Can I Bleach It??

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- Sherry
  
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posted
17 years ago

Thu, Jan 25, 2007 5:30 AM

I just finished another Egg Money Quilt. The background fabric was an off-white tone-on-tone Moda fabric, the one with little birds in the design.

I went to buy the wide backing fabric and found the same thing in the

108" ... except when I got it home, it is *noticeably* darker beige/cream than the background fabric.

I wonder what would happen if I just washed it with 1/2 cup of bleach. If you're thinking "you'll ruin it"....please tell me. I can take it. :-)

OTOH, probably no one will notice except me that it's so much darker than the front background. What to do, what to do...

Sherry

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- Joanna
  
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posted
17 years ago

Thu, Jan 25, 2007 6:34 AM

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- Janet
  
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17 years ago

Thu, Jan 25, 2007 8:14 AM

Sherry,

Bleach will shorten the life span of your cotton fabric. I would choose a binding in the same tone as the backing to pull the color to the front of the quilt. Or even add a small amount of it in a border to pull it together. It will just add interest to a traditional scrappy sampler quilt. I would not bleach the fabric. You don't know what kind of dye or mordant that was used, that will react over time with the bleach. Soap and bleach will leave a small residue in the fibers even after several rinsings. It may look fine at first then in a few years begin to show fiber weekness and color change that you don't want. All that work and expense, I would not risk it. If you can't live with the backing then save it for another quilt.

Janet > I just finished another Egg Money Quilt. The background fabric was an

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- Pat in Virginia
  
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posted
17 years ago

Thu, Jan 25, 2007 2:39 PM

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- Sandy Ellison
  
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posted
17 years ago

Thu, Jan 25, 2007 9:03 PM

Howdy!

It helps to have a neutralizing agent to STOP the bleaching action.

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The main problem I've had w/ bleaching something to a lighter shade is the uneven results. Fabric being what it is, the entire piece of cloth doesn't hit the water at the same time nor does it absorb the same amount of chemicals uniformly: some of the fabric will be lighter than other parts, which is okay for that hand-dyed look.

Good luck!

Ragm> I wish Marissa was here. In my