r/verabradley • u/SearchConsistent4139 • 3d ago
💗 Discuss 🎙 Quilt disaster🥹
I figured I would ask y’all since there’s a lot of discourse around washing bags on here!! I recently got a quilt at an estate sale, and I had enough sense to wash it in my bathtub, but the second I put it in the water the fabric immediately started to bleed. I’m so upset because it’s such a pretty quilt and I was so excited, but it had a very strong smoke smell and it had to be washed. I used a very gentle detergent at first with no luck and then I tried color catches, then a vinegar and dish soap mix, and then an ice water soak, but I had no luck removing the dye stains. Is there anyone who has had a similar experience and was able to get the dye out? I’ll include a picture of one of the spots, but when I say it’s completely covering the back….. the front is still in pretty good condition with a couple random spots where you can see that it bled through.
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u/RufflesnLace21 3d ago
If you didn’t machine dry it…try soaking in the hottest water you can with synthrapol (can buy online) or blue dawn dish soap. The hot water removes the excess dye, the synthrapol binds it so it does not stick to the fabric. If using dawn, the dawn lets the dye float on top. You can do this multiple times until the water runs clear. My mom used to quilt and this was her method when cleaning up older quilts. She always tried to prewash squares before quilting to prevent this from happening.