I had bought some material for a quilt for my SIL. Nothing is going to be sewn without going to the wash first. Anyway, I had bought maroon, cream, turquiose, and a light blue. I really expected the maroon to bleed. Well, it was the turquiose! Would never have expected that to bleed. I had paid $9 a yard for this material at the LQS. Am now a firm believer in pre washing. Have been sewing etc most of my life and have never had an issue with overdye.

All it takes is "once bitten to be twice shy". Glad you prewashed and caught it before being bitten.

Speaking of Dyes bleeding ...... so profusely at that!

You know - I don't think my mother or grandmother EVER pre-washed cloth - and never seemed to have a problem with colors bleeding - even reds, or blacks

Remember when ... some time ago the government cracked down on our domestic cloth mills for leaching dyes into our streams and rivers ..... (so customers such as my mom didn't have to worry about bleeding?)

Where are those mills now? closed ... where are those jobs? Overseas ....

Yes, now we are importing all types of cloth from dozens of countries that are sending their dyes for us to wash into those same streams and rivers .... And we ooh and ahh at the "new" wonder fabrics .... batiks and embellished and whatever ...

Ladies and Gents ..... beautiful? Definitely! ..... but:
What are we doing here?

We lost jobs and mills and now we don't really care about polluting our streams with other countries' dyes? .....

Why did we make such a stink to get the government to clean up our own domestic dyes going into those same waterways? -and have our moms complain about the high cost of imported fabrics to boot!

Weird world we live in, for sure....

I'm not a fan of pre-washing..however I do.. to certain colors or designers..I learned the hard way.. to wash anything by Jinny Beyer !!

Welcome to the world of washers!

I haven't figured out a way of telling which fabric might have excss dye by "just looking at it" yet.

I think it's just as much of a bother to cut off a little piece to see what it will do as it is to dunk the whole piece. The added benefit - no little corner is missing from the piece.

Of the hundreds of fabrics I've washed, I think I've come across less than 10 that I consider real stinkers.

An orange - that one was the worst
A teal
A green
A purple
A navy
A yellow

A stinker is one that continues to color the water a lot after ten dunkings.

Don't recall any red being a real bleeder after I got the initial excess dye out of it.

My comfort level is: Can I put this in the wash with a very light color and not worry about the light color being a different color when the load is done.

I alway pre-wash. The worst fabric bleeding I have had was a beautiful royal blue from my LQS. I washed it 5 times and it continued to bleed so I replaced the fabric with another, and I still have not used the bleeder.

It makes me crazy that in this age of know how, there is still the issue of fabrics bleeding/running. It is not an issue that is confined to low cost fabrics ... I have had "top " of the line company fabrics that ran .. and am having it happen with greater frequency than ever before. "back in the day" it seemed as though red was always always a suspect color, and purple was a second.... now its just seems like a crap shoot.
If there was one issue I wish the manufactures would get on board with is some bolt labeling as to the colorfastness of the fabric. I would pay a premium for a "guarenteed not to run/bleed" fabric. In fact I feel I already am paying a premium for the top manufactures.
Ok .. I'm off the soap box now.

I always pre wash. Blues and purples seem to bleed the most.

I was told by my first teacher to always wash first. As Melody said anything by Ginny Beyer. I have found and taught my BFF that if the blighter keeps bleeding, line dry, iron with a hot iron, then dip again. May have to do it a couple of times but it works better than salt or vinegar.

I am making a scrap tumbler quilt with some washed & some unwashed fabrics. If I wash with color catcher after it
is all pieced, will I be safe? Will they shrinking amount be okay?

you know, I don't think I've ever pre-washed any of my fabric, and neither has my mom which is where most of my fabric comes from. I've never had an issue with it bleeding and I don't know why. Would it have anything to do with the fact that we always wash our quilts in cold water?

Amen!!

If I think a fabric will bleed I go in the restroom of the shop/store and wet a paper towel with hot water. I take to the fabric and on the very end by the selvage I rub a tiny spot. If any color gets on the wet paper towel I don't buy it. I have saved myself lots of frustration, even if I love the fabric, I find something else. Some shop owners don't mind at all to try the test others say NO the fabric is quilt shop quality and won't bleed. Yeah right.

I think color catchers are good, but that some have been washed, in cold water, several times and still had color on the catcher.

Since most of my fabric is of uncertain parentage (thrift stores, yard sales, etc) I have always washed everything. Latley I've been picking up some LQS fabric on sale and had thought I could skip the pre-washing, but guess not!

thanks

I agree with you.

