Don’t Cut That Batik! Use Retayne First to Avoid Bleeding Batiks

You might remember a post from a while back talking about The Great Pre-wash Debate: whether or not to pre-wash your fabrics. But, did you know that there is a fabric that you should always prewash!?

That’s right — batiks, with their vibrant dyes, will often times bleed onto lighter cottons when washed. Which spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E for your light background! So, what’s a ready-to-roll quilter to do when those lovely, natural, delicious batiks arrive to the sewing room?

Treat and wash.

Sorry—I know you want to rip right into them— but, you’ll be glad you took the time to treat them with Retayne first!

---

This page contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. This helps support the free content I provide, at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

---

What is Retayne, you ask?

Retayne is this wonderful little bottle of stuff that locks in the dyes of your fabrics. It’s a color fixative for commercially dyed cotton fabrics, if you want to get technical about it. Boy—does it work! If you asked me how to stop fabric bleeding, Retayne would definitely be my answer!

You can get this on Amazon.com for a reasonable price. It’s available in 4oz (~$10) and 16oz (~$20) bottles. You can wash around 24 yards of fabric with the 4oz bottle, for reference.

Even, I—the most impatient quilter ever— have no qualms about treating my fabrics with Retayne before sewing (I’m not a big fan of pre-washing quilt fabrics, either). I’d much rather hold my horses, treat, wash, and get a quilt that doesn’t bleed after I’ve poured countless hours and dollars into it rather than getting it all done only to have it ruined the first time I’ve washed it!

How to Use Retayne

Using Retayne is easy! All you’ve got to do is add 1 teaspoon for every yard of fabric to a big sink of hot water. Make sure there’s enough water for the fabric to take a nice little swim, and let your fabric soak for 20 minutes. You’ll want to stir it occasionally.

Then, using cool water, rinse your fabric and toss in the dryer! It’s that easy! Because I’m not 100% sure what chemicals are in Retayne, I like to wash my fabrics once I’ve treated them.

I recently attended a lecture with Chawne Kimber, and she talked about how her quilt Bobby Dole Sings the Blues bled all over. She said that she had pre-washed 3 times, so, word to the wise: always pre-treat like colors. After that, wash at least once with all the fabrics together just to be sure!

There you have it! Lovely, crisp, beautiful batiks that won’t run or bleed! Hop on over to Amazon and add it to your next order…you’ll be glad you did!