Re-Fixing Dye
UPDATE: [July 11, 2019] We originally posted this tutorial without permission, compensation or attribution from the Better Than Yarn blog. In the interest of transparency and integrity, we have remedied the situation by giving credit and compensation where it is due. The original tutorial was authored by Jasmin Knitmore, with guidance and information provided by Kate Hamm.
In addition to authoring the Better than Yarn blog, Jasmin co-hosts The Knitmore Girls Podcast, a weekly, family-friendly podcast which uplifts and informs. You can find them on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, and Pandora Podcasts.
Dark or saturated yarn bleeding into and staining a lighter yarn is one of knitting’s most common heartbreaks. To determine if the dye in your yarn is going to bleed, first soak the skein in cold water and observe if the water changes color. If it does, consider re-fixing the dye, especially if you’re working with more than one color of yarn and one of them is light colored. (Some people may also want to set a yarn’s dye before beginning a one-colored piece because they want to be able to easily wash it with other garments or because they want a very good sense of the final color before they begin.)
Unfortunately, for the majority of home knitters, there’s no absolute foolproof method for re-fixing dyes, but we consider this technique highly effective.
Note that these directions are for one 100 gram skein of yarn. If you have more than one skein or a larger skein, then double the amount of citric acid/vinegar and water. If you are setting multiple colors, re-fix each color separately. Finally, be sure that your yarn is in a skein. If it’s in a ball, be sure to turn it into a skein before you begin.
Materials
- Scrap yarn (to tie the skein)
- 1 teaspoon of citric acid (available at Whole Foods and online) OR 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 cup of boiling water
- 3 cups of warm or tepid tap water
- 1 plastic dye basin (that you don’t use for cooking food)
- Saran Wrap
- A microwave
- A wool wash, like Soak
- 4 to 6 cups of cool water
- A plastic hanger
The Process
To re-fix dye…
- Be sure that there are at least 4 ties on your skein of yarn. If there are not, use some scrap yarn to tie yours at a few additional points. This is to ensure that the yarn does not tangle in the process of re-fixing the dye.
- In your dye basin, dissolve 1 teaspoon of citric acid (available at Whole Foods and online) OR 1 tablespoon white vinegar in 1 cup of boiling water. Add 3 cups of warm or tepid tap water.
- Soak your yarn in this mixture for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Squeeze as much water as you can out of the skein without wringing it out.
- Tear a sheet of Saran Wrap about a foot longer than your skein of yarn. Wrap the Saran Wrap around the wet skein and then roll it to resemble a jelly roll.
- Place the roll of yarn in the microwave for 2 minutes on high. Open the door and allow the skein to cool for 2-3 minutes. Caution: Do not microwave the yarn for any longer than 2 minutes.
- Remove the skein and take the Saran Wrap off.
- In a basin, squeeze a small amount of wool wash and 4-6 cups of cool water. Place your skein in the basin and leave for 15 minutes.
- Squeeze out the remaining water, being careful not to wring the skein. If there is still dye coming off your skein, you may repeat steps 1-8 a second time.
- Hang your skein on a plastic hanger to dry.
- Enjoy your yarn!
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Hi, thank you this is very useful. Can you still do it without a microwave oven? If so, what would you do instead?
Hi Cristina,
Thanks for writing in! The heat setting is the most necessary part of this process. The microwave effectively steams the yarn gently without requiring additional specialty equipment such as a steamer pot with a top that you do not intend on using for food again. Additionally, the alternate method requires careful watching and has a lot more room for error and is quite a bit more complex. I would suggest, for the purposes of setting running dye, to use the method above.
I hope that this helps!
Cassy
Thank you for this. Although many of us know how to do this, we forget When we should take the time. I was shopping for the gorgeous Cattail Silk when I saw this note and link. I posted it to Facebook – to help remind my friends. Again, thanks.
Note this will only work for protein fibers dyed with acid dyes. It won’t work for cotton yarns or other plant fibers, which use a different fixative than acid for the dyes.
Hi Heddi,
Good point and thank you for watching out!
Adam
so what should I use to fix the dye in cotton yarn?
Hi Nona,
Thanks for writing in! Although we haven’t investigated this ourselves since we haven’t had any problems with our cotton yarns, I believe vinegar is still the recommended method for setting colors on cellulose. I do a lot of tie dyeing on cotton, and even though the actual dye process uses soda ash to create a basic environment, it is still recommended to rinse or soak in warm water with vinegar for the first wash to help the excess dye rinse out cleanly and for the garment to stay bright.
