Help...it won't stop bleeding
 

I am washing a bright blue batik to back a quilt. I've washed it three times and the color catcher is just as blue after the third time as the first. I have some Retayne but it says to use before washing it the first time. Anyone had any luck using it after several washings? Thanks.

I think it MAY have meant before washing it in a finished item for the first time.

All you can do is wash it til it stops bleeding. I had that happen with some hand-me-down fabric. It is very frustrating.

Throw some scraps of the other fabrics you're going to use with it in the wash. If they don't pick the color up then go ahead and use the blue.

Absolutely brilliant! I wish I'd know this a while back. Let's call it my "Most important nugget of knowledge" for today. I just love this board!

I don't really agree with this theory. Even if the other fabrics in the quilt don't pick up and retain the blue, that doesn't mean that the blue won't continue to come off on the sheets, the hands, other things. It may wash out of all of them eventually, but who wants a bleeding fabric on their bed?

It doesn't matter. You can use Retayne on fabric that has already been washed.

There are a couple of different reasons why a fabric continues to bleed.

One reason is that the fabric has been over-saturated with dye; there is more dye than the fibers can absorb. After one or two washes, all of the excess dye has been rinsed out and you are good to go.

The other reason, which is the one you are probably facing, is that the manufacturing process did not properly and permanently set the dye. You can use Retayne to set the dye; just be sure to always wash the quilt in cool water afterwards, as Retayne loses its effect if the fabric is subsequently washed in hot water (even though you need very hot water to get the Retayne to work!).

Synthrapol merely suspends loose dye particles in water so they rinse away instead of settling into other fabrics. It does not permanently set dye, but rather is useful for getting rid of excess dye without having bleeds into other fabrics (or discoloring other portions of the fabric). This is what you would wash a finished quilt in if you are unsure about bleeding.

I actually threw away a piece of blue batik that never did stop bleeding - not a big piece though - so not a very big loss. I even showed it to my DH - in a pure white dishpan - every time that I pushed it up and down in the water it would ooze out blue die - my DH said it reminded him of an octopus that squirted out blue ink when cornered! I only buy my batiks from quilt shops so it was a nice brand/quality.

I would take it back to the store you got it from! Even if there is no refund they need to know what's going on with the fabric they are selling!

The old standby to me is to rinse in vinegar. That is what my Mother and Grandmother used. Who knows what these
new products are made of, vinegar? I would use white vinegar on the light colors, but the brown vinegar on the dark ones. This has always set colors for me. Try a small piece. Let is sit a few minutes and then rinse maybe twice. Good luck.

What Prism99 said. I've used Retayne plenty of times on fabric that had already been washed...that's how I knew it needed Retayne. :D

I agree completely. I had a piece that I rinsed and rinsed and washed and washed. Finally, I told my daughter who wanted it on her memory quilt, that it might bleed into a few of the white squares, but for the most part, I chose darker/colored--not white or off white--fabrics for the squares. She knows and is aware. She still chose that color as it t was a beautiful teal.

I agree I just do not trust a bleeder!!!

Just to let you know - I gave up on it. I washed it two more times and saw no improvement. Even with Retayne, it only holds as long as it is washed in cool water. Since it is a special gift for my DD, I want to know there is no risk. I'll have to stop at the quilt shop tomorrow to buy new backing. I just want to get it done!

Be sure to let them know what happened. They might want to use a different supplier or talk to where they get their fabric from

Once in while one runs into a "problem" fabric.

Aren' t you glad you found out now instead of later when the finished quilt is washed?

Use the Retayne! It will stop the bleeding. It doesnt matter of you have washed it already.

I am not very sure if it would work for everyone, well it worked for me....Keep some water( about maybe 2 gallons) in the fridge,make it very cold and wash the fabric in it. The color does not bleed! You can also try soaking the fabric in salted water for some time and wash.

Try drying and ironing it, then wash again. I've found this works.

I'm quite cut and dried about this sort of thing and would just use material that doesn't bleed.

When I had the rug business I would dye a lot of fabric. This sounds like they used the dye "turquoise" as it is one of the worst ones to get to quit bleeding. Actually sew a small ( 2 x 3 ) triangle of unbleached muslin in the corner and wash it again, with a handful of color catchers. Dry it in the hottest dryer you have. Then take the stitches out and see if the dye actually transferred. If it has, then the fabric needs to be returned to the store. You've done all you can. I just didn't want you to throw it out if the color catcher turned a color. Even if you wash a color catcher with no fabric, sometimes they turn shades just be being washed.

Have you tried Retayne?

