Bleeding sheets- Am I doomed?

[Marlet]

I have a pair of red sheets that are almost 2.5 years old. They are still bleeding color!! I only wash on hot but have had to get by with cold before so they've gone the gamut there. I've used vinegar on them in hopes of setting the color but no luck. I dry on hot but apparently that doesn't matter.

I'm tired of sheets that bleed. These are older for crying out loud! Am I just doomed with the fate of this or is there something I haven't done yet that could seal the color? And they REALLY bleed. I jsut washed them and as I was draining it (after a hot wash and a hot rinse) my water was still Kool-Aid pinkred.

[treegardner]

I add some vinegar to the wash. I've noticed it really helps on bleeding colors and with fading too.

[mumkimum]

Hmmm. . . well, my thought here was that, when I was working a lot with fibers and doing dye-work we used a special detergent called Synthropol that would 'get' all the loose dye particles off what you were working on, to prevent bleeding, etc. later. If it's really bugging you, you could look at that (you can get it through dharma trading easily) and consider getting it to wash your red sheets for awhile. It might help wash out the excess dye and cut down on the bleeding.

[Ola_]

I don't know about red, but I use vinegar for new dark jeans to set the dye. Normally I fill the washer partway with cold water (since I wash these in cold too), then add a good amount of vinegar. I soak the jeans in that overnight, and the next day I add a bit of detergent and run the wash, adding more vinegar to the rinse cycle. It really seems to help.

That sounds really frustrating though!

[Tizzy]

Never wash on hot if you don't want them to bleed.

[SuzyLee]

I thought you only used vinegar to set acid dyes? If they are cotton sheets, then it isn't an acid dye (that is my understanding- I may be wrong). I would do some research on how cotton is dyed and how the dye is set- bc I don't think vinegar is the correct thing to use.

[zebra15]

I NEVER had good luck with red. When ds was a baby I stupidly purchased a red crib sheet and it always bled in the wash. Now it seems just to annoy me DS loves red shirts, I just end up washing them seperately. (wash on cold, rinse on cold)