Retayne or Synthrapol: Prevent and Reverse Color Bleeding 

I use Retayne with every quilt that has dark or bright fabrics. Never had a problem when washing them. Was told to use this product at first class. I use precuts a lot in my quilts, so pre washing them isn’t really recommended as they turn into an ugly, frayed mess. Since I have a front loader washing machine, I use a giant plastic bin for the soaking. My husband has to empty it as it weighs a ton! I fill it with the hottest tap water as well as adding water boiled on the stove. It is a production, and not something I enjoy, but it is worth it to not have to worry. Thanks for the very clear explanation about using these two products. Very helpful. Love your videos, your energy and enthusiasm is contagious!

Excellent tutorial! I was very confused on the difference between these two items. Not anymore after watching your video. Thanks so much for sharing!

Very informative tutorial - loved all your preparation Saved me lots of time. I gotta admit, you're growing on me...

This is AWESOME! this is the first time that I’ve ever heard of these things and I’m sure that I’m not the only one. THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH! This is a life saver. Have a great life! ❤️👍🏼

I had to come back to say thank you so much for the printable instructions for both products, great to have these handy! Also, info on how to purchase them. Sewing Man= Awesome person. 😎

Got your printable. Thanks for the straightforward info. I dye fabric frequently and use Synthrapol in the final wash to make my hand dyes "quilt-ready" but I didn't know how the Retayne was meant to work or quite what the different between them is. I have printed the printable and that's going on the cork board in my studio. :-) As you say, we are lucky to have great quality fabrics so this isn't an issue very often but I recently starting prepping some new Christmas fabrics with a lot of red and omg several of them bled!! So I had to back up and treat them and retest. What a headache, but better than finding the bleeding after sewing them into the quilt!

Great video as always! Just a comment about vintage quilt tops...I have dissolved several denture tablets in a bathtub with a few inches of water and immersed stained tops with a fair amount of success. Probably would not try on anything valuable, but it worked for my purposes.

Love the science class!

Compare the two pieces of fabric at @3:42 and @8:58 for his synthrapol bled-color experiments. Thanks for posting!

This was really helpful - thank you! I have both of these products as they were recommended by an instructor, but afterwards, I got confused on which one to use when. Seeing your tutorial made it so much easier to sort out the uses of these two products. :)

Excellent and fun tutorial. Thanks, Rob, for ALL your tutorials! My concern is quilts that are washed after finishing them. I do not prewash, but do use color catchers in the wash when finished. I've never had a problem--but, there's always a first!

I'm in love with your kitchen tool !!!!!Why have I not the same ? ;)

Awesome tutorial on how to use these products. I am ALWAYS worrying about my batiks bleeding!! Super informative and awesomely fun as usual! Thanks! =)

I know this is old, but excellent video. Thanks Rob!

Very helpful - thank you so much!!!!!

Great idea, and great products. My grandma used to throw new fabric into the washing machine, add some cider vinegar and a few spoons of salt, run through the cycle, then dry, and they never bled after that. I'm not a natural products Nazi--whatever works and is handy is fine with me. If it just happens to be natural, so much the better, but it's not necessary. I've used both of these and they work wonderfully. Thing is if you don't have any on hand or the store is closed or whatever, everybody has salt and vinegar around the house, and it's a bit less expensive. (Although if you've bought all that lovely fabric, what's a few more dollars...)

Good to know information.

Instead of using a pot can i just use a washing machine? Still using retayne and hot water

very awesome ---i want to make my daughter a skate board quilt using bright colors ---i was thinking how i could keep the colors from running together ---while i have your attention i watched a tutorial with you and jenny i saw some of your art work ---i would love to use a few of your ''under the deck'' squares ---i also want to use colored wheels along with the black wheels but im not sure on my color coordination could you help???

awesome video :]

please excuse this question if it is stupid, however... Could Synthrapol be used to remove hair dye from a pillowcase and the top of my 22 year old quilt? Apparently my hairdresser missed a spot while rinsing my hair and I cannot remove the hair dye using normal washing products, including Clorox 2 for colour. Thanks!

What if I had a paint on the purple fabric which is dyed ? Will this chemical remove the bleed from the painted dye design as well as the original colour ?

