Day 160 - How to colourfast fabric

September 6th, 2012Day

How to colourfast fabric

 

For someone who sews, bleeding dye can be a real problem, not only when preshrinking but also when wearing and subsequent washing. Some fabrics, like wool, are notorious for dye rubbing off in the wash, especially reds, but you can prevent this by colourfasting the fabric prior to using. Do this prior to, or concurrent, preshrinking.

You will need:

Bucket

Washing machine

measuring cups

Teaspoon

retayne solution  (found at Amazon.com)

synthrapol solution

Step one:

Put fabric into bucket and cover with hot water until piece is completely covered.

Step two:

Add retayne solution, 1 tsp per meter. Mix well.

Step three:

Let soak, completely submerged, for 30 minutes. This step binds the dye to the fabric.

Step four:

Wring out and rinse fabric with clean, room temperature water.

Step five:

Place into washing machine, run load on hot with synthrapol solution added. (1/2 cup for top loading washers, 1/4 cup for front load washers as they use less water.) Do not wash with other clothing, this could result in a dye transfer and ruin the other items as this step rinses away excess dye.

Step 6:

Dry item (hang, lie flat or traditional dryer) as you would while preshrinking.

Delicate items that can only be hand washed should not be put in washer even if they need colourfasting. Simply replace Step 5 with hand washing in water as hot as you can manage. Use gloves to prevent from getting burnt or dyed hands.