I'm a hand dyer and I always laugh a little when I see the recommendations to "set" dye by washing cotton fabric with salt or vinegar.

Salt is sometimes used in the dyeing process to chemically drive the fibre reactive dye molecules away from the water molecules (with which they will happily bond and thus be wasted) and towards the receptor sites on the cotton fibres. Once whichever chemical that creates an alkaline environment has been removed, adding salt is not going to get stray dye particles to do anything.

Plus, the amounts of salt usually recommended are pitifully inadequate even if the fabric were prepared to receive more dye molecules. Quantities required vary but are usually around one cup of salt per gallon of water. That would mean around 20 cups of salt for a washing machine load!

Vinegar won't work because cotton is not dyed with acid dyes. Being exposed to an acid dye may stain the fabric but it will not be truly dyed and so will never be truly wash- or lightfast. Acid dyes are used on protein fibres like wool and silk.

So why do some fabrics bleed?

Fibre reactive dyes have a limited effective life span once they have been activated by an alkaline environment. The lifespan is dependent upon temperature but as a general matter, the dye molecules have all bonded either to fabric or to the water in 24 hours or so. After that time, the dye molecules are no longer capable of bonding with anything.

They can, however, stain fibres. Staining happens when a dye molecule gets caught between cotton fibres. This differs from dyeing, where the dye molecules actually bond with receptor sites on the cotton fibres and become part of the fibre itself.

Depending on the physical properties of the cotton and the fabric (whether the cotton was mercerised, tightness of weave, etc), staining can be permanent. An example of a stain that is quite permanent is indigo. Indigo doesn't form a molecular bond with the cotton fibres, it just lodges in the tiny spaces between fibres.

There is a product called Retayne, which acts to chemically fix certain types of fibre reactive dyes. The decision whether or not to use Retayne should be made keeping the ultimate purpose of the fabric in mind, since Retayne does contain formaldehyde and that formaldehyde is permanently added to the fabric.

Everyone should make up their own minds as to what their own safety standards are because there is nothing in life that comes without risk. Personally, I would not use Retayne on any fabric used for a quilt for a baby or small child because they do tend to put things in their mouths... but that's just my opinion.

Chemically, turquoise and fuchsia are the fastest striking dyes. This means that they bond the fastest, whether it is to the receptor sites on the cotton fibres or to the water molecules in the dye bath. They are also both quite temperature sensitive and won't bond properly at temperatres below 70 degrees F. If the manufacturer did not get the dye solution alkaline enough or warm enough, turquoise and fuchsia dyes will show the deficiency first.

MsE

Thank you so much for the info.

My main fabs are Jinny Beyer, cause I live close to her store and her fabs are so beautiful to work with, and Kaffe Fasset et al. I have never had a problem. I wash in cold water only and throw in a dye catcher and no problem. I never prewash as I like to enjoy the beauty of the fabric awhile before it has to be washed. Never looks the same after. LOL

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Dangit, I always have been a scrap quilter, Often making things from clothing, yardsale finds etc so I do usually wash these finds(it can be a pain ironing then though lol)Anyway I bought my first ever quilt shop quality fabrics, Batiks to make a quilt I fell in love with. So will one washing be enough and then do you iron and starch the yardage after washing?I am afraid to even cut them so far because or the cash I spent lol

I bought some beautiful turquoise eyelet fabric once and washed it and it bled like crazy, now looks like a tie dyed fabric. You just never know.

Genuine batik is done by a process of creating patterns on the fabric with melted wax then dying with fibre reactive dyes, then making more patterns on the fabric with melted wax, more fibre reactive dyes, etc, until the designs are complete. Then the melted wax is removed from the fabric and the different layers of dyes are revealed.

Regular printed fabric is actually printed by an industrial version of an inkjet printer,which is why the dye is only fully seen on one side of the fabric.

If the fabric *feels* clean and not unduly stiff or oily, then the wax and trapped dyes have probably been fully removed and it will forever be as beautiful as it is now. The process of dyeing, re-dyeing and then removing the wax means that the dye fully penetrates the fabric and the fabric does as much shrinking as it will ever do.

But! There are two things to watch out for. One is a genuine batik where the layers of wax were not fully removed, which also means there are layers of dye that were trapped between layers of the wax still present. The other thing to watch out for is a fabric that is imitation batik, not done by the time and worker intensive process of genuine batik but simply printed on the fabric in the same way other prints are printed on (if you can easily see that there is a good side and a back side to the fabric, then you've got a printed fabric in a batik-like pattern).

