not all or most fabric. just this one batik that my mo gave me. She got it about 6 or so years ago for a huge project that she was doing. we were cleaning out my basement/garage for a garage sale at her house and it was in one of the boxes that she had. It was beautiful fabric and I asked if I could have it. So I took it home yesterday afternoon and set it in the sink to bleed out the extra loose dye in it. well it bled and bled and bled. I was beginning to wonder if there would be any dye left in the fabric. Well I let it soak over night and in the morning the water was not too dark but still a lot of dye came out again. So I drained the sink again and rinsed the fabric and let it soak again. Now I have this morning drained wrung and refilled the sink about 7 times and that is on top of the 10 times last night with a good 15 min soak in between. well finally the water was only barely colored and I have given up. It is drying on a rack right now in the kitchen. I am just so mad that it is bleeding so bad. I have had fabric bleed before but not like this. I would have taken it back but the store my mom got it from probably doesn't have it anymore and they probably would just look at me like I am nuts. after it is dry thinking of setting it in the water one more time to see if there is any more dye that will bleed again. defiantly not using this fabric in the quilt that I am working on for my son. going back to the fabric i was originally going to use. so ladies and gents, the moral is test that Batik fabric because more likely than not it will bleed like a stuck pig. (as the saying goes)

Have you tried Retayne. It should help set the dye and stop the bleeding.

not tried anything other than detergent. need to find that stuff first. walmart and store doesn't have it here that I can tell.

Soak "suspicious" fabrics in vinegar or salt before the first washing, and see if this doesn't avoid a lot of bleeding.
Might.
Does for me.

Can you use Retayne on it like someone else suggested? I've never had this happen and would be very upset if it did. I'd use it in a wall-hanging that doesn't need laundering.

I find that letting the fabric dry between soakings helps cut bleeding. My BF had a piece that kept bleeding. I suggested letting it dry and ironing it. Only took another soaking before it stopped.
Yes I'd be wary of using it in a quilt.

A "bleeder" fabric like this means that the dye was not set properly into the fabric. Washing with Retayne will solve this problem, although sometimes it takes two washings with Retayne to stop all of the bleeding.

Many quilting stores carry Retayne now, especially those that cater to dyers. Otherwise it is widely available online from places like Amazon, Dharma Trading, Pro Chem, etc. Here is a link to it on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Craft-Retayne-.../dp/B001HZOZGW
There are other sizes available too.