Stitch124

I finished my wall hanging and put it in the wash with cold water on hand wash cycle, to rinse out the blue marking pen. All the marks came out just fine....or so I thought. None of the other colors in the quilt faded into each other and the water was not discolored in any way.

Then, as I was blocking the quilt, I started to notice there were small greyish spots coming through on the light green fabric, which I did not mark with the blue pen. The spots looked like shadows of something that came from the batting.

I put the wall hanging back in the tub to soak in cold water and vinegar. The spots seemed to have disappeared. I plan to rinse again but do I need to use a drop or 2 of Dawn dish soap that has Synthrapol and color catchers and agitate the quilt by hand?


Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this unique situation. The blue pen marks did come out and there is no sign of them anywhere on the quilt, just the odd shadowy looking spots on the light green fabric, which have since disappeared....I think.


Advise appreciated.

Daylesewblessed

Did you wash that green fabric before using it? That information would give you a clue as to whether or not the green fabric was the problem or whether the marks came from somewhere else.

Stitch124

I don't pre-wash fabrics. All of the fabrics came out fine-no fading or anything onto other fabrics and nothing was in the water. Here is the green fabric before washing:

PaperPrincess

I've had dye transfer from one fabric to another when they touched. The water was clear, and there was no bleed where two fabrics were pieced next to each other, no fading, but dye was splotched where the dark & light fabric touched. I'm guessing when it was (gently) wrung or the water drained and the weight of the wet quilt pressed the 2 sections together. If you catch it before it's dry, you have an opportunity to remove the spots. If you've dried it, your chances lessen.

Stitch124

Paper -- the quilt is currently soaking in my tub till I can get home from work and handle the issue. I plan to stop at the store and pick up some Dawn with Synthrapol and some Color Catchers. The quilt never had a chance to dry out at all so I think I'm safe to rewash but I won't be using the washer this time to spin the water out. I will just press the quilt with my hands to squeeze out the excess water before I block it.

Tartan

I think some of the dye from the darks migrated into the batt. If you haven't dried it and plan to re-wash with colour catchers and synthrapol, that should fix it. Good luck!

dunster

You keep mentioning Dawn with Synthrapol, and I'm not sure what you mean. As far as I know, no version of Dawn contains Synthrapol. Some people claim to get good results with Dawn, but I have not seen any real tests with known bleeders that showed its effectiveness for quilting fabric or that scientifically explained why it works.

I think that it is possible sometimes to see the top fabric's shadow on the quilt back, if the quilt is wet and the batting is not very thick. Perhaps that's what you saw? If so, the shadows will disappear when the quilt dries.

Stitch124

dunster - I don't follow what you mean by the top fabrics shadow on the quilt back. I did use a low loft W&N batting, but what I saw was definitely ON the fabric and not a shadow, although it gave the appearance of a shadow on the fabric.

I'm still going to try the Dawn and color catchers. When I checked on the quilt this morning I didn't see the shadowy spots on the green fabric anymore. Maybe the vinegar and cold water worked. Anyway, I'll be checking again tonight.