Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Argh!

I prewash all fabric and batting. Sometimes, I have wondered if it is worth the extra trouble. I kind of like that crinkly look that quilts get as they shrink up in the wash the first time. But then I think about the danger of color-run even though it has been years since I've had an issue with any color running. I purchase high quality fabrics. I even use those Shout color-catchers (and usually, they work great).

As I'm ironing out my freshly washed and dried fabrics, I start seeing spots. I don't know which fabric was the culprit (except that it was green)-- but I now have green spots on yards of fabrics (3 yards of which were light cream color). Sigh. The dots aren't horribly pervasive, but I am going to lose a decent amount of fabric in trying to work around them. So disheartening.

My vigilance is seriously on high alert now. No more light and dark for me... it's going to be by color from now on. Or at least until this event is a distant memory.

3 comments:

  1. I hate to prewash. I have had bad dye problems in the past though, too. But if I have new fabric (non-vintage) I haven't had too much of a problem. And I love the puckery look when you wash the quilt for the first time and you haven't prewashed the fabric.

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  2. Try washing your fabric again with Retayne. It works wonders!

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  3. Well... I couldn't find Retayne, but I did find something called "Carbona Color-run Remover"-- and it worked!!! Ah, the magic of chemistry! :)

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