I wash mine with a dye grabber and don't have any problems. It's not too expensive and it works. They're around 5 or 6 $ and you can use them up to 30 washes. I use it with all my fabrics not just batiks.

retayne or synthrpol. dharma.

http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/eng/1137-AA.shtml

I have also had great results using shout color catcher. I also used it to save a quilt that had some bleeding. Forgot to add it when washed the quilt but I noticed it after it came out of the dryer. I was supprised to worked so well.

Do certain colors - or certain brands - bleed more than others?

I find that the dark colors like deep purples, blues, reds and sometimes brown or green run so much more than the lighter ones. I have not found a certain brand that is worse than another. I just pretreat them all with Retayne.

me too