MrsSew66

I purchased quilt backing today(fairly expensive) and when I pre-rinsed it to see if it was going to fade--yes, it did. I rinsed it several times again and it still faded/ Any suggestions?

mom-6

Vinegar can be used to 'set' the color...like you do for Easter eggs.

MrsSew66

How much vinegar to water would I use?

Prism99

Vinegar does not set modern chemical dyes. Retayne does. Quilt shops that cater to dyers stock Retayne; otherwise it is widely available online from places such as Dharma Trading and ChemPro.

Here's a link to a thread where I posted about this in more detail:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-38464-2.htm

Rachel

I second the Retayne. Its amazing stuff and doesn't take much. I used it once on a baby quilt (purple fading and the quilt was a white background), its been washed over and over and the purple still hasn't faded. (I pre-washed with it). Now everytime I finish a quilt, the first time thru the wash, it gets Retayne.

MrsSew66

Before I read your recommendation about Retayne, I had already dried the fabric in the dryer. Can I still use the Retayne and wash the fabric again?

thimblebug6000

Have you researched Retayne?

maryb119

I use Retayne to sotp any fading of colors. It really makes a difference. Yes, you can use it after the fabric has been washed and dried. I have had some fabrics that i treat twice before I use them.......just to be safe. I love batiks and hand dyes but sometimes, especially if it is a dark color, they will need to be treated twice.

Prism99

Yikes! I would never wash a finished quilt in Retayne because of the potential for setting a bleed!

I do always give my quilts a first wash in Synthrapol (especially because I do not usually prewash fabrics). Synthrapol suspends unset dye particles in water so they can be washed away without settling into another fabric.

Retayne is really intended to set dyes in fabric. If you use it in a quilt with a "bleeder" fabric it will not only set the dye in the bleeding fabric, it will also set any unwanted bleeds into the other fabrics.

My bet is you have been lucky so far, as Retayne won't do any harm in a quilt if no fabric bleeds.

It's perfectly safe to use Retayne to set dyes in individual fabrics, or in a group of like-colored fabrics.

Candace

When you say expensive, what is the manufacturer?