How to stop bleeding fabric
 

I am in the middle of making a quilt and found out several of my fabrics are bleeding. No, I did not prewash, never have. I have heard of a product called retane (not sure how to spell). Have any of you used it and do you like the product, does it work. Any suggestions on subject would be greatly appreciated!

you would use Retayne on the uncut fabric to set the dye. you wouldn't want to use it in a pieced item as it would set the dye that bled into adjoining fabrics. At this point, since you are already piecing, I would complete the quilt and wash it with Synthrapol, which keeps the dye in suspension so it can be rinsed away. Both chemicals are available from Dharma Trading , Amazon and others. You can also try color catchers.

IMO, Retayne is a waste of money. Dawn works a little bit better and is much more affordable.

This link should help. It's VERY informative!

https://www.colorwaysbyvicki.com/sav...ing-quilt.html

I've always had good results using Retayne.

Cari

You should not use Retayne once a fabric is in a quilt and bleeding. It could permanently set the bleed. Retayne should only be used on fabric yardage, although you could use it on multiple fabrics of similar color.

PaperPrincess is right. Wait until the quilt is finished, then wash with Synthrapol *using lots of water*. Domestic front-loaders do not use enough water to dilute dye bleeds. You can use a domestic top-loader if you can use enough water to dilute any dye bleeds. If the top-loader has a central agitator, you need to turn off the machine and hand-agitate as central agitators are hard on quilts. I take my quilts to a laundromat and use a large front-loader, and I routinely use Synthrapol in that first wash just in case there are any dye bleeds. Synthrapol suspends loose dye particles in the water so they are rinsed away and don't have a chance to settle into other fabrics.

If you Google, you will find that many people have done tests that show Dawn is as effective as Synthrapol. Just be careful, whichever one you use, to not use too much. Both can create a lot of suds (which, incidentally, will void the warrant on a domestic HE front-loader).

Syntrapol or color catchers

I only had one fabric that bled and Color Catchers by Tide worked for me!

how did you notice some of your fabrics are bleeding?

Probably when pressing using steam or starch. And dry fabric can crock onto another fabric.

I use and love color catchers! If the fabric is red...I wash it first with color catcher until it doesn't bleed. If I use other colors...I wash the newly finished quilt with color catcher...works great for me!