I definitely understand your frustation. I prewashed all the fabrics, greens with the center set for the joing rings in mauve with a very expensive ($12.00 a yard- for me at least)beautiful cream with specks of green in the backing and background in a wedding ring quilt I made for my DD several years ago. I did not find any color transfer on anything including the color catcher sheets I used. However later when I planned to enter this queen sized quilt in our annual quilt show at the fall fair, just to show, not as a ribbon contender, I washed it in a large capacity washer at the local local laundry mat, because of the size of the quilt. It was washed in cold water, and not dried in a dryer, but much to my dismay one of the greens bled on various spots of the quilt, I have yet to be able to get the dye out of the cream on this quilt. The only reason it was washed prior to the event, was because she has cats and I did not want the cat hair or smell of the animals on the quilt that I wanted to display. I have tried everything since then to get the color runs out, but to no avail. This quilt has only been washed in cold water and never put in dryer. I was horrified, as I had spent over a year ( I was working full time then and only had some evenings and weekends to work on this quilt) on this as a surprise Christmas gift, and then this happened. The dye transfer from the greens are still there I never did find out for sure which green or greens bled. I tried every suggestion I could find, but nothing has taken that green out, and it is scattered throughout the quilt in various spots. Now I still prewash all of my fabrics, but add Retayne and use color catchers to check my fabrics before I put them into a quilt of any size. Now I will not use any fabric that has a tendancy to bleed. I always prewash. Too much time is spent on our quilts to have this problem occur.

had some red batiks that bled every time - finally threw in some scraps of the white that would be in the quilt top - they didn't pick up any of it so I moved forward. I sure did fret about it tho until I did that!

I would send it back to the manufacturer. I wash all my purchased material in hot water and use the thread catchers. Not a good idea if the dye comes off in your hands. After washing, throw the material (by itself) into a hot dryer. Then throw it back into the washer and see if the color bleeds again. If it does, I would send it back to the manufacturer.

Now I soak any unwashed fabric that I might use in HOT water for at least 30 minutes - like colors together - in case one has bad manners it won't hurt the other pieces of fabric. I smush them up and down once in a while just to move the water through the fibers.

I use sinks, kettles, large bowls, buckets, plastic wastebaskets to soak my fabrics. No point in using a whole washer of water when only a small amount of water will do the job.

If the water turns color, I isolate which fabric is donating dye to it - and give special attention to that piece.

Special attention - several more rinses until it stops bleeding color. If it continues to bleed, I dry it and return it to thestore (if possible) or discard it. No point in further aggravation. (There is a difference between excess dye - which when once removed, is no longer a problem - and unfast dye - which continues to lose color forever)

Then I wash the soaked fabrics in cool water with a very gentle detergent, gentle short cycle - I think it's the agitation that makes new fabrics look 'used' when they are washed -

At this point, I need to feel comfortable throwing all colors in to the washer together - just as they would be in a finished item. So until I am comfortable tossing that wet red fabric, and the wet black fabric, in with the wet white fabric, the red and/or black will need further attention.

and then dry until 'just' dry - I do not overload the dryer. I fold and put away until needed. Usually the fabric dries smoothly enough to not need ironing at that point.

Even with all this attention, occasionally I have had an issue when I sprayed sizing or starch on a dark red and a dark blue that I had previously washed.
(Both were by RJR, by the way - several years ago - Jinny Beyer/RJR fabrics may no longer have the color bleeding issues they once had))

Yes, this is a bit of 'extra' work up front - but I have enough stained fabric caused by migrating dyes to go to great lengths to avoid doing it again. I did not have great success trying to remove the unwanted dyes/stains.

PS: I am very aware that some of you see no point in doing this. This is about what I do.
I see no point in needing to use Synthrapol, Retayne, vinegar, salt, or color catchers with commercially dyed fabrics once the excess dye has been removed by soaking and rinsing and the fabrics washed.

Some batiks are very overdyed simply because of the process. Keep trying until the water runs clear. You might want to put some vinegar and Epsom salt into the wash with it, but don't give up. The color will still be bright and beautiful when you get it right

Gerbie, you should be able to get the green bleeds out of that quilt by washing again in ***hot*** water with Synthrapol. (Synthrapol requires hot water to work.) It may take several washes, but it should come out. Use the largest front loading washer in the laundromat for this to ensure that there is enough water in the machine.

I had an interesting experience today. I had made a few pillow presentation cases for Quilts of Valor, and I washed them since they want the quilts/cases laundered before presenting them to veterans. I put in two color catchers as a precaution since there was some blue. Much to my surprise, the blue fabrics were fine but one of the cases has a bright yellow print. Guess what, the color catchers came out yellow! Luckily, they did not bleed onto the white fabric sections.

I am prewashing fabric tonight and had two pieces of pretty teal fabric and both of them bled like crazy. I always test all my fabrics in the sink in warm water before washing them in the washing machine. I soaked both of these and rinsed them several times and am still having trouble. I don't have any products mentioned in the house but might try the vinegar tomorrow. I've had enough for tonight.

I had some fabric I was using for borders (bright red) for a quilt fora wedding gift for my nephew. I tested the fabric and discovered the "bleeding" by putting a small strip in a glass of hot water! Well, I looked all through Ocala, Florida, but found nothing in stock in the stores. Then, I went on the Rit Dye website. Rit has a dye setter product, which is not expensive, but which definitely works. I ordered the product online. and used it as directed. It works. I don't have any ownership interest in this company or anything, but I won't hesitate to recommend a product which works. I re-tested the red fabric after it was treated and it works! I won't do a quilt and put that much work in it without treating it! As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

Jeanette Frantz

I use a lot of green, teal, turquoise . I needed backing soooooo went to the lqs and prewashed the TEAL and my nightmare began,even using Retayne it lost most of the color. I was so glad it was not on my quilt but it was beautiful on the bolt.We live and learn,sometimes the hard way. MIMI

you can use synthrapol on brown fabric and it still ran alittle --- make sure you both and that no more color is coming out.. I have a very dark blue that bled it use the retayne let is soak and then synthrapol and it stopped bleeding and bled alot.