Name: Mallory
Message: I bought fashion denim at the fabric store and in the process of making it I got the blue dye all over my hands. I got it off my hands okay. What I would like to know is what can and put on it to keep it from bleeding out more when I wash it and wear it. 

Indigo blue denim has special problems with crocking, which is what the unwanted transfer of dye from dry fabric is called. 

Proper application of this type of dye by the manufacturer is critical. Indigo is a vat dye, which means that it is chemically reduced to its soluble form, applied to the fabric, then oxidized back to an insoluble form. If indigo dye is applied to fabric at too great a concentration, instead of being applied several times at a low concentration, the dye will fail to penetrate the fiber, so there will be particles of dye on the outside of the fibers, where they can easily rub off.

Other kinds of dye can be set with the use of cationic dye fixatives such as Retayne. Unfortunately, these dye fixatives are ineffective for use on indigo. There is no dye fixative that can be used to prevent indigo dye from rubbing off of poorly dyed denim fabric.

There are only two things I can recommend to you. One is to wash the denim repeatedly, in the hottest water possible. In some cases this will be all you have to do to solve your problem. If, however, the dye continues to rub off of the dry denim, even after you have washed it several times, you must return the fabric to the store from which you bought it. The store should give you a refund if they sell you defective fabric, and fabric that continues to crock dye even after washing is certainly defective. I doubt that they will give you any refund for the time and trouble you have invested into sewing this fabric, however. I hope that washing in hot water will do the job for you.

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