I hope that helps!
Julianna
Oh no…… vinegar is not and never will be the way to set or fix dye on cotton (or any cellulose) fibre or yarn.
A soak in a warm soda ash solution will assist IF the original dye was a fibre reactive that used an alkali for fixation eg Procion MX.
IF the cotton was dyed with a direct dye or an azoic and the list goes on…… neither vinegar nor soda ash nor citric acid and not even salt will be of any use.
Hi Lynne,
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! You’re absolutely correct that vinegar won’t “set” the fiber reactive dyes used on cotton yarns, like it would for protein fibers. However, it still does help wash out excess dye, which is important in preventing the color from running or bleeding into other colors. I hope this helps clarify our earlier comment!
All the best,
Lili
I recently had a problem like this with one of my customers. I think I’ll include this info on the labels I print for the yarn. Using washing soda is easy enough for plant fibers unless one is used to other alkaline fixatives.
Thank you for the tip! Do I need to worry about shrinkage with wool yarns and blends due to steam and heat though ?
Hi Deb,
Thanks for writing in! Great question! The yarn should not shrink appreciably in this process. Having done this many times myself, I have not noticed the yarn shrinking!
I hope that this helps!
Cassy
Hi there! Thanks for the great tutorial! My only question is whether 2mins in the microwave for silk yarn would have a detrimental effect on the lustre? Would several goes on a lower heat setting be better and have the same effect when using silk?
Hi Felicity,
Thanks for writing in! The time in the heat should not effect the luster of the yarn. I would not suggest using a lower heat setting but if you have concerns, you can try 1 minute and see what the effects are. I have not had the natural of the yarn effected using this method. Additionally, when dying silk, it is heat set in the same fashion as wool and thus heating it again should not materially effect it.
I hope that this helps!
Cassy
I purchased Koigu KPM yarn to make your crochet-edged flannel blankets (as specified). I notice the yarn label says “hand wash and lay flat to dry”. Will the dye-setting process allow the yarn to handle washing machine and dryer? Thanks–
Hi Kathryn,
Thanks for writing in! Laura, who designed the Flannel Receiving Blankets, and her family have run the blankets through the wash many times. While Koigu is not listed as a washable wool, her results have been that the blankets work out fine. I would suggest refixing the dye to ensure that it does not run. This is especially true with more saturated colors as they are more likely to run!
Thanks for reaching out!
Cassy
After using Koigu in knitting, weaving, and in combination with mohair/silk blends, I always machine wash Koigu on gentle and in cold water and lay it across a rack to dry. Even in my damp climate, Koigu dries overnight every time. It is very high quality Merino. I would never use a dryer for hand knits, but I often use shampoo to wash them.
This is useful information and I’ll definitely use it with my wool yarns, but recently we’ve moved to Northern Alabama and I don’t think I’ll be buying much more wool. I know I need a pH > 7 for cellulose fibers. Is baking soda enough or do I need something more basic like ammonia or lye?
Hi Mindy,
Thanks for reaching out! Although we haven’t investigated this ourselves since we haven’t had any problems with our cotton yarns, I believe vinegar is still the recommended method for setting colors on cellulose. Some commercial dyes are set in a basic environment, but others are not, so it’s hard to say whether adding another base would help or hurt. I do a lot of tie dyeing on cotton myself, and even though the actual dye process uses soda ash, it is still recommended to rinse or soak with vinegar for the first wash to help the excess dye rinse out cleanly and for the garment to stay bright. Lye and ammonia are both pretty powerful so I don’t think I would recommend either of those, but you could always experiment with soda ash which is widely available for home dyers!
Best of luck!
Julianna
I’m more than halfway through the easy baby blanket pattern using the koigu keratin yarn. The kit came with a “color trapper” sheet with instructions to use it to set the “fabric’s” color. Was it wrong in NOT pretreating the skeins? Am I doomed to unraveling and starting over? That would me make me sad.
Hi Laurie,
Thanks for writing in! Although Koigu Kersti is somewhat notorious for bleeding, the colors that usually cause the most problems are the darker reds and oranges. We find that the color catcher is sufficient protection against bleeding for that kit, but if you started with the blue end of the blanket and haven’t gotten to the last two colors yet, it couldn’t hurt to re-fix the dye on the two darkest colors. If you have already knitted up the dark red and orange, I would just pay close attention when you are soaking the blanket to block it and dip just the red and orange in the water first to see if any dye comes off in the water. If so, I would do a few soaks and rinses on just those colors before soaking the whole blanket with the color catcher. I personally do not usually re-fix dye before I start to knit, though if I find that the dye is coming off on my hands as I knit I will re-skein that color and use our process on the problem skein.
