Wash jeans in vinegar to set the dye
April 14th, 2008Dark-wash denim can rub off onto shoes, clothes and skin. This is especially annoying when you’re wearing white. You’d think that merchandise would fail quality control standards if dye bled off garments, but sadly this isn’t the case. Instead you’ll find a swing ticket attached to the garment stating something along the lines of “garment dye may stain clothing”. So what is a girl to do when we’ve painstakingly found the perfect pair of jeans?
Stephanie recently shared the answer on the forum: soak those jeans in a bucket of vinegar and water overnight. The acidity of the vinegar helps to set the dye. Wash and hang dry afterwards and you’ll notice less bleeding the next time you wear them. I tried this in January with my ink blue denim clamdiggers from Zara and it has definitely helped. The dye has set a little more, and my hands aren’t blue after a day’s wear.
I believe that you get your money’s worth when it comes to jeans. I have two pairs of ink blue Diesel jeans that were expensive. They have never rubbed off onto my clothes, shoes, handbag or skin. I suppose setting the dye is just too expensive a process for the manufacturers to use on less pricey jeans.
April 14th, 2008 at 7:14 am
Great tip.
I’ll give it a try, I just hope they don’t smell like easter eggs in the end.
April 14th, 2008 at 7:24 am
I forgot about this!!!!!!!!! Thanks!
April 14th, 2008 at 7:36 am
I’ll also give this a try. I have had an ‘accident’ in the past when the dye from dark jeans stained my white leather handbag, and still haven’t been able to completely remove the dye from the bag
April 14th, 2008 at 8:54 am
How many parts vinegar to how many parts water?
April 14th, 2008 at 9:57 am
Thanks for the tip Angie! I was wondering if you can do this even after you’ve washed them a couple of times, or if it only works if you’ve never washed them before? I have a denim skirt that I’ve washed a couple times but I still haven’t worn due to the fear it would bleed onto my light colored clothing. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to just try and soak it.
Tanya, have you tried nail polish remover? This helped me when dye bled onto my white leather shoes. Just test an inconspicuous spot first.
April 14th, 2008 at 10:05 am
P.S. What is the ratio of vinegar to water, does anyone know?
April 14th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
To set dye in items, I soak in vinegar/water for a while and then throw them in the wash with only a bit of soap to avoid the ‘easter egg’ syndrome.
This is also a good idea for items w/ alot of red or purple in them. Purple for me tends to wear unevenly so then you have weird blue-ish or pink-ish splotches in the fading purple…
April 14th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Tanya, have you tried nail polish remover on your handbag? Angie suggested this for some white leather shoes I had that had the blue dye stain on them. It worked pretty well. Just test an inconspicuous place first.
How much vinegar to water should we soak it in, does anyone know?
April 14th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
The jeans won’t smell like easter eggs. I put vinegar in the wash all the time- it eliminates smells. Like when you leave the towels in the washing machine too long, and they get that musty funky odor. Just add vinegar and rewash, and the vinegar neutralizes the odors.
April 14th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
I’m going to sound obtuse and I apologize. I never measure anything. I’m a cook and don’t bake. I filled a bucket with water. Tossed in some vinegar (perhaps a quarter of a cup?) and submerged my jeans. There was enough water to cover the jeans completely. Left them overnight and washed them regularly the next morning. No pong.
April 15th, 2008 at 2:02 am
This problem is called ‘crocking’. Its caused by dye not pentetrating the fabric properly.
http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/FAQ/settingdye.shtml says
“vinegar can do nothing useful for cotton dyes. Vinegar will help set some acid dyes, but only if applied while it is gradually heated to a simmer (generally in the presence of salt), solely in cases in which this necessary part of acid dyeing was omitted; acid dyes are used on silk, wool, or nylon, but never cotton”
Id say any success with vinegar is due to the dye being removed by the act of washing. Some people say that salt will also help, but again, its not the case.
The site recommends the use of a product called Retayne http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/FAQ/fixative.shtml
April 15th, 2008 at 9:18 am
Sorry about the double post!