when i bring home new fabric i first wash it in vingar water about one cup in the waqshing machine. this sets the dye and keeps it from fading for many years i also do this with new cloths my grand ma taught me this trick. she said they had to do that in the old days
this is also how you set the dye when tie dying fabrick if your material can go in hot water it sets it faster and better

I have heard of using vinegar , but never knew why . Thanks for the info :thumbup:

So do you rinse in clear water after the vinegar wash? Just wondering about the acid in the vinegar if you don't rinse.

I was also wondering about how much vinegar to use. Perhaps 1 cup by medium load?

Vinegar works to set some organic dyes. Modern dyes are not organic though and vinegar doesn't have any effect one way or the other.

great tip. I wonder if this would work on batiks

Interesting.

It sure couldn't hurt. Consider it an ounce of prevention.

I was taught to do it. (I just turn the jug up and pour. Probably 1/2 cup to a full tub of water). I let the fabric (clothes, unsewn fabric) set in it at least 1/2 hour. If I am not in a hurry I will let it set longer. It may not make a difference with the newer fabrics but it makes me feel like a winner. !!!.

do you use white vinegar or apple cider vinegar?

white vinigar

My mother used vinegar for new blue jeans she would soak them in it for about 4 hrs using about 1 cup per tub
to set the dye in them so they would not fade. Our jeans always looked new.

I use white vinegar in all my wash loads instead of fabric softener

I'm going to try that. Thanks for the info!

So do I. And it costs much less.

I don't remember which is which, but with some colors you use salt and others vinegar. Mom used them accordingly when she bought thinks new.

interesting!

my LQS owner told me to use about 1/2 cup vinegar in a full load for setting hand-dyed fabrics. Works very well.

When I was young we did this to yarn and fabric that had red dye in it to keep it from running. And then came madris plaids what a hoot :-D

My DD had VERY sensitive skin....I had to rinse her diapers in vinegar to get all the soap out. (YES, CLOTH diapers!!! there WERE such things) Occassionaly, even now, I rinse my clothes and linens in vinegar so the fabric softner doesn't build up. that's a good idea about "setting" the color with it. Thanks

I tried white vinegar instead of softener...worked fine except it made our skin very dry and itchy. Might be ok once in awhile. Had to use my oatmeal solution for the itch.

I pour vinegar in the cup for fabric softener and when the machine goes into the spin cycle, the vinegar is distributed into the rinse cycle. I've also used vinegar to rinse out excess soapsuds after washing.

When my kids were babies, our family doctor told me to pour 'a good slug' of white vinegar in my diaper pail (yup, Iused cloth diapers, too). The diaper always came out of the wash nice and white, and the 'brown stains' had disappeared as well.

Vinegar is also a natural anti-fungal agent. I have used it for years as DH has allergies to a lot of soaps.

There is a commercial product called Retayne made by G&K craft industries. You use only 1 tsp per yd of fabric. This is made for todays commercially dyed fabrics & works very well

thank you for the information. God bless. Penny

Okay, but dosnt the vinegar smell stay with the fabric?