Update: I was about to trash a whole roll of silk because of a stubborn dye bleed

The fabric was supposed to be a solid emerald green, but it had these weird pink streaks after the first wash. I was ready to give up, but I tried soaking it in a cold saltwater bath for about 12 hours on a total whim. It actually pulled most of the excess dye out and saved the material. Has anyone else fixed a dye bleed with something that simple, or did I just get lucky?

3 comments

3 Comments

joseph_murray81mo ago

Wait, doesn't salt water actually set dye in natural fabrics like cotton? I remember reading that for tie-dye. Maybe the cold water part is the real key, not the salt. @parkermorgan, your jeans are probably mostly cotton, right? So maybe the cold soak just stopped the bleed by itself. I'd be scared to try salt on silk, that stuff is so delicate. It sounds like the original poster got a good result, but lane.angela has a point about testing first.

lane.angela2mo ago

Honestly, that sounds like a huge risk to me. Soaking in salt water can actually set some dyes instead of fixing a bleed. I've ruined good fabric trying home fixes like that before. You probably got lucky with that specific dye type. Next time I'd test a tiny piece first or use a proper dye fixative from the store.

parkermorgan2mo ago

Got to disagree based on my own laundry disasters! That salt water trick saved a whole load of my dark jeans when a red sock snuck in. It stopped the pink tint right away. I've used it on cotton tees with printed designs too, and it worked fine. Maybe it depends on the fabric mix, but calling it pure luck feels off when it's bailed me out more than once.