I hope that helps!
Julianna
My question is why do we need to refix the yarn? Why isn’t the yarn adequately fixed from the producer? If it is so simple to do, it must be simple for them as well. Why do they sell yarn that needs to be refixed?
Hi,
Great questions! Generally, needing to re-fix yarn is not due to improper yarn fixing from the producer. Differences in water from location to location, dark color dyes and other factors can cause correctly set dyes to bleed after the fact. The ph of your water might differ quite a bit from the water the yarn was dyed in and can cause the dye (that did not run at all where it was dyed) to run again. Darker colors tend to be the most susceptible to this. I have made it a practice to do this when I am knitting something with multiple colors out of an abundance of caution. Even a yarn that you have worked with many times over the years and may have never bled for you before, might do so if there was a slight change in the dye stuffs or a change in the ph of your water.
If you want to test if your yarn will bleed before you go through this process, you can place the skein (not a wound ball) in a basin of water in the way in which you plan to clean the finished item. For me, this is usually with warm water and a bit of Soak. If after 15 minutes, it does not bleed, you should be pretty safe.
I hope that this helps explain!
Cassy
Hi
Do you think I would need to fix the line weight yearn? I am about to start making the colour dipped hat with the dark grapefruit contract colour. As it’s a hat, I am expecting it to get wet and rained on, and don’t want the colour to bleed into the white main colour.
Thanks
Kate
Hi Kate,
Great question! This should not be necessary for Line Weight! Line Weight is not hand dyed and generally this process is suggested for hand dyed yarns. You should be all set for your project!
Best,
Cassy
Would it be feasible to try this method with an already knitted garment?
Hi Mary,
Thanks for reaching out! If you are looking to set the color on a solid colored garment, you could certainly use similar techniques on a finished garment, with a few modifications! I would use a large stainless steel stock pot that you aren’t planning on using for food filled about halfway with cold water and a quarter cup of vinegar. Add your garment to the cold water and bring it up to a simmer, and hold at a simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes. Make sure not to stir or agitate the pot, especially if your garment is knitted out of non-superwash fiber! Once you are done simmering, turn off the heat let the pot return to room temperature. You can then soak the garment in tepid water with a bit of wool wash to finish the process.
If your garment has colorwork that you are concerned might bleed, I wouldn’t recommend this method, since if the colors do bleed they will set immediately into the lighter color. Instead, I would soak the garment in cold water with vinegar and a few Shout Color Catchers, and if the color does bleed, wash immediately with Carbona Color Run.
I hope that helps!
Julianna
Hi Julianna,
Can I use this method for the Alpaca in Blue Jean color? I already knitted my cowl when I noticed some bleeding afterwards. And will this change the texture/softness of the yarn? I really like the softness of Alpaca and I’m afraid of it losing that when I use this method to re-fix the dye…
Also would you recommend re-fixing the dye (particularly the Alpaca as I have been using those yarns a lot lately) before knitting or is using this method after knitting also okay?
Thank you!
Hi Catherine,
Thanks for reaching out! This method is safe for all natural fibers so you can absolutely use this method on alpaca. For future reference I would recommend re-fixing the dye prior to knitting as we do in the tutorial but it should be fine to do post knitting.
I hope this helps!
Gianna
Hi Gianna,
Thank you for your reply.
So I tried re-fixing the dye (using citric acid) for my other skein and there was still some bleeding after going through the steps three times but I stopped because I noticed that the color changed. It got more vibrant/brighter than the original color and I really liked the original pastel/ash blue color better and didn’t want the color to get more vibrant.
Now I’m hesitant to re-fix the dye for my knitted one because I don’t want the color to change…. is there a way to re-fix the dye without changing the brightness/vibrancy? Will it be different if I use white vinegar instead of citric acid? Also, I noticed that the concentration varies for white vinegar from 5% to 45%. Which concentrate should I use?
Hi Catherine,
Thanks for your response! In my experience, citric acid can sometimes be a bit harsh, especially if you are going through the steps several times. I would suggest trying out the white vinegar, the 5% is perfect for re-fixing dye and shouldn’t be too harsh on the yarn itself!