In either case, I believe the best course is the same: prewash in hot water with a colour catcher, just in case. If it is a genuine batik that didn't have all the wax removed, the heat will help remove the last of the wax and trapped dye. If it is a printed fabric with a batik-like pattern, then the process of washing and drying will take care of any over-dye and shrinking that might need to be done.

As for being afraid of cutting into it, remember that fabric is like new cars: the instant you take it out of the store, it automatically loses a significant percentage of its value. Would you feel so hesitant to cut into that $12 fabric if it had actually cost $4-6 yard? Well, that's an optimistic estimate of what it's worth now that you've "driven" it off the lot!

So pre-wash and make merry with your new fabric, turn it into something you will enjoy.

I think you hit the nail on the head! I wash in cold water but I also ALWAYS put white vinegar in the water with the first washing. My MIL said to do that and I think it works.

oh yeah - been there. I honestly thought REDS were the only problem. Oh no, not the case. Bought some beautiful blue batiks - not at a cheap price either. Overdyed....and didn't prewash. Thank goodness when quilt was washed, it didn't bleed overly badly over the entire quilt....used something someone recommended for the 2nd wash and came out clean as could be. That was years ago - so darn if I remember what in the heck that stuff was.

Now everything gets prewashed...even if it means soaking as a means of washing in lieu of the washer!

Can't agree more....I was born in Fall River MA...a textile town, with many mills ....today: All Gone! There was even a mill in the little town I grew up in....my mom worked in it when I was little. We have lost so much of our great country.

Ditto. That explained a lot. I had one FQ that I really wanted to use a midnight blue black. I tried everything to get it to stop bleeding. Nothing worked. I ended up throwing it away.

I prewash everything. Even batting. I put my 2.5 strips in a lingerie bag and wash them. Sorry this happened to you.

I pre wash everything in cold water before it goes into a quilt.
Once, while in Paducah, I ran into Mr. B from Benartex fabrics. He asked how I like their fabric. I told him that the designs were great, but I had a problem that nearly everything Benartex bleeds, except the tans. His exact reply was. "Well, that's the nature of the beast." and he walked away from me. I don't buy much Benartex anymore.

Some of us have bleeding problems and some don't. Even with the same fabric. I wonder if there might be some difference in the water--minerals, etc.

Have also been sewing since class in junior high. Clothes were always what I did. Always prewashed what I could and if I could't wash, off it went to the cleaners to get cleaned first. Habit carried over to quilting. Never take anything for granted. With the different types of fabric from who knows where from to be wash first or steam press. Your pride in the finished product, knowing that nothing will happen in the future is always the best feeling.

I had to learn that the hard way too. It too was one of those colors that I never expected to bleed.

You have a very valid point !!!!!!!!!!

I learned this week from my new Q.B. 'mentors' to pre-wash and everything will be good from there. I did just as they said and was very happy with how my fabric washed and dried. Next I need to learn how to keep the threads in place. Tried clipping a corner off, it didn't work too well. I think practice is what I need ;)

another reason to pre wash , esp that from yard sales etc. Bed bugs...nuf said......

As a rule i don't prewash as i don't like the wrinkles and I hate to iron--I'm admittingly lazy. So that said i use the color catchers with any new fabric or article of clothing in case there is bleeding. I've had color catchers turn colors everytime I wash. Greens have been my worst at leeching into the water. I'm not sure it is the fabric or the quality of the dye, or how much over dying is done. Some fabrics have a stiff feel and it is mostly from the dye.

I just bought a lot of fabric at the LQS and I was wondering if I should wash and I'm thinking after listening here that I better to be safe. This is for a king size Wedding Ring. Thanks ladies. Sue

I would like to know the of the color catchers and where do you buy them? I have used Retayne for all my quilts I have washed but have know Idea where to get these color catchers.

Thanks!
Quilterfay

i bought some gold batik from a LQS. I thought it felt "funny" so I washed it with a color catcher. The color catcher was a gold as the fabric afterward. Before I use that fabric I would wash it again with another color catcher. Also, my mother always prewashed her fabrics. To Needles3Thread: You may have some uneven shrinkage when you wash your quilt. I would suggest using cotton batting and having it machine quilted with lots of quilting.

I had that problem with a yellow of all things. I know how dissappointing it can be. Now I always use a color catcher