To wash or not to wash – that is the question
I love the feel of new (quilting) fabric and make so many quilts that I don’t have time to wash them all BUT I am aware that certain colours are notorious for ‘bleeding’ – red and blue in particular – so when in doubt…… no don’t leave them out – deal with them!!
Here’s how;
You can do a bleed test by dunking a piece of the fabric into soapy water and dabbing onto white kitchen roll; if it bleeds – wash again; if it still bleeds you can use a commercial dye fixative (or salt) to make the dye more permanent (check out the dyeing videos here on the site).
Most fabrics produced by companies that cater for the quilting industry do not bleed, but if you buy fabric from sources you aren’t sure about (on holiday perhaps,) then best to check.
And you can also think of using the dye-catcher in your wash .