So what determines which product you should use in your fabrics?

Could you use retayne on fabric that is not a solid color? I have some quilting cotton that has red roses covering most of its white(ish) background, and it is still bleeding onto white despite washing it twice. It also drenched the 5+ color catchers bright pink that I put in each load.

Fun video.... What about Color Catchers? I wash all of my quilts with a couple of Color Catchers... Never had any bleeding... But them, I always use gold water...

I’ve already washed my seven red cotton fabrics twice, and the red is still bleeding. I now have Retayne, is it too late? My fabric cost a fortune, it’s to make a quilt for y grandsons wedding.

If using Retayne in the washing machine (specifically a front loader), where would we put the product? Right in with the fabric? In the detergent dispenser? Thanks!

So does soda ash work in the same way retayne does or does it serve a different purpose?

When you prep the water with Retayne, have you ever had color bleed when you first soak the fabric? When I lifted the fabric out of the water, the water coming from the fabic was clear. Is that normal? 🤔

I had red white and blue star, the red ran in to white, now pink in white. I washed it again and sprayed all the white with shout and added three sheets of color guard sheets, still pink. I did not prewash the 5" squares before sewing and quilting it. If I use the synthrapol will that light the blue and red squares and puul the pink from the white squares?

Does anyone know if Retayne works on worsted woolen fabric?

Just got my bottle in the mail. The Retayne label says " for cotton fabric". Will it not work on anything else?

I'm making a signature quilt where pigma micron pens were used for the signatures. It's a quilt-as-you-=go project, so I'm wondering if the retayne might be a good step for me to add before I join my blocks together? All fabrics used were Moda, and nothing was prewashed. Thoughts??

Greetings, the iron is cute, what type is it?

Will retayne work on inkjet printer. printing quilt pictures so the color want bleed

Would this work for laser printer toner on fabric?

Is there something in the market that will allow color fastness on already upholstered fabric

How do fabric producers use this? If I dye some fabric do I use synthrapol to remove last traces of dye and the retayne to give longevity?

I'm concerned about my old stuff when I started last year. Can I save them?

Can this be done spot cleaning using synthrapol? I have a piece with flocking that probably shouldn’t go in water again

Hahahahaaa!😂 I didn't notice the name of your channel before I saw the vid. "Man Sewing", that's a 'stich'! (Pun intended ;-) Anyway, great vid, I'm going to buy some Synthrapol right now.

How do I wash a 2 color tone dress black & black does bleed?

awesome! hooray for stitch science! can i throw in retayne together with color catchers or does that defeat the purpose? i hate sorting my wash unless i really have to!

❤️

Can these be used on silk?

hi i don't know if you're going to see this but does this also work for silk because i plan to have a off white coat with red silk lining and i'm trying to stop it from bleeding before it's made into a coat there's a reason I want the lining to be red if it was a regular situation i would have pick white off white ivory or yellow

Can you use this on clothing items purchased? I have a brand I love but after a wash looks terribly faded. Could I try to use to lock in color?

I have already washed my quilt and dried it. can I use the synthrapol in the rewash.

I bought fabric that bled on a test piece, if I wash it, I will have to wash all the other fabric that I want to put in my quilt. What can I safely do to prevent bleeding without having to wash all my fabric? Please help.

😂”some fantastic kitchen tools!!”😂😂😂

I have always been afraid to prewash. Does the fabric not start to fray? Also what if you are using precuts. Would love some help on this as I have only been quilting a year and so far each time I give away a quilt I give a wash sheet to the person and tell them to use it when they was for the first time. I am afraid that y the time they wash it they will forget. Help Rob please.

I have a quilt I made for my daughter and I have never washed it because I'm afraid of bleeding (its a jelly roll quilt with a literal rainbow of colors/batiks) would the synthropal be okay for a quilt that's already been put together, with a lot of colors?

Do you wash your jelly rolls and your fat quarters? If so how would you do that without the jelly rolls getting all tangled up?

why did he say to just put some in the wash? I thought it needed 140 degrees?

140 degrees ... that would be Fahrenheit, right? About 60 degrees Celsius for the rest of the world :-)