Judi Posted September 25, 2007 Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 O.k. I picked-up a little 4 oz. bottle of this stuff at the LQS today. She only had 1 left - it sells for $3.00 a bottle. I have never used this stuff yet, but I do pre-wash my fabrics and have been reading lots of posts about this product. I see now that the bottle reads "for best results, treat fabric with Retayne before washing it for the first time" Does anyone think it is necessary to go back and wash all those fabrics again!!!!:mad: Yeicks! I have LOTS of stash!! My next question is about this pile of wool fabrics I have. Most were clothing at one time, and have been ripped apart. Bottle reads to "add 1 tsp. per yard of cotton fabric". I have washed a bunch of this already - because it had moth balls through-out it and smelled bad. What I DID do - was to put small batches of it, in zippered pillowcases, and tossed it in with a regular load of dark laundry. So now to the questions..... Do I need to put more of this stuff into the wool fabrics? Which I will wash again - because they did bleed like crazy! Or will it do any good? Says it is for "commercially dyed cotton fabrics". Do you put in laundry soap or fabric softner along with the Retayne? or is that a no-no..... Is there a place to get a bigger bottle? I think I could use this up in ONE load, if I do just fabric! I bought a nice chunk of tye-dyed bright pink / orange / yellow backing fabric from her today too, for 65% off!! Do you all really use the HOT - HOT water with this? It says about 140 degrees, again - yeicks!! Sorry for the long post - but pre-washing is enough work in itself, and I sure do NOT want to do it more than I have to!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 Judi, I use Retayne for everything, including T-shirts or anything else that could bleed. I only use Retayne and do not wash with soap or add fabric softner. I have done it both with hot, hot water and just warm water. I think the hot water just reacts with the dye more and I use that if it is a really dark fabric or a red which is notorious to bleed. I would never wash my quilts in anything but warm water and if it had lots of darks I would wash it in cold. I could be wrong but I've been using retayne now for probably 8 years and I've never had a problem with bleeding since I started using it. I have no idea about the wool but I would worry about washing that in hot, hot water, you might not having anything done! I would guess that it wouldn't be a problem to use the retayne but it is purely a guess. I generally only use cotton fabric. There are lots of places that sell the bigger bottle of Retayne. I think if I'm not mistaken even Kingsmen has it. You should be able to google it and find it. You might want to ask you lqs if they will order the bigger bottles for you. I hate when my lqs only have the small bottles in. I go through it pretty quickly. Let us know how it works out. Heidi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAB Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 Do you do this in the washing machine or do you soak it in a tub of water? If you soak it in the washing machine, what would you do if you had a front loading washer? I have one and I am wondering if the measurements would be different. It has a soak and handwash setting so I guess I would use the soak feature then wash it on the handwash setting?!? I found a link that has 4 oz for $1.99 and 16 oz for $5.78 LINK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 Julie, I actually have a front loader too. I just put it on a deep clean cycle and that it long enough. Usually takes an hour for one load. I forget how long it says on the bottle for time but this seems to work fine for me. If you really wanted to you could just soak it in the wash tub and then rinse in your front loader. I've never used the soak function on my machine. Heidi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeanette Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 The site for Dharma Trading Co. (dye products, etc.) has the information on using Retayne but also offers another product in larger quantities which is cheaper and a good page on using it. Says it works with any natural fabric or blend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 I think Dharma Trading has 16 oz. bottles of Retayne for less than $6. They also offer Synthrapol. Lots of goodies there for dyers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsurich Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 Guys, I use Synthrapol more than I do Retayne. I don't pre-wash fabrics very ofter and Synthrapol is more like a rescue if things do bleed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judi Posted September 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 Thank you all for the great advice and also the link for the big bottle!! I just know this little one won't last long!! I am thinking that this stuff might also be able to keep my husbands biker t-shirts black longer. More BLACK too - he has SO many of them.... He is worried about what this is made of - or if I should really use this into our Septic tank system.... any thoughts on that? We live in a VERY small town and have our own well and such. