My gold has turned green!
 

One of my first quilts was made from a kit containing lovely name-brand, Asian-themed fabric. Gold metallic "ink" was featured in most of the printed fabrics. Now, after several washings most of the gold is gone and on one fabric it has turned a greenish "patina"! Has this happened to anyone else? The photo shows the worst of it.

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Any fabric with metallic ink can wash out and turn an odd color.....also I have found that the white on white - feels like paint - will was away after several washings and just be plain whit fabric........don't use either anymore for practical things, anyway.....

I've never heard of this happening. Now I'm afraid to use metallics.

I use lots of metallics... the gold does wear off after repeated washings. I have not had it turn green..... yet!

I suppose it's possible that the gold turned green, but are you sure that's what happened, and it's not a different green fabric that bled onto your quilt?

I've used lots of the Hoffman metallics and a few other brands. the gold does indeed wash away after awhile. Love the fabric, but that is why I quit buying them. Mine all date back to pre-2000 if it makes any difference as I've been on the fabric wagon since then.

The quilts are still beautiful...

I've seen, maybe have, a few with silver metallics, wonder if that is the one that went green.

The quilts are still beautiful... :)

I'm in the process right now of using them all up in this hexie project http://www.katjasquiltshoppe.com/the...uilt-along.htm

Hmmm, that looks more like bleed from another fabric to me. Seems to me if the metallic was reacting in some way it would be all over the block, not blotched like it looks and even into the block right next to it the one with the flowers on a wavy line. I would put this quilt in a non water efficient washer, like a top loader high capacity one at the laundermat and a bit of blue dawn dish soap and give it a good soaking to see if that green comes out. You can also do this in your bathtub.

I used a white metallic in an Irish Chain quilt. The metallic washed
out after a few washes but the fabric stayed white.
Will never again use metallics in a project where fabric would be washed.

I appreciate your information on this ...thank you :)

Judy in Phx, AZ

I had no idea the metallic washes away! I'll make a note to avoid using any. I know I have a few in my stash, but won't add any more.

If washed gently and dried gently, the gold stays on for quite a while.

I love metallics. They literally add sparkle to the piece! I've used a lot of the silver and have had no problem, even on quilts for my grandchildren and those get laundered routinely. All that I've used have come from WalMart or JoAnn's over the years. They may not look as good as the original but they seem to have stood up as well as the other dyes.

Some of the older fabric with metallic does keep for quite a while. I have a jacket with crazy quilting using some of the earliest fabrics (over 20 years ago) with metallic. The gold on the fabric is OK, the metallic Sulky embroidery thread changed!

I also decorated my own fabric with Pfaff Maxi stitches on a 1475 since there wasn't much of the gold highlighted fabric available at the time.

It's not unusual to have gold turn green. I've had it happen on several fabrics.

Yes, I have had this happen once before. I used a gold metallic on white on a set of pillowcases. It was the decorative flange piece between the cuff and the body of the pillowcase. After a couple of washings that piece turned green. I tried all kinds of stain removers but nothing worked. It was almost as if the metallic part corroded

I have never seen it turn a fabric green. Good Luck.

Is this the only piece of the fabric that turned green? If so, I am wondering if a stain remover or direct concentration of detergent is responsible. I can't tell if your background color is brown or black but if it wasn't colorfast, it could still be bleed through.

Because of the closeness, I'm thinking the black bled more than the gold discolored. I've had blacks bleed and the area where it bled was not grey or black but more of a greenish cast.

I love those fabrics but have also stopped buying them because the gold washes off so fast. I really can't see investing that much money and time in something that is going to look that way after washing a few times.

Darn. I love the sparkle of the Fairy Frost fabric, Michael Miller, I think is the manufacturer. Now, I don't think I'll be using them in my quilts. I've bought a couple of the colors but not used them in quilts. Oh, well, they'll make good gift bags.

That's what it looks like to me. If you look closely there's green on the metallic and upper left green bleed on the block next.

DANG! I love metallics, especially on Christmas prints. It's always something and you just never know what its going to be next. Thanks for the info.