I hope this helps and please let me know if you have any more questions!
Gianna
If I’m not planning on washing but dry-cleaning the blanket in the future do I need to re-fix?
Thanks!
Hi Lynn,
Great question! It is very unlikely that color bleeding will occur when dry cleaning; however, if it does, the dry cleaner should be well equipped to correct the mistake! It still can’t hurt to re-fix the dye yourself before knitting, but it’s not critical if you plan on only dry cleaning.
Best,
Julianna
The directions above give amounts for a 4-6 oz skein. I have four different color 25 gram skeins of pocket posey. Should the amounts in the formula be decreased for each smaller skein? Should <1oz of yarn spend less time in the microwave? Thanks!
Hi Rhonda,
Great question! I would still mix up the same amount of citric acid or vinegar solution, but divide it into four cups to soak each mini skein of Pocket Posy. It will probably take a bit less time in the microwave, so I would check after a minute or minute and a half to make sure the inside of the saran wrap is steamy and the yarn is quite hot to touch – ideally a bit too hot to touch!
I hope that helps!
Julianna
I just bought some yarn in Greece that the store owner said was a hand dyed acrylic. A friend who bought some of a different color at the same time and started working it had color come off on his hands, and his shirt front, so I am leery of color fastness in mine. Is this process good for acrylics, too?
Hi Sue,
Thanks for writing in! Unfortunately, this process only works to set dye on protein fibers, such as wool, alpaca, silk, and other animal fibers. Acrylic is a completely synthetic fiber, so it’s hard to say what kind of dye they may have used. You could certainly still skein your yarn and soak it in a vinegar and water solution to wash out any excess dye before knitting, but I would not suggest heating it since acrylic can melt at high temperatures.
Best of luck and I hope that helps!
Julianna
Hi,
I am making the Muhuroosa Blanket, using your Posy and Pocket Posy yarns. Do you suggest going through this process before I start knitting?
Thank you!
🙂
Hi Michaela,
Thanks for reaching out! While we do our best to make sure our yarns are as color-fast as possible, we do still recommending re-fixing hand dyed yarns such as Posy, especially for projects that combine white with bright and/or dark colors, such as the Muhuroosa blanket. It’s always best to be on the safe side rather than risking any color bleeding when you wash and block the finished blanket!
Best,
Julianna
Hi….I read your comment about the necessity of heat and the use of a microwave.
When fixing the dye instead of using the microwave can you place the yarn in a 300degree oven for 30 minutes instead?
Hi Nina,
Thanks for reaching out! While you can use any heat source to set the dye, I would be wary of the yarn drying out and possibly catching on fire if you bake it in the oven without precautions. First, I would make sure the yarn isn’t too dry to begin with – rather than squeezing out as much water as possible, I would squeeze out the excess water so it isn’t dripping wet but still leave it fairly wet. Second, make sure you use a container tightly covered with tin foil to keep the steam from escaping into the oven. I also wouldn’t go much over 30 minutes without checking periodically to make sure it hasn’t dried out too much. Otherwise, heat setting in the oven should work quite well, especially for larger quantities of yarn!
I hope that helps!
Julianna
I bought the brightly-colored kit of your Color Flux Scarf. Should I re-fix the dye of the Gentle Giant yarn? As an alternative, does dry-cleaning eliminate the need to re-fix the dye? It sounds like a really long process that would occupy my kitchen for a minimum of an entire day which is really not practical.
Hi Carol,
Thanks for writing in! Re-fixing dye is only recommended for hand dyed yarn or yarn that specifically recommends it. Our Gentle Giant is not hand dyed, so there is no need to take any extra steps before knitting! In the future, dry cleaning would be a good solution if you prefer not to re-fix hand dyed yarn.
Best,
Julianna
Hi! I made the Hudson Bay blanket, and didn’t re-set beforehand. Never thought of this before! Although we have not washed it, I have noticed some colour transfer from baby drool, ie red rubbing on to the cream. What should you do in this case? Help! Best wishes, Autumn
Hi Autumn,
Thanks for writing in! It sounds like you might indeed have some problems with the color running when you wash the blanket! I would suggest adding several Shout Color Catchers to the first wash, as well as using a special detergent designed for removing excess dye, such as synthrapol, following the washing instructions on the yarn label. Color Catchers can be found in the laundry section of most grocery stores, but you will probably have to order synthrapol online. If it does bleed anyway, we have had pretty good results using Carbona Color Run Remover to solve the problem.
