ckcowl

any color *can* bleed- if there is excess dye in it- it is always best to at least test it - if when you wet a corner & rub a piece of white cloth (or paper towel) on it- color comes off- it needs to be pre-washed. some blacks bleed a lot---others don't -- never 'assume' because one did not bleed the next one won't either- test them all.

QuiltingHaven

Okay, I will weigh in. I have only been quilting for 3 years after retiring from teaching. I have learned a lot. I wash all fabric usually putting the new fabric in a load of regular wash (dark material with dark clothes and light material with light clothes or bedding, etc.) I wash in warm water using 2 or 3 color catchers and then when done, I run all the load in the dryer for 10 minutes on low. Now, almost all the time on the dark material, the color catchers are shaded from light to darker.n Then, I take out the fabric, usually still just slightly damp, and finger press the selvedge edges and hang the fabric over a plastic coated hanger to dry fairly nicely. Then, I put it on my white dividers (got sheets of plastic board from Hobby Lobby and cut them into 12" x 8" pieces) smoothing them out after folding them into pieces long wise to fit the boards. When I am ready to quilt, I iron and starch the amount I need for a quilt. I don't keep washing and washing. I have washed before creating the quilt and when I wash the finished quilt, again I add 2 or 3 color catchers to the wash. So far with about 20 quilts of all sizes, there has been no additional running of color but USE color catchers, they are well worth the money.

Jeanne S

Yes, always pre- wash black! I think reds and blacks are the most likely to bleed. I had one quilt with a lot of black that rubbed off and turned my Machingers quilting gloves grey even after pre-washing.

Doggramma

I used black Kona in a quilt with gray and white Kona, along with some other black/white fabrics. Didn't prewash but washed afterwards with a couple color catchers. Nothing ran.

Maggieloe

I just bought a Robert Kaufman black cotton - three yards. I always prewash in a bathroom sink before putting things together in the washer. OMG. I must have re-placed the water 6 times before it began to be fairly clear. I had let it soak for awhile on the 2nd or 3rd "washing" and it stained my sink. Did get it clean with some sort of spray cleaner but I was pretty nervous. So I would say that you definitely want to prewash black and maybe rinse several times. If you will be putting it next to light colors, rinse a couple more.

Peckish

I agree - I don't keep washing and washing either. I have 3 boys in this house and I just can't keep the washing machine tied up like that.

I do what hand-dyers do. I put the bleeding fabric in hot water and let it sit there overnight. No color catchers, no special detergents or treatments. I only have to do it once and it works every time. Never had a fabric bleed after soaking it.

MargeD

I subscribe to the prewash fabric group, and dark colors, especially black can bleed, although I've prewashed some lighter colors, and they bled, that's why I prewash. I just think it's better to err on the side of caution, why ruin a beautiful quilt by not at least pre-testing fabric and making sure that they won't bleed.