Remember this post about my disaster with blue bleeding into the white parts of my quilt? I looked everywhere for Color Catchers, but they just don't seem to be available in Canada. Then, the other day at the grocery store, I found these.
Maybe my search is over. What do you think? One of each came home, so I could them a try. First up, one of the colour collectors (hmm, I just noticed that spelling. Do you think it's made in Canada?). Tossed it into the laundry with a bright green piece of fabric. I didn't really expect the green to run, but I thought it would be an interesting experiment anyway. Trouble is - the sheet never came back out of the washer. What the heck? I searched the washer. Carefully inspected and ironed all the fabric. Double checked the dryer. Nothing. Uh oh. I have absolutely no idea where this went - I have to assume it was so small and light that it washed down the drain with the water. Is that even possible? And if so, is it going to clog my pipes? Jury's out on this one for now.Then I tried the Colour Run Repair. I thought my earlier treatment with OxyClean had fixed the problem, until I saw the quilt in the natural light at the fabric store. I could still see the bleed, in the areas that had been the worst hit. So, I ran it through, following the directions on the box. And despite the quilt having been through 3 washes and 2 drying cycles earlier, this did indeed remove more of the colour from the white areas. And the blues are still sparkling blue. So, I think this one's a win. And I'll be heading back to the grocery store this week to pick up another box or two, to keep on hand for future disasters. If nothing else, being prepared should ensure this never happens again, right?
Hi Krista,
ReplyDeleteI have a process that I use for my hand dyed fabrics and I've found it works on commercial fabrics and finished quilts. Here's a link if you want to give it a try.
http://vickiwelsh.typepad.com/field_trips_in_fiber/2012/02/an-update-on-my-colorfastness-post.html
Several people have told me they used this on finished quilts and it worked beautifully.
This is why I always prewash my fabrics (sometimes it takes a couple of washes)until they stop bleeding or get tossed into the rag bag. One of my first quilts bled and since it was in the days prior to color catchers / Oxyclean, it was ruined. All that work and effort wasted. Now when you step thru my front door, the laundry room is immediately to the right. No fabric is allowed to go beyond the entryway unless it's been washed and dried. That way I know that every fabric in my stash is safe to use. It's kind of a pain, but so much better than ruined quilts. I love your blue and white quilt, great job. Patty E in Central California
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info; I'll have to keep an eye out in the grocery stores for those. So far, I haven't had colour run problems, and I don't pre-wash. But those would be good to have for the first wash of a quilt, just in case.
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