Vinegar as a color fixative
 

Someone told me to add 1 cup of white vinegar when washing fabrics and it was the same as Retayne. Do you know if that is true? It helps easter egg hold the color so maybe....

I did this before they came out with Color Catchers, now I just use them. I've been told that the newer fabric is done differently and vinegar may not work, I don't know if this is true.

no- it is not true- back in the (old days) dyes were acid dyes-and vinegar set them- now days pretty much only wools are still dyed with acid dyes-
the dyes that are used on cottons are not acid dyes-
the vinegar will soften/freshen your fabrics but will do nothing for (retaining/setting) colors.

visit Dharma Trading Post- they have free information sheets & tutorials that will explain/teach you pretty much anything you need to know about dyeing fabrics/setting colors/making batiks/fabric painting---they also carry all of the supplies needed for the various techniques.

I just bought a vivid Red Kona Cotton and when I washed it with a color catcher the color catcher came out clean but the Red cotton has blueish/purpleish streaks all through it. I thought Kona was a really good brand of cotton and was suprised it did that. I'm just glad that I washed it before I put it into a quilt. I am not sure what to use to prevent that.

ckcowl is correct.

Regarding the Red Kona, is this the Kona made by Kaufman or the one made by Kona Bay? They are different brands. It sounds as if the color was not set properly in the factory. Did you use detergent in the wash? I'm thinking that some chemical in the water probably interacted with the dye to create the streaks. I would contact the manufacturer.

Don't know how it compares with Retayne, but back in the olden days of wringer washers, I learned to put vinegar in the rinse water to help kill soap suds and to help prevent fading. There's a gallon of vinegar beside my soap in the laundry area. I don't use it for every load, but I do a lot.

Or perhaps ... was there some othe fabric or clothing in the wash that let out some colour that stained your Red?
Or some colour left behind from a previous wash?

This is spot on! Using vinegar will NOT set dye on cotton fabrics. Many beleive it will and wash using vinegar , but the only benifit to the dye is the water wash to carry off the unset dye. A real bleeder can continue to runbleed in subsiquent washings.

What else could we use other than Retayne?
It's very hard to find here ... and I keep wondering what it is made from and what we could use otherwise?

There really isn't anything I know of that substitutes for Retayne. Retayne is widely available online from sources such as Dharma Trading and ProChem. Here is a link to it on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Retayne-Color-...0276151&sr=8-2

Here is a really good informative article by Paula Burch. Retayne does contain a small amount of formaldehyde:
http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/FAQ/fixative.shtml

Thanks for the links, Prism ... the article was particularly helpful in understanding more about the product.
I'll follow up about the Canadian source mentioned.

Thanks for the information about Dharma Trading, I had forgotten their name and was looking for their www.

Kona Fabric
 

I use Dawn blue dish soap. It works to keep the colors from transferring just like a color catcher.

I must admit I am a thrift store junkie and just yesterday I was there. All Christmas was 1/2 price and I found a cute red velour jacket with snowflakes on it. Figured snow flakes don't lock us into Christmas so I brought it home. The tag says it is 78% cotton and, yes, it did bleed on the first 2 soakings before putting it in the washer with other clothes. Nothing ventured, nothing gained so I tried an online suggestion of 1 c vinegar and 1 Tbsp salt in water and soak for 1 hr. I didn't measure the vinegar or the salt but sorta guessed on the plus side and left it longer than an hour. When I went to retrieve the jacket, the soaking water was absolutely clear. No red. No pink. I laundered it with other dark items. Some socks had white on them and they did not come out pink so I'm thinking the vinegar/salt solution worked for this piece anyhow.

I don't know if it's a fixative or not but I do add it to my misting spray bottle when I go to press my fabrics I've starched and let dry. I've heard if you add vinegar as your fabric softner for towels, it will take any soap residue out and make them softer. Haven't tried it yet but maybe next load of towels I will and report back to you. My towels are over 20 years old and still leaving lint in the dryer tray after all these years. No thin spots, still as thick as they were when I bought them so many years ago.

I use vinegar as stop bleeding fix. If that doesn't work, it gets tossed. It is not worth ruining other clothes because of a bleeder. I rarely buy red clothing.

I've used vinegar on my towels for years instead of fabric softeners. I'd noticed that the fabric softener didn't seem to work as well as it used to and read that it can build up on the fabric and that vinegar will take it off and make the towels soft again. It does seem to work.