The Crafty Unicorn Posted April 24, 2009 Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 OK Ladies I need to pick your collective brains. Here's the sad tale... I have a big raffle quilt from my best customer. Things have been going well and I have one border left to do. Night before last I figured I would start spritzing to get the blue marker out. I've never had a problem with blue marker before- but guess what- Yesterday was SO different. Came in yesterday morning and not only is the marker not coming out completely, but some of the brown (yes brown) fabric is bleeding- all over the white-on-white background and even through to the white backing. I hung the quilt in a cool dark place last night to let it dry. After a day and night of research and trying to quell a stomach in knots I have a plan. Please let me know what you think and if I have missed anything. No detailis too small. Explain as if you were talking to a 3-year old. 1-Call the customer- appologize, explain, appologize again 2-Finish quilting the last border now that the quilt is dry. 3-Wash the quilt in a front loading washer and cool water and color catchers. It was the blue marker that started this mess. 4-Wash again in hot/warm water with synthrapol. 5-Lay the quilt on white sheet covered carpeted floor out of direct light, block to square and let dry. My real questions are- how much "sloshing" in the washer. I know in a top loader you just agitate by hand. And should I bind or block first? Thanks for your help now and from past threads. Maybe tonight I can get some sleep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginnysnowden Posted April 24, 2009 Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 Leslie, Just had this problem last fall with a Client quilt. (color was red) anyhow your plan is right on. Use extra color catchers. I did the exact procedure and it worked beautifully. Ginny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted April 24, 2009 Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 First off--sorry for your ordeal! That kind of thing makes you lose sleep for sure. Now--did your customer know you would be marking with a water-remove marker? If so, this is a "joint problem". Approach it as such--TOGETHER you two will figure the best way to handle the problem. Give her your professional and educated advice-- exactly as you have set forth here. Perhaps the only thing I would change is the removal of the blue marker should be done first--in a plastic laundry basket in the tub filled with cold water. Press out the water and transfer to the machine to treat the bleeding dyes. Best of luck--this is all fixable!! Let us know the outcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted April 24, 2009 Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 I'm with LInda on this one. Soak in a lot of water to start! The tub works well. The more water you get going through the more the dye will be dispursed. Once you have the blue out then you have to attack the excess dye. By the way brown has lot of red in it and that is probably why you had the problem. Oh yeah and remember to breath. This is the perfect reason why I always prewash with retayne and then test to make sure they don't bleed. Something you could pass onto the maker. It is a very sickening feeling but I'm sure you can save it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DebsQuiltArt Posted April 24, 2009 Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 How bad is it? I had this happen to me, when I tried to steam out a bit of extra fabric. I used a product called Sew Clean, that I got in the US, thru Pam Clark. Phone her and see if she still carries it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JillFrazior Posted April 24, 2009 Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 Leslie, So sorry to hear this....I've been there and I know how your tummy feels. Like Heidi said, remember to breathe. My situation was a little different....I wet my friends New York Beauty quilt in my front loader in order to block it for her. There were some red batiks that bled through onto the backing. ...no noticeable bleeding on the front....thank God! After talking with her about the bleeding, we decided to leave things be for the moment. I have wondered since if the small amount of water used in a front loading machine contributed to the problem, and if I had wet the quilt in a top loader, with lots more water, if things would have been different. Does anyone else have an opinion about this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bekah Posted April 24, 2009 Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 Gosh Leslie sorry to hear about this. HOpe it all comes out okay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neher-in-law5 Posted April 24, 2009 Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 I wonder if the bleeding is sometimes caused by the bleeding fabric just laying next to/on top of the other fabric. Years ago I had that happen with an acrylic fabric dress. It had sat in the washer long enough that the red circles transferred onto the white circles. So possibly more water is the better choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheryll Posted April 24, 2009 Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 So sorry to hear about your problem. II hope all works out with a minimum of hassle for you. Cheryll Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Crafty Unicorn Posted May 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 Here are the results of my "adventure". I called the customer and she was SO sweet and gracious. She always washes her fabric, but the brown was from when she had just started quilting (about 4 years ago) and she never washed it. I told her my plan and she said OK and if it didn't work out she would just make another quilt for the raffle. So...This was the back of the quilt Understand my panic??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Crafty Unicorn Posted May 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 Oh, and some of the blue marker wouldn't come out either So, after some research, a bottle of Sew-Clean, 4 washings with baking soda, color catchers and synthrapol this is the result. The lighting is a bit off, but the only thing you see is the darkness of the fabric on the front! And I had one of my really picky quilting friends take a look at the quilt and she walked around it 3 time and said she saw nothing. Yep, I can still find them, but what is it they say about "looks good from a galloping horse" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boni Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 Isn't it interesting how the dye travels in the thread? I washed one of my own quilts, brown flannel backing, lots of yellow on the top. Now my yellow is a dingy yellow. It's a king size so it's not easy to just wash and wash and wash. Someday it will go to the laundromat again where I can use LOTS of water. I'm making a sign for my studio about dye discharge in reds AND browns. Thanks for sharing your heartache. We're all wiser now. Looks great to me. Galloping or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Crafty Unicorn Posted May 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 This is the final product. Overall I'm happy with it. Except for the added dose of terror. Thanks again for your help and confidence. There's more pictures in my Webshots album http://community.webshots.com/user/TheCraftyUnicorn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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