips of batik fabric. Should I prewash these strips and how. Should I soak in Retayne?

When I have naughty fabric I rinse in the sink several times then put it in the washer and add Rytayne and the clorox color catchers.
Usually works.
Good luck.

If I think a fabric is going to bleed I put it in the sink with hot water.

I wouldn't prewash strips. They can shrink so that they are no longer exactly right for the kit. Most batiks now are colorfast, plus I would hope that a major company such as KQ is careful not to include a bleeding fabric in its kits. (That could be wishful thinking on my part.)

To make sure, however, it's a good idea to take a scrap of fabric (an inch or two off a selvedge is good) and drop it into a glass of hot water. You don't want to see dye bleed into the water. After a few hours in hot water, take the fabric out and rub it against a white fabric; you don't want to see any dye rub onto the lighter fabric. If it passes these two tests, the fabric is fine to use without prewashing.

As a safeguard, I always wash a quilt in Synthrapol the first time it is washed. After that, regular washing is fine.

I use lots of vinegar when washing fabric to keep it from bleeding.

Me too.