Red berry color bled onto white fab
 

My friend tried to remove blue water soluable marker from a hand appliqued block. Lesson number one was that she did not check for colorfast qualities in the fabric before she started to stitch. Then she used water freely on the block to remove the blue markings, AND the red berries bled onto the white. I have shown her how to use a slightly wet Q-tip and blow dryer to remove the blue markings on the other blocks. BUT, I don't have an answer for her, on how to get the bleed out from her first block, which was where this horrible bleed occured. I am hoping that someone on the Quilting Board might have an answer to help her! As always, thanks!

No guarantee but I was lucky when some black bleeded in my other fabrics.
I washed the quilt with some color catchers and all the bleeding was gone.

I hope she has done only one block and can do something about the red fabric before she continues.

Sometimes dumping Dawn dishwashing liquid (full strength on the fabric) and rinsing until no more bubbles works.

By the way - I have had bleeding issues with EVERY color - not just reds.

I know some people swear they have never ever ever had a problem - but I have.

Me, too. Been there, done that!

I would wash it with Synthrapol. I bought some hand-dyed fabrics, and that is what they recommend - the Synthrapol suspends the dye particles in the water, so they don't re-settle into the fabric.

I've used Color Catchers (laundry aisle) to decent effect when I've had this problem.

Jan in VA

Synthrapol.

I always wash fabrics and finished quilts with up to three color catchers, I reuse them until they start falling apart. Everything comes out perfect.

I never wash my fabric before cutting into it but I do starch it so I know beforehand if its going to bleed or not. Of course this happened before I started using starch and it was for my mother. I washed it, checked for bleeding and didn't see any so I thru it into the dryer. Then I found the red had bled onto the white. HORRID!!!!!! Someone here said go ahead and wash again with the color catcher and sure enough the red came out. So even through its been dried with heat sometimes you're lucky and it comes out using these color catchers.

Thank you all for your quick responses. Nanachar

check out the article by Vicki Welch. She did a study and tried all sorts of methods. its worth reading and bookmarking! There is a box on the left side of her site that says "save my bleeding quilt"

http://www.colorwaysbyvicki.com/

Definitely worth reading!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!

Just think how much easier it is to handle fabrics the way she suggested BEFORE cutting them into little pieces and they are sewn together. (Also known as pre-soaking in hot water with Dawn before cutting.)

I thought it was interesting that she did NOT recommend color-catchers, or Synthropol, for trying to remove a bleed or excess dye.

What I will change in my wash-before-cutting routine - I will add a bit of Dawn Pure to the soaking water and let the pieces soak longer before running them through the washing machine.

I have a lovely blue print by Jenny Beyer for RJR fabrics. It bleeds horribly, I found out when using spray starch on a block. Blue color ran everywhere on the block and ironing cover. Ugh. I bought a lot of it to use for backing too. I washed and let it soak in Synthropol water and then washed again with white cotton fabric added to the wash. The white fabric didn't have any blue on it. If it had any blue on it I'd have tossed the whole yardage. I won't be buying that brand of fabric again. Two washings are two too many. Waste of money and time for what the fabric cost already. If I remembered where I bought it I'd return all of it.

Your post just confirms that a "better name brand" can also have issues - not just "big box store" fabrics.