I would not use a Clorox pen on the fabric if it is a bleach pen. The bleach will weaken the fibers where it is applied. The fabric will appear fine for awhile, but eventually holes will develop in those areas.

Embroidery floss is similar to fabric in that the dyes may not all be set. Excess dye -- beyond what could be chemically set into the material -- is what you see when it bleeds or "crocks". Crocking is where dye rubs off onto something else even when there is no water present. Basically the manufacturers super-saturate the floss with dye, then subject it to chemicals and/or heat to "set" the dye. If they don't rinse the floss or fabric afterwards, whatever dye the chemicals didn't set will be excess.

Your mother's quilts may have done the same thing but, because they were washed in quite a bit of water the first few times, the bleed would have been so diluted by the wash water it would not be noticeable and the excess dye would have gone down the drain with the wash water. The reason you are having this problem is because the floss got wet and then was in direct contact with fabric. There wasn't enough water to dilute it, and the dye settled in the fabric rather than going down the drain with wash water.

I think you have a good chance of getting rid of the bleed by washing in Synthrapol when the quilt is finished. Most dyes these days are set by chemicals and/or heat. I woud just be careful to keep the unfinished quilt out of direct sunlight; you don't want it heating up before you have a chance to wash it.

Thanks for the advice. As I said, I am going to finish it and then see what I can do. I dont think I have any way of getting that Synthrapol cause I dont have any local quilt shops here in my area of Florida all I have is a joanns. Is it expensive? Where else may I obtain some? Thanks for your advice.

Jane in Florida

Before it became available in local quilt shops, I used to purchase it online from http://www.dharmatrading.com . However, these days, it may be cheaper to buy it from Amazon. I just checked and Amazon has both the 4-oz and 16-oz bottles. Shipping is about the same cost on each, so I'd get the 16-oz. With shipping, it's under $12 total.

Thanks for the help, I will try it the quilt is worth it to me

Jane

WOW! I feel your pain. I had no idea today's embroidery floss could do that. What brand was it? I hope some of the suggested remedies work for you.

i've never used dmc, only c & c. is this a problem with all their colors?

i have 75-year old pure linen embroidered tablecloths that have never run. should i be looking at this more carefully?

(p.s. for you younger members, a quilt or tablecloth made by a mother or mother-in-law 75 or even more years ago is not that unusual, even though it sounds ancient. i have an embroidery made by my then 13-year old grandmother in europe. she was a terrible embroiderer.)

I would be devistated too. I emailed the DMC company. I am doing a red work quilt and want to know if something that can be done before and also if there is anything that you can do for your quilt now that it has gotten wet.

Jane
When I read your post about the "dots" for quilting, it reminded me of some embroidery that I had done, using DMC, for a quilt top. On my FIRST one, I got part of it wet somehow, probably from my water bottle, and ended up with what looked like a splotch of blue thread that "ran" and paniced immediately -- but it was just the dye in the embroidery panel when it was wet. Since it's supposed to come off, it doesn't take much for it to come off, even sweaty hands can do it. Once I washed it, it was perfectly fine, as all the residue of the pre-marking came off. Since the area where your thread is located would be on top of a pre-marked line, are you certain that it is from the thread and not from the marking underneath the thread? If this is a possible cause, I'd go ahead and quilt it, wash it with a color-catcher, and it might be just perfect. If not, then you could try the suggested remedies.

I discovered that Presencia floss will not bleed or rub off color. It cost more but that is the reason, it's quality floss. Anyone who has had the same experience like Jane would certainly think it was worth the few extra cents. Floss is the least expensive item in sewing that I can think of so buy the best. :D

my mother-in-law did a banquet size cloth in coats. she ran out of black and finished with dmc. over the years the dmc faded to brown, but never bled.