Bleeding onto quilt

[Janet K.]

I need help. I had the Star Crazy quilt professionally quilted and wet it to block it and as it dried one of the dark purple fabrics I used from my stash has bleed onto the white background. I did pre wash all the fabrics before piecing the quilt, but did not test them after that. I always test the reds by placing them in a clear glass of water to see if the water becomes tinted. Oh how I wish I had done this with the purple.

is there anyway to save this quilt? I was going to give it to my daughter. I am so upset!!!!!! help.

I will try to send a photo of the quilt . Janet

[Janet K.]

Get some Synthrapol. Soak the quilt in the tub with HOT water and Synthrapol. Leave it for at least 12 hours. The water should be 140 degrees which is hotter than most people have theirs set for. Add boiling water to raise it or turn up your water heater, then add the quilt and gently agitate using a wooden spoon. Make sure every inch of the quilt is under the water. It should lift the bleeding stain off and let any other colors that might bleed release into the water. Then rinse and air dry, which could be the blocking at the same time. With a bit of luck, it will be all stain free, if not, repeat the process.

Good luck!

[Janet K.]

Thanks so much. I used wool batting, guess I will try your method because other wise I will not be happy! Janet
Should I do the binding first?

[Janet K.]

Janet, I wondered as I looked at it if it was really bleeding or just that the purple fabric is show through the white fabric? Could you still see it when the quilt dried?

[Janet K.]

You might want to bind it first. The quilt will shrink with this process. If this block is the only area of bleeding, you might want to try just dipping that area in the hot water/synthrapol and see if that works. But I can't guarantee that you won't get a water ring by not submerging the whole quilt.

And Ritzy makes a good point... faint bleeds like this often fade as they dry. Was it still obvious when dry?

[Janet K.]

The quilt is completely dry and now I noticed one of the orange batiks has bled. I think I will treat the entire quilt since the orange and purple fabrics are spread over the quilt.

I love quilts qith white or light backgrounds, but am now scared to death. I am putting a Dear Jane together and will have to really look at all those fabrics.

thanks again. Janet

[Kathryn S.]

Oh Janet, that is so frustrating after all your work.l My Traveling Triangles quilt bled, and I ended up following the counsel of TQS members who told me to wash it in hot water in Synthrapol in the washing machine. By that time I had dabbed with water, synthrapol, washed in cold water etc and had about given up. Oh, and it had been dried in the dryer a few tims, too. The Hot water wash in synthrapol took out all the excess color and it dried perfectly! I figured this quilt was a goner.

Your quilt is so very beautiful, I am hoping that you have a good outcome whatever you decide to do.

Kathy

[Janet K.]

Thank you Kathy , you have given me hope. Right now I am afraid to try anything, thinking I might make it worse. I am sure I will try the synthropal. Janet

[Norma H.]

I would throw in a few color catchers also

[Norma H.]

If your batting is wool I would be careful to not agitate it too vigorously. Also be careful to not change the temperature of the rinse water too dramatically. As I understand it those are two things that can make wool really shrink up.

[Janet K.]

thanks, I am new to wool batting and am unsure what will happen if I use hot water. Need to learn more before I proceed. Janet

[Kathryn S.]

I just washed my newest quilt made with turquoise hand dyed fabric in the washer with hot water and Synthrapol. It looked ok coming out of the washer but some dye transferred on to the other fabrics in the dryer. It's my own hand dyed fabric, which I didn't get all the dye out of apparently . I will rewash it and trust that the Synthrapol will take care of it. It's cotton+rayon batting.

I hadn't realized that you were using wool batting! Hot water and agitation could be a disaster there. I'm not sure how I would proceed with wool batting.

Addendum here: I washed the quilt two more times. The turquoise continued to bleed and transferred onto one only of the fabrics. At least it's a uniform color and not blotchy like after the first wash. So I can say that my advice was not so good- it worked one time, and not another! Big Sigh!

Kathy

[Kathryn S.]

Kathy,
I don't know if what I do will work for you as everyone's water chemistry may be different, but this is how I handle fabrics, especially batiks and hand dyes. When fabric like that hits my water it just explodes with color. When I hand dye I rinse the fabric three times in hot water and at least two of the rinses have sythranol in it. I rinse that out in cold water. Then I rinse again in hot water with retayne and the final rinse and every wash after that is cold water. If you haven't dried it in a hot dryer, you may still have a chance. Good luck to you!

[Kathryn S.]

Kathy,
I don't know if what I do will work for you as everyone's water chemistry may be different, but this is how I handle fabrics, especially batiks and hand dyes. When fabric like that hits my water it just explodes with color. When I hand dye I rinse the fabric three times in hot water and at least two of the rinses have sythranol in it. I rinse that out in cold water. Then I rinse again in hot water with retayne and the final rinse and every wash after that is cold water. If you haven't dried it in a hot dryer, you may still have a chance. Good luck to you!

I'm sure that I also came across the information that it is not so much the quantity of water that you use, so much as the length of time that it spends in the water, which would come out as 1 tub of water over night is better than 3 tubs of water in 1 hour.

But I am pretty much a novice when it comes to dyeing & bleeding problems, I'll probably be having my own panics with my hst quilt soon - at least I know some of the possible solutions to the problems now :wink:

[Kathryn S.]

I'm trying a test piece with the two offending fabrics, seeing if I can get the dyes to migrate over to the yellow like in the real quilt.
Then I will try dabbing with cold water and synthrapol to see if it makes a difference. At least the turquoise and the yellow don't touch each other in the quilt. Or I may just call it a day and move on. I'm not going to soak the quilt again, it's been through the washing machine 3 times..... at least I know my quilting and sewing were good, it came through just fine.

when I wash my hand dyes, I generally let them soak in cold water for a while, then move them to the washer with HOT water and synthrapol. I think the turquoise was pretty intense and there was a lot of excess dye left after washing it. I will be more careful when using them from now on.

Kathy