Need advice- Red fabric color ran
 

I just finished hand appliqueing a 12 block sampler...6 inch blocks. Clumsey me; I spilled my morning coffee on it. Of course I promptly rinsed it in cold water. The coffee came out but the red in one block ran. Does anyone have a suggestion for removing the stain?

You can try washing the whole thing in Synthropol (may need 2 or more washings), and I would add a color catcher as well. Not so much to make sure the color is "caught" - but more as a "tell" so you know when to stop washing.

So sorry this happened to you.

Wait until the quilt is quilted. Then, for the first wash, use Synthrapol. Synthrapol requires *hot* water and lots of it! Basically what it does is suspend unset dye particles in the water so they can be rinsed away. You need lots of hot water to keep the bleed as fully diluted as possible. A home front-loading washing machine does not use enough water. You can use either a home top-loader or a laundromat's largest front-loader. Be aware it may take several runs through with the Synthrapol to get all of the bleed out. During this time, be careful not to allow the damp quilt to sit on itself (which encourages "crocking" or dye transfer). When done, remove the quilt from the washer promptly and toss into dryer (or lay out on floor to dry).

Use Synthropol Asap! If its only on one block that has not been joined to the other blocks ..You will want to know if this can be "cured" before any more time is spent.

Is the red in all the blocks? Actually, I forgot you could use Synthrapol in the sink to do the blocks individually by hand. Just be sure to use hot water and rubber gloves to protect your hands, plus lots of water.

Look on RevPam's list of links for Krista's Blog (something like that) on Wednesday's list. There is one on removing color that ran. Thanks to RevPam again!

This happened to me with my very first quilt. I used "color grabbers" (found in little boxes in the laundry soap area) and it totally worked. It was a red binding I had used. Now I prewash all fabric.

Hope you are able to remove the unwanted color.

I agree with Prism, Synthrapol and HOT water. I would add that you need to let the quilt soak for 12 hours in that water, too. Use stain removers to get the red out.

Great info from Vicki Welsh about setting dyes:

http://vickiwelsh.typepad.com/field_...d-fabrics.html

And here is the saga of a quilter who was making a ribbon-worthy quilt, but her fabrics ran. She's currently trying to fix it, maybe there will be something here that will help you:

http://quiltsoflove.blogspot.com/2012/05/when-quilt-bleeds-what-do-you-do.html