Has anyone ever heard of....
 

I've heard a few people locally(I live near the beach) mention that they set their colors on their freshly finished quilts by rinsing it in the ocean, let it air dry, then washing normally.

I know..I know.. It sounds crazy!! I was wondering if anyone has ever heard of... or have you ever done this??

I do live in FL, so the ladies I've heard mention it live near the coast. <i'm wondering="" were="" they="" pulling="" my="" leg:D> HA!</i'm>

I have heard of hand knotted rugs being washed that way after they are finished. Previous Persia?

My aunts in Europe also set new clothes in a bucket with cold water and stone salt over night to make sure it will not bleed/fade when they wash it and to set the color.

I spent 7 years by the ocean in NC and never heard or saw that done. Loved to know about though, sounds interesting. A long time ago I used to set colors by adding salt to the bathtub and emerging fabric. So maybe

Salts have been used as mordant for millennia--the old ways often have merit.

I would think it is worth a try!

Salt is a mordant (fixer) for certain organic dyes. It is ***not*** an effective mordant for the newer, chemically-based dyes. Quilters today are using fabrics that are processed using chemical dyes, so rinsing in salt water is more a bow to old ways than an effective technique.

The one thing that is effective about rinsing in the ocean is that you are *certain* to have sufficient water to disperse any dye bleeds!!! Some fabrics are not rinsed sufficiently by the manufacturer and thus have excess dye in them (more dye than the fibers can absorb). This excess dye would be effectively dispersed by rinsing in the ocean. However, if you have a fabric that is a real bleeder (the dye was not set properly by the manufacturer) it will still bleed the next time it is washed.

Check out this article.

http://www.ehow.com/how_6340226_use-...ye-fabric.html

I was told by my Grands, years ago, that if I had fabric with color that ran to soak it overnight in the washer with a cup of salt in cold water.

Salt will fix older vegetable dyes, don't think it has any effect on the more modern chemical ones. I'm guessing it's a hold over from previous generations. I'm a pre-washer, because my mom always pre washed!

Salt can also bleach out fabric dyes... be careful if this is something you are going to try. Back in the day, I was traveling with just a back pack, stained a pair of light colored cotton pants. One of the group members suggested I put them in the ocean , and let the salt water and waves take care of the washing... well it did ...remove the stain , and the color of the pants was much lighter, but it worked.