Setting color in dark fabrics
 

Is there a product to set color in dark fabrics that uses cold water. I just have this paranoid fear that the fabric will be ruined if I wash in hot water with Retayne.

I don't know of any product that will work in cold water. If your fabric is 100% cotton, the water temperature will not harm the fabric. I use Rit Dye Setter, and because of the small amount I'm doing at a time, I put it in a stainless steel stew pot and heat it on top of my range instead of doing the process in the washer. Fabric is not harmed! With the experience I have had, I would never make a quilt using fabrics such as reds, orange, intense blues and greens, etc. without setting the dye BEFORE I cut the quilt pieces. I don't know of any other way to keep your colors from bleeding into the neighboring piece!

Jeanette

I've posted this in a few other threads that discuss this issue...

I don't bother using color catchers, special detergents, or dye setters. I do what hand-dyers do - I put the fabric in hot water (140 degrees) and leave it there overnight. I've never had a fabric bleed afterwards.

More info; this is a black fabric with white irregular 1/4" dots. I purchased it from JoAnns, Keepsake Calico and it"s a very nice weight and feel.

Peckish, your reply intrigues me; you are always full of good knowledge. I'm assuming you have used this method on all types of fabrics, including batiks? I have a couple of questions I hope you won't mind answering. 1. Do you start it off in the hot water and it just gradually cools, or do you do anything to keep it hot for a longer period of time? 2. Could you do this soaking after the quilt top is made? It doesn't seem like just soaking it with no agitation would cause fraying. Thanks for your post, BTW!

I have had fabrics bleed after this treatment.

Aw, that's sweet of you to say. I'm always full of something, that's for sure. :D

I have not yet used this method on batiks. I wouldn't hesitate to, however.

I start the bleeding fabric off in water that is 140° F and let it cool overnight. Drain and test it by rubbing it with a white cotton towel or paper towel. I've never had a fabric bleed after letting it sit overnight.

I usually test my fabrics before using them in a quilt, so I've not dealt with a whole quilt top. However, I did have a problem with a single block, and this is one time that I did use a color catcher. The block was white with black and red applique. The red fabric was a piece I had purchased years ago when I first started quilting, before I tested my fabrics. I discovered after starching my block that the red fabric was a bleeder, and it was bleeding into the white background. Before it could dry, I put it in the kitchen sink with very hot water and grabbed a color catcher. I mashed and squished and rubbed the color catcher on the white areas that had absorbed some of the red dye, then I mashed it on the red fabric itself. All of the red dye came out of the white fabric except for directly behind the red applique.

My information comes from the experience of a couple other quilters. Vicki Welsh dyes her own fabric and did a series of experiments about setting dyes that you can read here and here. Margaret Solomon Gunn is an award-winning quilter who had a disastrous experience with a gorgeous quilt that bled when she tried to block it. Her fabrics started bleeding, so she pinned color catchers to it and soaked it. Then her pins rusted. Her story is here.

Hope this helps answer your questions!

These would be fabrics in which the dye was never properly set in the factory.

The soak-in-hot-water technique will work to remove excess dye from fabrics if the dye was set properly in the factory. Many manufacturers over-saturate the fibers to the point where they cannot absorb more dye, and then do not rinse out all the excess dye. Soaking will get rid of excess dye, but will not set dyes that were never correctly set in the factory. If the remaining dye is not set dye, then the fabric will continue to bleed. Maybe forever......