ThreadHead

I wash all red, black, dark brown, dark blues prior to using, unless it's a wall hanging. Just me. I have had some triangle cut fabrics shrink when ironing with steam. They usually shrink in the middle.
I like spray starching on the back side of the fabric, rub in into the material so it doesn't leave little white speck for me to brush off. I think your project looks better and is more accurate when ironed. Happy sewing.

Barb2018

Peckish aka Peggy, thanks for the link, I've printed it and will try it on my current quilt which is yellow, greys, and deep red.

anonymous

These are my color catchers after prewashing quilt shop fabric. The lighter 2 are the 2nd and 3rd washes. Why take the chance with red, just prewash for this project. If not, definitely remember the color catchers at the end.

Krisb

Red bleeds. Prewash it. If it is dark, use Retayne.

If it crocks (comes off when rubbed), Retayne won’t fix that. I have a sewing machine that once was white and is now pink.

Jingle

I never buy quilt shop or brand name fabrics and don't have a problem with bleeding.

I do pre wash all fabrics using color catchers' Wash finished quilts with color catchers.

I only was everything in cold water Tide.

bearisgray

Not all reds bleed. But some do. I can't tell by looking which ones will or won't.

MadQuilter

I toss at least 4-5 color catchers in with a large quilt that has intense color in it. Sometimes it takes a repeat until the color catchers are clean.

coopah

Reds bleed. So do some purples, blues, and blacks. Strong colors get prewashed here. Always. Why put all that work into something to have the chance of it being ruined?

M cubed

I am not nice to my fabrics when I bring them home (quilting cottons). I make a lot of charity quilts and I never know to whom they will be given - So o o - I fling them in the washing machine (color sorted of course), load it with regular laundry detergent, wash on warm, and set the cycle at permapress. If the fabric is good fabric and well dyed, it will survive anything - no coddling necessary. I do use color catchers and they have saved me a lot of money and agony by preventing running dyes and I have had bleeding from every color. Bottom line: I prewash ALL of my fabrics, dry and iron. I use starch when I am ready to use that fabric in a quilt

Battle Axe

When I was hand weaving delicate tea towels, I would wash it in as harsh a situation as I could. I would try to ruin it. If I couldn't ruin it, then I figured the customer couldn't either. My thought was that I never want to see this thing again. I want someone to buy it, pay for it, and use it.