This thread really points out how valuable the QB is to all of us. Quilters have nearly all the solutions for every catastrophe and the voice of experience to back them up. More importantly, they are willing to share those experiences and solutions sometimes in lengthy directives. Here's a salute to all those who take the time to share and "save" the rest of us.
Now all that is left is a solution for uncutting fabric!

I have a solution - go shopping for more fabric! hee hee

I have a burgandy and white quilt that unfortunately the maker did not prewash. It really needs cleaning but I'm leary of the dyes running. From my understanding of your comments, I need to use synthropol and hot water. Is this right? Gosh, it makes me nervous.

to Quiltbabe: I really do not know, have not bought nor read the instructions on the synthropol yet; my feeling with mine is that I would rather use cool water, but as I said have not read the instr. on the synthrapol. Another thought I had was that maybe washing in cold water and using the color catchers would work too. Wish I was more knowlegable, but am new to all of this and am learning (mostly the hard way) perhaps you could inquire at a/some local quilt shops, taking your quilt with you and they could be of more help. Good luck! Sincerely, Antylu

Why don't you try testing the Burgandy to see if it bleeds first? If it doesn't, I'd still go with cold water, gentle quilt soap, and only a little time in the dryer. If it does bleed, well. . . . ? Our grandmothers used to vacuum their quilts to get dust and dirt out, spot clean them using Fels Naptha Soap or Polident Powder and a toothbrush, and air them out on sunny days to make them smell nice. It's a suggestion.

Antylu, it sounds like your blocks are not yet sewn together into a top? If that's the case, just hand wash the blocks in a sink, add a couple Color Catchers and swoosh it all around for a few minutes. Keep it moving. If there's any color trapped in the catchers after, say, 5 minutes, gently squeeze out the blocks and do it all over again.

Keep doing that until the Color Catchers stay white. Sometimes it takes three or four washings. You don't need to add soap, so you don't have to rinse them. You don't need Synthrapol (it's the same as Color Catchers anyway, and you can't use it for hand washing). Do not dry them between washings.

Chances are the offending fabric will stop bleeding after a couple more trips through the hand washing process and it's a whole lot easier to do before they're all sewn into a quilt. When done, spread them flat on towels and let them air dry or use a hair dryer to speed it up (they get wicked wrinkled in the dryer).

I've been known to take blocks out of a finished top just to wash them three more times to stop a bleeder before sewing them back into the top again. It's well worth the effort and it means you'll never have to worry about the quilt bleeding in the future. Much easier, and cheaper, than having, or gifting, a 'high maintenance' quilt. :)

Yes. Synthrapol requires hot water to work.

You *really* want to have as much water as possible to keep any free-floating dye particles diluted, so I would opt in this case to take the quilt to a laundromat and use their *largest* front-loading machine. Because it's burgundy and white, I would also run it through the machine twice or even three times in a row with the Synthrapol. Watch the wash water and see how red it is. If it is still obviously colored, as soon as one wash cycle stops I would start another one with new hot water and new Synthrapol.

Also be careful not to let the quilt sit while damp. That can allow the burgundy to transfer color to the white fabric. If you do more than one wash cycle, start up the new one immediately after the old one stops. If tossing in the dryer, do that immediately also. I'm not sure how else I would dry a quilt like that, as you definitely do not want to fold it while damp in order to transport it home. I would dry it as much as possible at the laundromat, then bring it home and lay it over a railing to finish.

I don't normally pre-wash my fabrics, but I would definitely have pre-washed a burgundy before making a burgundy and white quilt!!!

Edit: I do think the suggestion to test the burgundy first is a good one. Just be careful when you do it. Pinch a piece of the burgundy fabric, dip it in water, then rub it against some white fabric to see if any color transfers. If nothing transfers, I'd still do the Synthrapol in hot water in laundromat thing, but only once (and with much lower blood pressure!). The problem with not doing Synthrapol is that if it bleeds just a tiny bit, it can turn all of the white fabric pink, and you cannot know for sure from the test if that might happen. This is because fabrics pick up stray color differently so, even if the test white fabric is okay, the white fabric in the quilt might not react as well.

When pre-washing, I always turn my hot water tank thermometer up to to hottest setting. I have read that dies require boiling hot water to set the dyes to prevent bleeding. And I only do this for certaing colors: blacks, reds, and purples.

Anyways, when I give a quilt I tell the recipient cold water for washing and dry on low heat. And in the summer to hang outside. And I mention the color catcher thing to prevent mishaps.

Thanks so much chuckbere, that makes sense! Probably most of us beginners are too "fraidy cat" to start out that way; I do so appreciate the response and all the help tips received from my question. Happy quilting all. Antylu

MacThayer, thanks for your suggestion. Yes, the burgandy fabric bleeds. Spot cleaning it would take forever! It has been with us on so many military moves over the past 2 decades that it really needs a good cleaning.

Prism99, thanks so much for your detailed answer. I will be looking for a laundromat with large front loading machines! When I get the courage to actually do it, I will post about it!