Best of luck and I hope that helps!
Julianna
Hi!
re: Muhuroosa Blanket
I received my package from you and am going to re-fix the dyed yarn. If you had a choice, would you use citric acid or white vinegar? Is one more effective than the other?
The Posy yarn is gorgeous and I’m excited to begin this project!
Thank you!
Ellen McKenzie
Hi Ellen,
Thanks for reaching out! Both citric acid and vinegar are equally effective – both are acids that raise the pH of the soak water and yarn, so they provide the exact same function. If you are planning on re-fixing dye frequently, citric acid purchased in bulk can be less expensive because it is a stronger acid than vinegar so you don’t need to use as much, but plain old white vinegar isn’t expensive to begin with, so it doesn’t make much of a difference for infrequent use. The only clear advantage is that citric acid doesn’t have a pungent scent like vinegar! You can use whichever you have on hand, but if you have both, at least your kitchen won’t smell like vinegar if you use citric acid.
I hope that helps!
Julianna
“both are acids that raise the pH of the soak water”…. no. Acids lower the pH. 7 is neutral and the acidity required for good fixation of acid dyes on protein fibres is in the range of 4 to 5.
I really do hope that your comment was just a simple typo.
Hi Lynne,
You’re right, this was indeed a typo! It should say “both are acids that lower the pH of the soak water.” Thanks for catching that!
All the best,
Lili
Just purchased the Pocket Full of Posy Blanket. What has been your experience with the color bleeding when washed? Seems like a lot of work to treat each skein as described above. Thank you.
Hi Diane,
Thanks for reaching out! While we do our best to make sure our yarns are as color-fast as possible, we do still recommending re-fixing hand dyed yarns such as Posy, especially for projects that combine white with bright and/or dark colors, such as the Pocket Full of Posy blanket. It’s always best to be on the safe side rather than risking any color bleeding when you wash and block the finished blanket!
Best,
Julianna
Hi,
I’ve knit a black with white contrast sweater in Linen Quill. Reading this about refixing , should I dryclean rather than hand wash the sweater? I use Soak for hand washing.
Best regards,
David
Hi David,
Thanks for reaching out! We usually only recommend re-fixing dye for hand-dyed yarns. Since Linen Quill is not hand-dyed, you shouldn’t have any problems with the color bleeding and can go ahead and wash and block it as usual! If you want to be extra careful, you could try blocking a small swatch with your leftovers of both colors just to make sure it won’t bleed, or dry clean to be on the safe side, but I have used Kettle Black Linen Quill many times and haven’t noticed any dye in the wash water.
Best of luck and I hope that helps!
Julianna
Hi, I just bought several skeins of Linen Quill to knit the Nature’s Palette Blanket. The page for Linen Quill had a note and link to this page about fixing dye for saturated colors.
Has the advice changed since this post? Or are certain colors of the Linen Quill more prone to running than the black? (this is my first big project and I don’t want to ruin it!)
Thanks!
Hi Megan,
Thanks for reaching out! That is correct, in the past we have had a few customers experience a bit of bleeding with the more saturated shades on Linen Quill! With the Nature’s Palette Blanket in particular I would say Kettle Black, Dark Iris, High Tide, True Turquoise, Kiln Red and Chestnut Red would be the colors that could possibly bleed. The advice from this post is still the same, so If you would like to be safe and re-fix those colors you can follow this tutorial!
I hope this helps and please let me know if you have any more questions!
Warmly,
Gianna
I’m workijg on the big Bear’s rainbow blanket and have refixed skeins as I’ve gone along. I have had to do the process 3 times with the very neon blue and pink. How many times is too many- they contain to bleed almost equal amounts as the 1st and 2nd time. Will this hurt the yarn to keep on redoing it if it takes 10 times? And should I – or does everyone give up after a few times through?
Thanks much!
Hi Andrea,
Thanks for writing in, and I’m sorry to hear how much trouble those colors are giving you – unfortunately blues, pinks, and reds can be the most troublesome colors in hand dyed yarn! The only concern with repeating the process would be potentially felting the yarn, but as long as you are handling the yarn gently and avoiding drastic temperature shocks, it should be just fine to knit with in the end. It is completely up to you how much time you are willing to put into this step, but if the yarn is still bleeding, there is a high likelihood that it will bleed in the finished blanket. It might be helpful to rinse the yarn in clean water and wool wash several times before repeating the full process to remove as much excess dye as possible first.
