• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
TREASURIE
  • FREE PATTERNS
  • Sewing
    • Techniques
    • How to Sew
    • Embroidery
    • Quilting
    • Face Mask
    • Fashion Types
    • Fabric Care
    • Fabric Types
    • Sewing Tools
  • Crochet
  • Crafts
    • Knitting
    • Tie Dye
    • Paper Crafts
    • Paper Mache
    • Cricut
    • Christmas
  • SHOP
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Sewing
  • Patterns
  • Crochet
  • Crafts
  • Shop
search icon
Homepage link
  • Sewing
  • Patterns
  • Crochet
  • Crafts
  • Shop
×

Home » Sewing » Sewing Techniques

Color Fastness - How to Test Colorfastess in Fabric

Sharing is caring!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Print

Testing for color fastness before sewing clothing is especially important when your item will be washed over and over. Imagine if you made a beautiful red and white spotted dress with a white ruffle and the red ran all over the ruffle after the first wash. Disaster! It would be awful if all your hard work sewing or an expensive item was ruined in the first wash.

color fastness
Test for Color Fastness

How to Test for Color Fastness

Ideally, you should always pre-wash your sewing fabrics. Not just to test for their color fastness but also to pre-shrink.

If pre-washing fabric is not possible, here is how you can still check for colorfastness.

Further Reading - How to Prewash Fabric

Step 1 - Cut Scraps

Cut small pieces of your fabric and sew them onto a piece of white fabric roughly double in size.

Make sure your white fabric is cotton or another natural fiber such as linen. Polyester doesn’t absorb dye so you won’t get accurate results when doing a color fastness test.

color fastness test
Color Fastness Test

Step 2 - Fold the Fabric 

Fold the white fabric in half so the colored fabrics are sandwiched in the middle.

Wet the fabrics thoroughly the way you wish to wash your final sewn item. This may be in hot water or cold water and with or without soap. Generally hot water with soap results in the greatest color transfer.

Leave your test color fastness fabric for half an hour still folded up.

color fastness test
Color Fastness Test

Step 3 - Check the Results

Check whether the white fabric has any dye transferred onto it.

You can see from my test that the darker denim and the red run while the chambray and light blue do not. I would not put a white cotton lace on the denim or red since it would probably have some dye transfer.

Color Fastness for Fabrics
Color Fastness for Fabrics

Color Fastness - Problem Solving

If the colored fabric is running, then you could try washing it in a salt wash to set the dyes better. A small amount of white vinegar can also be tested. Test a small scrap for color fastness before you dunk your whole fabric into either salt or vinegar.

There are also commercial products available to stop dye running.

However, if you still find the color is bleeding even after washing the fabric, you might just be better using it for another project without contrasting colors.

Do you test your fabrics before washing? Comment below.

More Fabric Articles

  • How to Fray Fabric
  • How to Stop Fabric Fraying
  • How to Preshrink Fabric
  • Fabric Marking
  • Stiffening Fabric
4.5/5 - (2 votes)

More Sewing Techniques

  • Stretch Stitch
    Stretch Stitch - Best Stretchy Stitch for Sewing Knits
  • Double Stitched Seam
    Double Stitched Seam - Best Methods & Tutorial
  • Slot Seams
    Slot Seams - How to Sew a Slot Seam the Easy Way
  • Serged Seams
    Serged Seams - Sewing and Finishing with a Serger

Bestselling Sewing Patterns

  • Girls Dress Pattern
  • Dress Pattern
  • Bodysuit Pattern
  • Skirt Pattern
  • Bloomers Pattern
  • Hat Pattern
  • Girls Dress Pattern
  • Dress Pattern
  • Bodysuit Pattern
  • Skirt Pattern
  • Bloomers Pattern
  • Hat Pattern

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Treasurie

    August 23, 2017 at 12:54 am

    Quilts are so much work it is better to be safe and prewash the fabrics. Good luck with all your quilting and thanks for reading my post 🙂

  2. Cathy Green

    August 22, 2017 at 11:19 pm

    I'm making a king size quilt for our bed and one of the fabrics is a deep, saturated brown. I'm thinking i had better prewash everything. Not using precuts in this quilt, so I will serge all the raw edges and put like-colors through the wash together with a couple color catchers.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Pattern Shop

Newsletter

loader

Popular

  • Face Mask Pattern 
  • How to Make Cushion Covers 
  • Burp Cloth Pattern – 3 Styles
  • How to Make a Scrunchie {2 sizes}
  • How to Make a Pillowcase
  • 6 Best Seam Finishes for Fabric
  • How to Gather
  • How to Make Curtains
  • How to Make a Quilt
  • How to Tie Dye
  • Sewing Machine Brands
  • How to Make a Scrunchie
  • How to Sew a Rip
  • How to Make Tassels
  • Types of Skirts
  • Sewing Projects for Beginners
  • Fabric Names

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy/Copyright
  • Sewing Pattern Shop
  • Printing Help
  • Disclaimers/Affiliate/Advertising
  • Site Map

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for emails and updates

Social

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Popular

  • How to Sew
  • How to Embroider
  • How to Crochet
  • Fashion Styles
  • How to Macrame
  • How to Knit
  • How to Tie Dye

Copyright © 2022 Treasurie. All rights reserved.