Fabric bleeding - satin brocade

Hello fellow sewing enthusiasts and non-recovering fabricholics: I bought a beautiful piece of material that is a satin brocade in Chinese red. I bound the ends of the fabric and pre-washed it in cold water with mild soap. The end of the bolt said the fabric was hand washable in cold water. The fabric bled like there was no tomorrow and the bottom of the sink looked like I poured cherry Kool-Aid into the mix. I am afraid that after the garment is finished it will continue to bleed in subsequent washings. I did a Google search on fabric bleeding and saw that adding salt or vinegar is pretty much an old wives' tale and may do more harm than good. I did see that there was a product you can use for cotton fabrics but nothing for satin brocade. Have any of you sewing enthusiasts had this problem before and were successful in "stopping the bleeding"? Thanks in advance for your help.

Lisa W.

Reply to
Lisa W.
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Lisa, I am wondering if your satin brocade might have silk in it. Silk is notorious for bleeding, especially reds. I have a pair of red pajamas that are over a year old and still bleed when washed. It is definitely not like it was, but the water is still reddish. When I wring them out and lay on the counter, they leave red water spots. Do I notice a color loss? Yes, there is slightly less color than when new, but I think all brilliant colors react the same way. I have also machine washed them, which seems to do a better job of removing the excess dye. I think the only way to "stop" it is dry cleaning. But I think if you leave them in the water long enough, the excess dyes should be removed to the point that you could still hand wash and not have too great a loss of color. Have read that vinegar and water is recommended for washing silk, but I have never tried it. Hope this has helped you.

Reply to
Warrior_13

Ooh, that's me!

Sadly, some dyes just can't be made colourfast. They should be called stains rather than dyes, I suppose. Reds are particularly notorious.

You could try getting some Synthrapol (Dharma Trading,

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sell it; in the UK you can buy it from Kemtex,
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but they call it Metaphos). Use about a teaspoonful in a sink-full of hot water. Immerse your fabric and leave it to cool. A lot of the dye should come out into the water. Hopefully, your fabric will still be red, and it should bleed less.

Synthrapol encourages loose dye molecules to leave the loose bonds they have with the fabric and go into solution, where they can be washed down the plughole.

How much this works depends > Have read that vinegar and water is

That's a different matter. Silk likes slightly acid conditions. Washing detergents often contain alkalis. Vinegar is an acid and can help to restore the "scroop" of silk.

Reply to
Sally Holmes

Thanks so much to all of you for your words of wisdom. I will be ordering the product from Dharma Trading. Where would we be without the internet and search engines? I was tempted to try the vinegar or salt solutions until an internet search led me to realize that these may not be a good option. It is always good to speak to other sewers who may have had a similar experience. Thanks again.

Reply to
Lisa W.

My idea of hand washing is to let my hand actually dangle while leaning on the open lidded machine and watching it very gentle swoosh what ever garment is being washed *smerk*. Not to discourage you BUT, I have a really lovely tunic out of satiny red Chinese silk that I have "hand washed" separately in cool water as per instruction for about 5 years and the wash water still looks like somebody slit the throat that of that dancing Kool Aid pitcher. My tunic hasn't faded so much as it has mellowed beautifully.......not unlike myself ~fluttering lashes~ LOL

Val

Reply to
Valkyrie

Just keep soaking and rinsing, is my suggestion. Dark or rich colors of fabrics often have a lot of unbound dye in them, and they'll crock or bleed until that excess color is gone.

What's the actual fiber content of the piece?

Kay Lancaster snipped-for-privacy@fern.com

Reply to
Kay Lancaster

Val, you stinker.

Sounds like your tunic is crocking. I did not know there was a difference between crocking and bleeding until recently. But there is indeed. From the way I understand it, crocking releases loose or extra dye but does not change the color of the garment. (just any other clothes that might be in the water with it! lol) Bleeding is when you have dye release, and the color of the fabric changes, i.e. bleeds till it gets considerably less colored. Look at Dharma Trading. They have stuff that might stop it from doing what it's doing. (If you are concerned about it.) I want to say it's called Retayne. Also, I got some of the Shout brand dye magnets. Great things. They look like a dryer sheet. You toss one in the washer with the clothes. They catch any dye that is released during the wash. Then you pitch 'em after the washer is done. They can come out preeee-teee. ;) Sort of like a drive by tie dye or something. lol

I asked on another list where we have a dye expert. :) A friend of mine got a purse while she was in Guatemala. It was a deep burgundy color, and it shared that color with her tan jeans while she was wearing both at the same time. :( Everybody on the other list said Dharma and Retayne. :)

HTH

Sharon

Reply to
Mike and Sharon Hays

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