Best of luck and I hope that helps!
Julianna
Super, thanks for the additional info. Love this blanket – great while traveling!
Hi again. Ok, rinsed and soaked 6 more times with the same amount of dye bleeding into the water. No go. Seems as though these are unusable if they won’t stop bleeding. Shall I return for “better” skeins? How do you deal with these? It would be so sad to ruin these blankets that are ridiculously beautiful and time consuming to make. Help!
Hi Andrea,
Oh no, that does sound excessive! Please do contact us at [email protected] and we will be happy to send a replacement from a different dye lot or come up with another solution. I’m so sorry you have run into so much trouble with these skeins, but we will do our best to make it right!
Best,
Julianna
Will do! Thank you!
I just tried this on the Pocket Posy that I bought for the Baby Fair Isle Cardigan (Picnic). There was really no bleeding at all, but the process is not that painful, and if it keeps the colors fast it’s worth it.
This is Karen again. I’m adding to my reply. I bought the Pocket Posy 4 pack in Picnic, and I have never been able to stop it from bleeding. I ran through your process 4 times, and have now been washing the yarn using a wool wash, and it’s still bleeding. I had planned to use the white Posy – already purchased it – for the body, but I wouldn’t dare do that, given all the bleeding. I have never had this happen with any yarn – such severe bleeding – before. I see Color Catchers recommended above, and I will try that before I give up. This yarn is way too pricey to have this happening.
Hi Karen,
Oh no, I am so sorry that you are still having trouble with the dye bleeding after so much work! We agree that this is unacceptable so please do contact us at [email protected] and we will be happy to send a replacement from a different dye lot or come up with another solution. The color catcher will soak up any mild dye loss, but if there is still quite a lot of dye coming off into the water, it’s best to try a different dye lot.
Best,
Julianna
Thank you – I will do that.
How do you dry the skeins after having washed it? Where does the shout colour catcher come into these instructions?
Hi Joan,
Thanks for reaching out! I am happy to help! To dry the skeins, you can hang them over a pail or in a shower or tub to drip dry. I like to drape them over a plastic hanger (metal ones can rust) and hang them from my shower head and allow them to drip dry in my shower.
A Shout Color Catcher can be used after this process when you are washing the finished item for the first time to catch any residual dye!
Best,
Cassy
Hello,
Last year when I was visiting NYC and your shop I purchased a skein of Posy in weathervane gray and 2 skeins of Pocket Posy – winter heath and sour gooseberry. I had the skeins made into balls at the store. Now I am ready to tackle the Easy Heel Colorblock Socks and I find that re-fixing the dye is recommended. Is this possible since my skeins are already wound? What would you suggest?
Thank you!
Looking forward to starting my project.
Hi Risë,
Thanks for writing in! In order to fix the dye on these skeins, unfortunately, you will have to reskein them. You can do so by wrapping the yarn around the back of a chair and loosely tying the skein in several places with scrap yarn. It is quite a lot of work, however, so if you choose to take a chance and skip re-fixing the dye, I would definitely recommend using a Shout Color Catcher when you first wash or block your socks!
Best,
Julianna
Is it ok to do this without wool wash at the end?
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for reaching out! The final wool wash step can help rinse out any remaining excess dye and wash away the smell of vinegar, but you could skip it if you like! I would recommend doing a plain water rinse at the end instead.
Best,
Julianna
Do I *really* need to use a basin I don’t use for food? Tell me why. How important is this? Will I wreck the yarn or poison myself?
Because I want to use my salad spinner.
Hi Hillary,
Great question! If you are using your salad spinner to speed up the drying process after the dye has been fixed and the yarn has been rinsed, I think that is totally fine! The main concern is making sure that you aren’t allowing the yarn to soak in a vessel that will be used for food in the future, as the long exposure to acid and dye could cause potentially harmful chemicals or heavy metals to leech into the container. The risk of harm is quite low if this is a process you only do once or infrequently, but it’s still better to be safe than sorry!
I hope that clears things up!
Julianna
Just reset The Posy colored yarn from the Posy blanket kit once. There is definitely color in the rinse water. What are other customers experience with resetting the colored Posy yarn. I need some guidance specific to this yarn and your customers – Please no general statements.
