I am making a quilt with a Hoffman batik as the background color. It is a dark blue w/purple tones, called Marlin. I washed it with Retayne before using. After completing two mariner's compasses, I accidentally spilled some water on one and the blue bled into the yellow star! Any suggestions? I have almost $100 invested in this fabric and at this point I can't use it. Never mind I have two complicated blocks done.

Welcome to the board from Southern California!!!

Welcome to the board. Unfortunately I can't be of much help because I'm a rabid pre-washer of batiks (twice in hot water!), so ... this hasn't happened to me. I feel your pain though.

I know that some of the other great folks on the board have some suggestions though as I know your not the first this has happened to. Best of luck.

welcome from Minnesota. happy quilting

Contact Hoffman. A friend of mine had something like that happen once, but she did buy the whole bolt, and they bought it back from her. Told her it had missed step in the process.
I was always told that salt would stop the bleeding. I was told white vinegar too but on another thread I saw where someone said cider vinegar. Not sure about that. I have always used salt. I had to soak the pillow cases I was embroidering in Oxi clean when my husband spilled his stupid iced sweet tea all over them. Had to finish it first though. What a sticky, yucky, stinky mess.

Good luck with your fabric. Sorry you had to find out after you had gone thru so much work. They look difficult.

Thanks for the thoughts! I did prewash in hot with Retayne. That's always worked before. Maybe I'll try to wash the uncut material again.

Hoffman is a high quality company - you should contact them - they will probably either tell you how to handle it - or replace it -Companies these days like to keep their name in good shape, (branding) sothey will probably stant by their merchandise - If they don't please let us know - and then they will loose marke share I am sure !

Welcome and sure hope you can solve your problem.

If you have already washed it in hot water with Retayne and it's still bleeding, I would definitely contact Hoffman! There isn't much point continuing with the pieceing when you know it's going to bleed. So sorry this happened to you.

Just a Note Retayne to be effective .. must be used with 140 degree water , any lower temperature will not be effective to prevent any future running/bleeding... and it needs to agitate for 20 minutes.
Anyway now onto the problem at hand Syntropol will remove the strayed dye if you do it SOON!!! For this type of problem I would use a cotton ball or q- tip.

this is the only way for retayne to work.

i work with batiks and do all my own dyeing and use retayne and syntropol on a daily basis - if you don't follow the directions to the letter its pointless.

Wow! What a group! Thanks for the welcome and suggestions. I'm off to get some Syntropol. The water was at least 140 degrees and it soaked well in excess of 20 minutes. I treated it in a stock pot on the stove and heated the water to just below boiling because my water heater isn't set that high. I've e-mailed Hoffman. We'll see what they say. The store where I purchased the fabric suggested Syntropol, also. I hope I can salvage the two compasses I have completed. I am kind of a newbie at this, and this quilt is way above my skill level! And they actually came out pretty well, I thought! But I am soooooo slow!

Your hot water may not be hot enough most hot water heaters are not that hot.

First, to adress some of the comments:

When I first used the Retayne, I put the fabric in a large stock pot and measured the temperature of the water with a thermometer. It was way in excess of the required temp, up around 180 degrees. I soaked it for even longer than the required time.

I got Synthrapol and have now washed the fabric at least five more times. (I've lost count.) The water was still a bright blue the last time. Is this reasonable? Is there anyone out there that has used Hoffman's Marlin batik and washed it? I would be interested to see what your experience has been.

I've used all of the Synthrapol and I don't want to waste any more if the fact it is still bleeding significantly after so many washings indicates the fabric is defective. However, if this is reasonable, I'll go get more and keep going.

Thanks.

The continued bleeding with Synthrapol indicates that the dye is still not permanently set. Some fabrics require two go-arounds with Retayne. If that doesn't work, I would definitely email Hoffman outlining what you have done and offering to send a fabric sample to them for testing. It really sounds as if there was a manufacturing defect with this fabric, with perhaps some step missed or done incorrectly.

After all the washing and treatments you have done,and the fabric is still bleeding, something is wrong with the fabric. I would call Hoffman back and tell them how many times you have washed and treated the fabric, the soaking times and the dye stablizers used and let them know the fabric still bleeds.

wow...now I am afraid to attempt the batik quilt set that I have....I will following this to see how it turned out for you and good luck.

Pam, I've used batiks before and done nothing but wash them in Retayne and very hot water to prevent bleeding and cause as much shrinkage as possible and never had a problem. But this is a very dark color. I thought that might be the issue, but the difference seems excessive. My mistake was to assume that the treatment that has worked before would work this time. (We all know the saying about "assume!") Unfortunately, I completed two blocks, both mariner's compasses and very complicated for my skill level. So now I have to replace all of the fabrics for both of them and resew them:~( If I were you I would take little snips of my batiks and pair them with snips of white fabric. Pin them together and wet them. See if they bleed.

Hoffman should reimburse you for everything, their fabric, supplies, fabric for the rest of the compass, hot water, everything, not just their fabric. This has been a lot of aggravation for you along with time and money spent that shouldn't have been. They need to make things right and I'm sure they will, just let them know how much trouble this has caused. You just deserve what you should have. Please let us know what they decide.