Vinegar in photo quilts NEED HELP!
 

I have made two photo memory quilts and I need to wash them before gifting. I was going to wash them in the color catchers you can buy in the laundry isle but a friend of mine told me to just use vinegar and it would keep anything from bleeding and should hurt my photos. I got the June Taylor Colorfast fabric that is hand or machine washable. Will the vinegar hurt the pictures? Should I just use the vinegar? If I use the color catchers, will they pull the ink out of the pictures? Thanks!

*Whoops... I meant shouldn't hurt my photos

Make one extra photo and wash the heck out of that one with the vinegar. Nothing is as good as your own experience.

Tanya, I would but I used them all in the quilt and to be honest... I am such a tight wad that I didn't want to go buy another whole pack just for that. :o Plus the closest place we have them is pretty far away and I need them by this weekend. I was hoping someone had some helpful suggestions. I knew I should have started earlier!

Color catchers only pick loose dye up out of the water. They have no effect on the dyes in the fabrics. Vinegar doesn't do anything to set modern chemical dyes.

Thank you very much! I've got the hubby picking me up some now! ;)

The "use vinegar/use salt" dictum came about in the 'old days' when fabric dyes were often home done. The choice of which item to use, salt or vinegar, depended on the mordant with which the dye was set. One worked on some things, the other worked on different things.

Since we have no way of knowing what type of chemical mordants are, or would be, used in today's dyes, using salt or vinegar in our washing hardly affects our fabrics at all as far as the dye is concerned.

So having Color Catchers on hand for most of us is as much a part of our quilting supply cupboard as a rotary cutter, seam ripper, or design wall.

Jan in VA

I agree with you and Scissor Queen. I would use the color catchers for those reasons.

did you follow the instructions on the fabric sheets package & rinse your pictures before using them in the quilts to remove any excess ink?
i would use cold water- very little gentle aggitation- a very small amount of mild detergent if you think you need to (like woolite or dreft)
or take to the sink & run water through a picture first to see if it's going to be ok before heading for the washer-
i've printed lots of pictures on fabric & always test-rinse-cure-heat set- rinse-test some more before determining if they will be used in a quilt or in a wallhanging that will not be laundered. there are so many things that effect the outcome. the prepared sheets you buy at joannes do say to rinse them though---if they lived through that step you should be ok---just be gentle-
vinegar isn't going to make a difference for setting the pictures---you printed with ink-not a natural dye. heat setting & curing (and using a good quality permenent ink) is what makes the difference with inks. good luck

All of the ink jet printer inks that are dye-based are water soluble and will eventually fade from washing no matter what you do. The steps that ckcowl outlined will delay the fading as long as possible, but only pigment-based printer inks are permanent.

Being really cheap, I use bubble jet set and prepare my own fabric. You get much more for the same amount of $$$. Last time I did this, I took an extra picture and threw it in with the regular laundry. Washed and dried as if it were a pair of jeans! And, it came out beautifully. I was so pleasantly surprised.

Laurie

I appreciate this info! But can you tell me what brands/models of printers are pigment-based? Thanks!!

ditto!

I asked @ Staples about pigment-based inks and they had no clue!
We then read the boxes and were none the wiser.
So, further info on pigment-based inks would be appreciated.
Thank you!!

I agree to use color catchers! For a queen size quilt with dark colors I throw in 3. It's worth the price of the catchers when you compare to the price and heartache of a ruined quilt.

I followed the instructions to a "T". I did the rinse and heat set and didn't have any ink run off at all or at least none I could see. I've been working on the quilts for 3 months, so I know I'm way past the "wait 24-48 hours to wash" time. My hubby brought home some color catchers this morning, so I'm going to try them. I think I'm just scared all my hard work will be thrown away. I'll let you know how they turn out. Thank you all! You rock!

Oh good.... the year is almost over & I'm still learning new things, thanks for sharing about the pigment ink.

I have finished washing and drying both quilts and they turned out great! I washed them separately in cold water with a few color catchers in the wash on delicate cycle. I dried them in my dryer on the air fluff/ no heat setting. I had no color on my color catchers either time and the pictures look just as good as before I washed them! I can't see that the pictures have faded any and neither could my sister. Keep in mind though that they've been printed for about 3 months though before they were washed. I'll post pictures of them soon. Thank you all very much!:thumbup:

Here is the link the the pictures of the quilts. (If I've done this right)
http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...ml#post5733397

So what is the BEST ink, printer, and method to transfer photos for a memory quilt? I need to make one and I've read so many different versions! Thank you!

judi_lynne, These were my first ones but I printed them on my Lexmark ink jet printer. Done the colorfast treatment as directed on the package. I washed them (separately) today in cold water, delicate cycle with a few color catchers (which came out with NO color at all on them) and dried them in the dryer on air fluff/ no heat setting and they turned out great! Neither my sister nor I could tell that they had faded. Oh, I used the June Tailor's sewable and washable fabric sheets.

Thanks for that explanation. It was very detailed and helped me understand why, not just what should be done.

Hi mama...-I use Retayne. This is where I buy it: http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/eng/1981-AA.shtml. Depending on the situation, can't wash the quilt, I will use a textile medium like this: http://www.amazon.com/Plaid-Delta-8-.../dp/B000XZTD28. It maintains the hand of the fabric while setting the colors. I use this even when I add pencil colors or gel colors to my appliqués. Hope these work in the future.