Additionally, I’ve been a knitter for many many years and live in SoHo and was there the first day Joelle opened on Thompson or Sullivan. I’ve never had to reset a yarn from Purl. I don’t want to do this several times- I would rather return the yarn.
Knitters please let me know your experience with Posy Yarn color resetting. It’s a pain and unexpected extra work for an expensive yarn. I
Hi and thanks for reaching out! Since Posy is hand-dyed, it often requires re-setting, especially the bright pinks, but it’s really hard to say what will happen going forward as it varies from dye lot to dye lot, and how hard or soft your water is can be a factor as well. Some knitters find that the water runs clear after one or two re-fixing processes, while others may have to go through the procedure four or five times. No matter what, we want you to be happy with your purchase! Please reach out to us at [email protected] and we will be happy to exchange for a different dye lot or find another solution!
Best,
Julianna
Hi there,
Today I had my first ever adventure in re-fixing yarn dye 🙂
I followed the instructions above for Pocket Posy Azalea Glow. My question is this – I gave it two sessions for a total of 4 soaks (2 soaks in citric acid and 2 soaks in “Soak” wool wash). For each of the soaks the yarn leached a small amount of dye. On the 4th soak, there was still a faint pink color in the water (against a white plastic bowl). Should I keep going until the water is completely clear?? Thanks!
Hi Ruth,
Thanks for writing in! It’s really up to you! To be on the absolute safest side you should continue until the water is one hundred percent clear, but if you really can’t wait to get started, you could use a few Shout Color Catchers when you wash your piece for the first time to pick up any stray dye. We usually find the Color Catchers can handle very light dye bleeding!
Best,
Julianna
I’m starting on a sweater with Cobalt Blue Super Soft Merino. The care instructions say Hand Wash Cold. Should I still go through this process? Does this wool need the refix? Will I damage the fiber with the boiling and microwave?
Hi Charolette,
Thanks for reaching out! We haven’t heard of any problems with Super Soft Merino bleeding or transferring color and since the fibers are relatively delicate I would recommend not re-fixing the dye!
I hope this helps and please let us know how the sweater turns out! Happy knitting!
Gianna
I started the Easy Puzzle Blanket with the Linen Quill Salt Water Taffey Colors. Do I need to be concerned with the Bright Flamingo, Super Orange, Eggshell Blue and the Dandelion Yellow? Should I be re-fixing the dye? Of course I have started the blanket but have only completed the Blue and Flamingo on Triangle 1, so I have not yet added in the lighter color. Should I be testing the part I have completed (with the blue and flamingo) to see if these colors bleed with the cold water and vinegar soak and Shout Color Catchers?
Hi Shelly,
Thanks for reaching out! Saturated colors may bleed during blocking, so I do recommend testing a swatch first to see if there is any bleeding. We have a great tutorial on Re-Fixing Dye and exactly how we do it here at Purl!
All the best,
Gianna
I used a stainless steel pan to soak some yellow yarn to see if the dye needed refining. After reading more, I didn’t use the pan any more. Have I ruined it, or could I put it in the dishwasher a couple of times and then use it for cooking again?
Hi Jane,
Thanks for reaching out! This shouldn’t have ruined the pan at all! If you run it through the dishwasher, even once, it should be totally fine to use going forward!
Warmly,
Gianna
Thank you so much! I thought it should be fine.
I appreciate the very clear instructions for refixing dye. I made the Kersti Super Easy baby blanket, and the yellow ran onto the white. So I don’t want that to happen again.
Sincerely,
Jane Ann
Greetings from London.
I am just embarking on the Pocket Full of Posy blanket and read the recommendation to re-fix the dye. Lots of colours! I just soaked the dark purple (black cherry) and a tiny amount of colour came out. I was planning to just test the darker colours and especially the bright reds, oranges and pinks. Is that a reasonable strategy? I am really asking if there are increased risks of transfer with particular colours of dye. I presume I am ok not to fix Pink Nectar, Drizzle Grey, Pink Peppermint, Mourning Dove and Lilac Mist?
Many thanks
Hi Petra,
Thanks for reaching out! Yes, that is correct, there is more concern with bleeding from the darker more saturated shades like Black Cherry! I wouldn’t be too worried about the lighter colors like Pink Nectar, Drizzle Grey, Pink Peppermint, Mourning Dove, and Lilac Mist.
