Problem with faded fabric after first wash!
 

I recently had to wash a quilt that I made a year or so ago. I was horrified when I got it out of the dryer! The bright red became faded, almost like a faded denim look only in red. I was told that if I had added vinegar to the wash that that would have prevented what happened. It did not bleed, as the cream colored backing was fine. I am concerned as I am making a new quilt for my daughter and some of that fabric is in this quilt also. I don't want to have to replace that fabric but it would ruin the quilt for that red to become faded. Should I tell her to be sure and wash with vinegar? How much in a wash? Is this fool proof? Thanks

So far I haven't had any fabric look faded by washing it the first time. Over the years some have faded but never a newer quilt that was washed the first time.

Do you have scraps of that fabric? If so, wash a scrap with vinegar and see what happens. Most modern dyes are chemically set. Vinegar helps set some organic dyes, but is probably ineffective on most modern fabrics.

Edit. Also, the fabric that faded did bleed. You were just lucky that the light fabric was one that does not easily absorb loose dye. Because of different manufacturing processes, different fabrics respond differently to dye bleeds.

Vinegar has no effect on today's modern chemical based dyes. If your red fabric that you are using in the new project is still in yardage you may want to try washing it in a dye fixative like Retayne to prevent fading. But fading like you describe sounds like a problem that nothing will fix. I would ditch the fabric and try something else.

This web page has a lot of useful info but is geared mostly towards denim but explains a lot:

https://dengarden.com/cleaning/How-t...ing-and-Fading

I made a quilt that had a royal blue that faded in spots (like polka dots) the first time it was washed. I am convinced the dye did not properly "take" when the fabric was manufactured. I ended up using a fabric marker and colored in the worst of the faded spots.
Sorry this happened to your quilt!

Well that's a bummer. I had a similar experience with black fabric, but I always pre-wash fabric so it was before I used it. I washed it again and it kept fading, so I took it back to the store and they were shocked, found the bolt and pulled it off the shelf. Sometimes there is a dye problem.

I recently did a baby quilt with applique and embroidery, it had a black disney fabric with white heads on it which faded terribly. It was a washed out color from charcoal to almost white. I had to make another quilt.

That's very disappointing. It seems the higher the cost of the fabric the lower the quality.

I've found that drying any fabric in a dryer tends to make colors fade. When I wash a quilt, I only put it into the dryer for about 15 minutes on low. I then lay it out on a bed with a ceiling fan on to dry it the rest of the way. You might try an experiment with this fabric using this method.

Toss the fabric, not worth the headache. If the dye didn't take to the fibers, I can't see how washing it different would make it stick. Better not to use it at all.