Help with bleeding cloth

[Capt. William Drake]

Hello faire folk;
     I really need your help on this matter.  I went to the faire the other day and it rained pretty good for a little bit.  What I didn't learn till later is that my pirate head scarf bleed red onto my nice white shirt.   I was wondering if anyone could give me advice on how to stop the head scarf from bleeding and how to get out the stain in my white shirt?  I thank you for all your help and advice in this matter.

[isabelladangelo]

For the white shirt:
Head and shoulders (any anti-dandruff shampoo) along with baking soda in a bath tub filled with lukewarm water seems to work best at getting color bleeds out.   It won't ruin any embroidery or other colors you happen to have on the shirt as well.  Unlike bleach, it also won't harm the shirt.  You might have to soak the shirt for a while and scrub at it but it will come out.

For the forehead cloth:

Get a white one like they would have used in period.  If you really want to have it red, vinegar.   Soak the cloth in vinegar for about an hour.  Wash it again with a white test towel (you can get a pack of washcloths at the dollar store) to see if it's still bleeding.  Repeat the process as many times as you are willing or go out and buy a colorfast red cloth.  Most of the linen blends and cottons at Joanns are colorfast and a headcloth is typically just a square, hemmed around the edges, and then folded in half.   

[gem]

There may not be anything you can do to stop the head scarf from bleeding; some fabrics (red especially) just never seem to stop bleeding. It's typically excess dye that hasn't fully been washed out in the fabric processing, but sometimes the dye doesn't completely chemically bond to the fibers, and that's when you get bleeding forever. Alas. The best advice I can give you here is to wash the heck out of it, in the hottest water your machine can make, and use a Shout Color Catcher in the wash. Even so, it still may bleed. I have a friend who's a professional dyer, and she's told me that after the dyeing process is complete, there is nothing more you can do to make the color bond further with the cloth. Easiest option would probably be to replace the scarf.

Milord has a red corduroy pirate coat that used to bleed onto his white shirt every single time he wore it (perspiration), until I finally washed it violently in hot water several times. The color changed (it went from a dark red to more of a purply shade) and the next few times he wore it, it *didn't* bleed... until last year when he wore it in a rainstorm. Red shirt, all over again. *bigsigh*

For the white shirt, I have used Rit Color Remover with differing success. Once it did a *brilliant* job--slightly too brilliant; taking Milord's soft cream shirt and making it much much brighter. But it's his favorite shirt and the red came out, so we called it a success. But a second go (after the rainstorm incident) with a different shirt made no difference whatsoever. At any rate, it's worth a try.

Our next move? A black shirt for the pirate coat. 

[609wood]

I would suggest boiling the scarf in a pot on the stove for a few minutes. Then fiancé it well in the sink and let it soak for a few hours. Change the water out and see if it isn't clear. If its still bleeding. Throw it in the laundry with dark clothes and run a few cycles. Red is a great color but hard to set and keep vibrant. You can always swap it out with a yard of red broadcloth from the fabric store.