Warmly,
Gianna
Does this refixing process change the color or any other qualities of the yarn? I started working on a one-color project that will require 1.5 skeins of Cattail Silk in Cerulean Velvet. I’ve already started it without fixing the color of the first skein, but I’m planning to use the leftovers in a striped project along with Willow Tea, so I think I should fix my second skein before caking it. But will fixing the second skein change it in a way that will mismatch it with the first skein in the single color project? I hope this makes sense! Thank you!
Hi Cara,
Thanks for reaching out! That is a great question, but no that shouldn’t be an issue! Re-fixing the dye should not change the color or quality of the yarn, it should simply lock the color in to reduce the chances of bleeding. If you would like to test it out first, I would suggest working the process on a small section of yarn to see if there are any changes you experience, and that way you can compare it to the finished project!
I hope this helps, happy crafting!
Gianna
I purchased Posy Yarn for the baby FairIsle. After winding all of the skeins into balls I read the directions about have to re-fix the dye. So I re-skeined the Blue Dusk and Belleflower Blue, re-tied, and followed the process you recommend. Interestingly, the really dark blue (Blue Dusk) never bled. However, even after going through the process two times, the medium blue (Belleflower Blue) is bleeding quite heavily. Can I get this color in another lot? I do not think it is reasonable for me to be spending hours of my time trying to prevent this skein from ruining my entire work. I am a slow knitter and would be heartbroken, and the skein I have is showing no decrease in the amount of bleeding. And might I suggest that, when selling Posy yarn, you include a card with a warning about the need to re-fix dye WITH THE YARN so that people have a heads up right away before balling the yarn!
Hi Ava,
Thanks for reaching out! I am sorry to hear that you are disappointed with the process. Since Posy is hand-dyed, it often requires re-setting, just like any other hand-dyed yarns. No matter what, we want you to be happy with your purchase! Please reach out to us at [email protected] and we will be happy to exchange for a different dye lot or find another solution!
Warmly,
Gianna
If I am using the Cattail Silk in the purple sumac color but will not be using it with any other yarn…should I still try to fix the color? Is it necessary? As long as the color will not be rubbing off on other garments when I wear the shawl I intend to use it for…I wouldn’t be worried about it because I will wash it by itself in any event. Just a little confused as to when this is a necessary procedure and for which yarn.
Hi Stephanie!
Thank you for your question! Since you plan to use one color in your shawl, I think you will be fine to proceed without re-fixing your dye. However, if you would like to wash your finished project with other garments, sometimes it is helpful to follow this guide to prevent any excess dye from bleeding onto other fabrics in the wash. Alternatively, you could follow our hand washing tutorial and wash your project on its own, therefore eliminating any concern about dye bleeding onto other fabrics. Since Cattail Silk is machine washer and dryer friendly, it may be most convenient to re-fix the dye now before machine washing your shawl in the future. However, if you are knitting a shawl that won’t get washed as much as a sweater, for example, hand washing might be easier, so it is really up to you!
All the best,
Margaret
Wool will felt if put in cool water while still hot. Be sure to let the yarn fully cool after removing from the microwave
Can’t you just do multiple soaks with Shout Color Catchers until the water is clear? Or use a few sheets of color catchers before blocking?
Hi Barbara,
Thanks for reaching out! While using a color catcher will stop the dye from running, it’s not the best solution for re-fixing dye. That’s because a color catcher is designed to soak up dye that’s already been released from the yarn or fabric, whereas our technique for re-fixing dye makes sure it doesn’t get released in the first place. So using color catchers multiple times may significantly fade the color of the yarn, since the dye is getting removed! But by re-fixing the dye instead, you can ensure that it won’t run, and the color will remain as vibrant as ever. Hope this helps!
All the best,
Lili
Thank you so much for publishing this tutorial! I finally tried it, and it worked well. I had some skeins of bright Posy that I bought a few years ago. I was worried the microwave would burn the yarn, but it didn’t. They skeins were smaller, so I only microwaved them for about 45 seconds. One question: would I need to do this with Linen Quill before I knit with 2 bright colors next to each other? Thank you!
Hi Mary,
You may need to refix the dye for Linen Quill, as we’ve occasionally found the dye to run, especially in dark saturated colors. However, I would recommend testing the color beforehand, so that you don’t need to go through the process unnecessarily! Just place a snippet of the yarn in a glass of water for a few hours. If the water remains clear, then you’re good to go without refixing, but if the water is tinted with the color of the yarn, then you should refix the dye for that color.
All the best,
Lili
Fantastic! Will do. Thank you so much.