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Lynn Luker 04-30-2011 08:57 AM

I love the Shout Color Catchers too. I wonder if anyone has used something I saw at Walmart, it's a reuseable color catcher. It looked like a piece of terry cloth about 3 inches by 6 inches or so. You use it repeatedly..and then bleach it? (can't remember exactly) Anyone??

quiltmom04 04-30-2011 09:07 AM

"Shout" color catcher. I've never had anything run when I used these, but the actual color catchers come out unsual colors! You'd be able to tell whether something runs by putting it in a bit of water in the sink.
Gotta tell you though, unless you're kicking in $$ for water and electricity bills, I'd nag you too - just like I do MY grown kids when they waste stuff :)

Qwiltylady 04-30-2011 09:15 AM

I wash all my fabrics when I buy them. I just add a half cup of white vinegar to the load and I have never had any problems at all. My grandmother used it...Mom used it...and none of us ever had a problem with colors running. I buy it at the grocery store by the gallon and its very economical.

goldendog55 04-30-2011 09:21 AM

A Color Catcher definitely works! See my review of them at: http://goldendogquilting.blogspot.co...-catchers.html


Scroll down to the bottom and on the right side, under topics, click: Color Catchers

Scrap Happy 04-30-2011 09:36 AM

I haven't read all the posts so maybe someone already mentiond this. You could snip off some of the fabric and put it in a glass filled with warm water and let it sit there for 20 or 30 minutes. If the water turns color dump the water and do this again. Keep repeating until it stops running. I suppose if it is running still you could wash that one fabric alone with a color catcher and repeat the above to see if it still runs. You probably won't end up with fabric running but this is one way to check ahead of time before washing.

With all the fabric you are using maybe this isn't a great idea but thought I'd put it out there for you.

TonnieLoree 04-30-2011 09:44 AM


Originally Posted by justflyingin

Originally Posted by TonnieLoree

Originally Posted by MadQuilter

Originally Posted by grann of 6
Personally, if it was me and I had that many pieces to wash, I would be doing it in the bathroom sink by hand.

I do that and when I find one that runs, it goes into the washer with other like colors. Otherwise, I find running the washer for one piece wasteful. (Sorry - guess I'm with your mom on that)

The others, I wring out and then roll them up in a towel to get excess water out before ironing them dry. Works like a charm.

My father would kill me if I ever did that!

Your father would kill you if you washed fabric in the sink?

Why?

Sorry, meant washed individual pieces in the washer. :lol: I didn't reply to the right post.

patdesign 04-30-2011 10:22 AM


Originally Posted by Flying_V_Goddess
In the debate of whether or not you pre-wash your fabrics, I take the side the pre-washing because I don't want to run into any sort of surprises. I wash my fabrics one at a time on the smallest load because I worry about colors running together.

That's kind of a problem. Though I am trying to put in an effort to change this, I still live with my mother. It seems like she'll nag at me about every little thing. The other day I went and washed one of the fabrics for my Shuriken Packer quilt and she nagged at me because it was the only item in the wash.

I guess this is not a huge problem as I don't have a lot of fabrics to wash.........................yet. My big project requires about 70 or so different colors of marble/watercolor fabrics. I definatly worry about color fast-ness on this one as there are so many fabrics and a lot of subtle color variation that I don't want to ruin because excess dye got into other fabrics. But even if I had my own washer and dryer, doing 70 loads for each indivual fabric is a bit ridiculous.

What can I do to avoid colors possibly running together without having to do so many loads of laundry?

If you have colored towels, add the fabric to a load of them, unless it is dark, then go it alone. All my towels are well past the linty stage, and I use them to fill out loads like this all the time.:)

Quiltbeagle 04-30-2011 11:52 AM

I toss all the colors together and only wash the whites/off-whites in a separate load. I've never had a problem but always use a color catcher with my color loads.

paristx 04-30-2011 12:27 PM


Originally Posted by fabric_fancy
use a color catcher or synthrapol

ditto

dixiechunk 04-30-2011 02:36 PM

ON the topic of color catchers...does anybody have any information on what they really are or how they work?
I bought one a few years back - looked like a white terry
cloth facecloth. It worked. So, next time I spied cheapo
packs of white terry facecloths at Sam's or Wally's or Ollie's
I bought them. Just curious about the "magic" of color catchers.


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