Wash out

[lilah]

OK, this may seem like a basic question, but there are many opinions on the matter, so...

How many of you use cold water for your initial wash out? How many use hot? Paula recommends cold on her site, Tom & Martine recommend hot on their dvd.

Thoughts? I've been using hot but sometimes get a bit of bleed even with waiting 24-48 hours (in 90+ temps) and using sythrapol. Usually the colors "refine" after two or three more washes, typically in cold water, since I throw them in with regular loads of dark clothes to conserve water.

Also, do you rinse before washing with synthrapol, or just go for the wash?

Thanks!

Lilah

[pburch]

I recommend cold water only for the first wash or rinse. The hot water washings are the important part; they're what get the excess unattached dye out. (Soak in hot water to reduce the number of washings needed.) It's best to use water that is at least 140°F.

The initial cold rinse is just to remove the soda ash and any salt. Having too much salt or soda ash when you add the hot water might encourage the unattached dye to associate more firmly with the fabric, making it harder to wash out.

If you have hard water, add sodium hexametaphosphate to your rinse and wash water. Minerals in the water can make the dye a lot harder to wash out.

Synthrapol is less important than using hot enough water. It has the advantage of not containing soda ash itself, as many laundry detergents do.

Paula

[mishoga]

I rinse cold, then hot (so hot I start sweating) and then wah two times with synthrapol (did I spell that right?)   

[lilah]

Thanks guys. Paula, I should always follow your directions if I am uncertain! 

[steve]

Michael Fowler used to just cut the strings and throw them in the wash. I saw him do it personally and saw the results. I forget whether he had an extra rinse or washed them twice. I made one of my favorite shirts that day!

[ecilA]

FWIW, I too go from cold to hot.  I rinse in cold quite a few times actually, until the water is almost free of color and then use a very hot wash with syntrapol as a finish.  And I do this in the machine, pitch all of them in at once.

[ktaltre]

I too saw M. Fowler cut the strings and drop the dyed shirts into the hot synthrapol washing machine water. It worked - I think he said to wash one more time too..........
I soak my dyed stuff in cold water in the sink or bucket, wring out, and then wash in the machine with hot water and synthrapol. I machine wash once again with cold or warm water with regular biodegradable soap.
It's been working for me.
k. taltre

[lilah]

I did a batch today and rinsed in cold water, then spun, then ran them through a hot/warm wash cycle. The whites are actually white! I had been rinsing in hot, then washing in hot and it was taking many more washes to get rid of the backstaining. I'm a cold rinse girl from now on! It is interesting to hear from everyone on this, though! It just goes to show how many variations there are.

[Hippy Dippy]

Unfortunately, I have a high tech Kenmore agitator-less top loader that senses the amount of clothes, and adjusts for the proper amount of water.  If I had a low tech one where I could just fill it up, then add the clothes, life would be easier.

I've been using "color magnet" sheets to gauge the amount of dye being removed during my wash outs.

the latest batch, I rinsed in the sink with cold water until most of the free dye is removed - rinse water is fairly clear, with a tinge of color.  Then i go to the machine.

I did a cold was in the machine with a few tsp of synthrapol.  The dye magnet was black.

I followed up with a hot / cold wash, with a few tsp of synthrapol and a bit of regular laundry detergent.  The magnet was dark purple.  Then dried on high/cotton setting.

I did a second hot / cold wash, again with a few tsp of synthrapol and a bit of regular laundry detergent.  The dye magnet was a bit lighter, but more blue.  Then dried on high/cotton setting.

Would I benefit from another hot wash, or is that overdoing it? Now should I stick with cold?

(I'm using Procion MX dyes.)

[pburch]

How much do you care about whether or not there's some unattached dye left in the fabric? If you're making something for a multicolored quilt or for a baby who chews on clothing, it's very important and you should do a hot press test to make sure you've got all of the unattached dye out. (If your piece fails the hot press test, then soak it in hot water for an hour or longer, then wash it again.) If you're dyeing the clothes for yourself and sort your laundry by color, then you don't have to be as careful to get all of the excess unattached dye out. One hot wash might be enough in that case, if you start by washing in cold water.

There is no point in cold washing again after you've gotten to the hot washing part. The initial cold rinse is intended to remove soda ash and salt. In cases when you can't use a hot wash at all, repeated warm washes will remove most of the excess dye, though not nearly as efficiently as a couple of hot washes. Extended soaking is more efficient with the hot water than just running a washing machine cycle.

My low tech Kenmore top-loading washing machine stupidly adds cold water to the hot water cycle, and it insists on cold rinses only. The point is to save energy, but it's no use at all for my purposes. If I want cold water, I'll set the machine to use cold water! So, what I do is turn the cold water faucet off at the wall until I no longer need hot hot water in the washer. The machine stops at the end of the wash cycle and doesn't rinse, giving me a chance to come back and do another hot wash without the wasted cold rinsing. There is no point at all in wasting water on a cold rinse if you've already done one hot wash and want to do another.

Paula

[Marg]

I have always used the Michael Fowler method: add to a HOT water washing machine full of water with synthropol, after it has gone through the washing cycle and BEFORE it begins to spin, stop the machine and send it though a second wash cycle, then let it spin, rinse and spin and then I would put everything through another wash, spin, rinse, spin cycle. Then done. Peace to All, Marg