I washed about 100 yards of red woven fabric which ran.I used the Retayne to fix (attach) as much loose dye as I could. Then I washed with Synthropol to remove the excess dye. Otherwise the woven fabric could not have been sold in the shop.

After seeing those pics, I'm wondering if the mfgrs have changed their formulas for coloring fabric....cost efficient, but consumer weak. We are paying more for this cotton fabric, but the quality is poorer...weave is looser, WOF is lessened, colors bleed. Why doesn't the colors on clothing fabric bleed as readily? Or is it just cotton fabric that does not hold color?

what sort of shop washes fabric before sale?

I used the method that Peckish posted and quite a bit of dye came out. I then washed it again and the water was quite clear, so it looks like a success. I dried the fabric...I was afraid it would be faded after all that... but it still looks black.

GeriB, good question about what the manufacturers are doing, and why clothing doesn't bleed like this. This was good quality fabric.

Thanks again to the QuiltingBoard for coming to my rescue.

Watson

I agree with Jingle. I wash with tide pod and cold water and throw in a color catcher. I have never had a problem. That said, black is over dyed and it tends to need a couple of washings. I have noticed in antique quilts black is the first to disintegrate.

I have a front load washer so I can't do a lot of soaking. I would NEVER purchase a front load washer again by the way!

Glad to see someone else say they would never buy another front load m@chine. I had one and hated it. Just got a new speed queen top loader and just LOVE watching my clothes and fabric swishing in the water, lol.

Was wonderin* if you can reuse the color catchers. Glad you posted that you use them till they shred. Lol

I also have used Dawn dish soap and have had fantastic results. A friend of mine just gave me a project to put a backing on and her red thread bled into the white. A soaking of Dawn and Oxyclean got the red totally out. She no longer has pink snow flakes.

While I love my front loader for the ease of removing a wet king sized bed quilt I have to agree, they are not very versatile for folks that need to wash items that need a good soak or soak with no agitation. When mine breaks,it’ll be replaced with a top loader.

I have never figured out how to use retayne in my front loader. And I have a bottle of the stuff that I wanted to use wih a black fabric that runs does anyone know if the retayne will work if I put the fabric in a tub of water instead of using the washer?

Rob

Found the culprit. I had put both of the black fabrics in..one a B&W print and one a grey on black print and it is the grey on black print that is losing dye like crazy. I can tell because I have a piece of the black and white print that didn't get washed and it still looks the same when I compare the two. Interesting.
The B&W print also feels like a nicer fabric so there is definitely something to that.

Watson