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted September 27, 2007 Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 I use it and we have both a private well and a septic tank.... no troubles to date. Hubby would have blown a gasket if it would have hurt something like that. He doesn't even get upset when I dye fabrics and I would think if anything that would do it...with all the Chem's that go into that...you have to use Soda Ash to set the dyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliagraves Posted September 28, 2007 Report Share Posted September 28, 2007 I always test my fabrics one at a time in the sink for bleeding before running them through the washer to preshrink, with a Dye Catcher in case they run a little. I use Retayne on the ones that I can't get to stop bleeding (sometimes just a few rinses and they stop, other times, they just run and run and run...). But I see that Retayne wants you to use it BEFORE you've washed it - but it seems like a waste to use it on fabric that doesn't need it. It seems to work on my big bleeders, even after I've rinsed them several times- any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judi Posted September 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2007 Julia - that is interesting too...... I did wonder if a person already washed fabrics, using soap and softener, then dried using a dryer sheet maybe.... does this is some way "seal or coat" the fabrics? Would you have to rinse them off in plain water first, then wash in solution? There are so many diff. additives in the laundry detergents now days..... way back when they just washed with homemade lye soap and scrubbed everything by hand. Look how long same of those fabrics have lasted in treasured quilts!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnHenry Posted December 9, 2007 Report Share Posted December 9, 2007 In my previous life before I discovered quilting, I made braided wool rugs. I collected wool garments from thrift stores (in the early 80\'s I could buy wool skirts for 25 cents each, about the price of a new zipper) and took them apart. I now have 18 banana boxes of wool in my garage waiting to be recycled into rugs. I was planning to make many in my old age . . .Then I got bitten by the quilting bug. . . Most good 100% wool will not bleed, but the rule is always to wash same colors together. Of all the fabrics, wool takes dye the most easily and retains it - - the idiom "dyed in the wool" means secure, unchanging, etc., a "dyed in the wool conservative." The moth ball smell will dissipate in a few days when exposed to fresh air without being washed. Be glad the fabric was so well protected. If you want to shrink /"felt" wool (a.k.a. how to ruin a wool sweater) wash in boiling hot water, agitate, rinse in cold water, and dry in the dryer. This is what I did with my wool because I wanted it shrunk and the fibers as close together as possible. Most of the time that is not the desired result, however, and when you do not want to shrink wool, the basic rule is no agitation and no drastic changes in temperature. That means both washing and rinsing should be done with tepid water (I used to think that hand washing in cold water meant meant freezing my hands in ice water - not so). Hand washing is recommended, back to the no agitation rule, but if your "gentle cycle" is truly gentle and short, you may be able to get away with it; otherwise, just soak the wool with no agitation at all. Wool does not take up dirt easily but gives it up easily. It can handle the spin dry cycle. That\'s been my experience. Some of my hand-made rugs are now more than 20 years old, and I now know that I made them out of fabric that was way too thin for rugmaking. Now that thinner fabric will become quilt batting and quilt tops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matildanme Posted December 10, 2007 Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 Ann, Thanks for the information on wool. I have a box full of beautiful Liberty of London wool samples that I had planned to use in a quilt.....one day. Thought it best to sew it, quilt it and then wash it. So many projects, might be a good idea to make myself a list for next year :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judi Posted December 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2007 Ann - very good info!! Thank-you! I picked up some very nice garments - 100% wool - blazers and long skirts at the Salvation Army, on the 50 cent rack. Lots of fabric for the price! Yes - I am felting it before hand. I want to use these in a wild flower applique quilt / wall hanging. Last week the lady left a couple more boxes outside my garage. Lots of reds in one - nice bold colors too! Her mom used to make rugs also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaR Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 Quilt Soap is my fav. product for new fabrics.. IF they don\'t bleed. If they bleed, I separate them and use Retayne. I always throw a dye catcher in any new fabric, or garment, the first time I wash it. Less expensive and works great. RitaR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.