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CarrieAnne 04-30-2011 02:59 PM

I sort mine in piles too, lights and darks.

grammysharon 04-30-2011 05:53 PM

I guess I'm bad because I wash all my colors together except white. White I will wash alone. I have never had any trouble with bleeding but I wash with cold water and dry on cool. :-)

Weenween 04-30-2011 05:53 PM

I use colorcatch by Shout.I have to on my burgandy curtains They are about 5 yrs old and still fade on cream if not for the colorcatch by shout.It really does work well.

jpthequilter 04-30-2011 07:29 PM


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?

Wash color families together, a bunch of greens or blues, for instance....they don't often run., but be careful about reds and blacks, they love to run!

sewingsuz 04-30-2011 07:39 PM

I also use color catchers and they are great. I surge the raw edges of my fabric before I wash it and I put lights together or medium or darks. I use my cycle on washer that is quick wash or delicate. Then I dry in dryer on low heat. Have had not problem doing all of this. I don't wash one piece alone unless it is 4 to 6 yards.

justflyingin 04-30-2011 09:56 PM


Originally Posted by TonnieLoree

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.

OK. Makes more sense to me. :)

yellowsnow55 05-01-2011 12:18 AM


Originally Posted by irishrose
I would sort them into whites, lights and darks and wash them with color catchers. I prewash large pieces of fabric with my regular laundry and a CC. I do all my laundry on gentle and rarely have much fraying.

I do have close to ten yards of black prints - those two pieces will be washed together with nothing else.

This work for me :thumbup:

quiltinNsmilin 05-01-2011 05:35 AM

Hi: I prewash all my fabrics in hot water in Retayne to make sure they remain color fast. I put all dark fabrics in a separate load
and I do throw in a Shout Color sheet in case excess dyes come out. I prewash all the light colors together separately also in hot water with retayne. It works great and the colors stay crisp and the blacks remain black.

sewingsuz 05-01-2011 10:50 AM

Where do you get the Retayne and is it liquid? Thanks Suzanne

Originally Posted by quiltinNsmilin
Hi: I prewash all my fabrics in hot water in Retayne to make sure they remain color fast. I put all dark fabrics in a separate load
and I do throw in a Shout Color sheet in case excess dyes come out. I prewash all the light colors together separately also in hot water with retayne. It works great and the colors stay crisp and the blacks remain black.


quiltinNsmilin 05-01-2011 10:58 AM

You can buy 16 oz. plastic bottles of it at an LQS - priced around
$6.95. You can also buy it online from JoAnn. Their bottles
are 4 oz. They were on sale last week 50% off. even so, surprisingly, they were slightly more expensive than my LQS


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