Name: Julie

Message: I have scoured your website for the answer to my question with no avail.  I purchased a naturally dyed indigo hemp throw/ blanket from the Black Hmong tribe living in the SaPa region, northern Vietnam.  I had hoped to use the throw, but the colour comes off on your hands and I am wondering how I should wash/ fix the colour so I can wash the fabric?

I'm afraid that I have bad news for you. Many indigo-dyed items that are sold in the tourist trade, particularly in Guatemala or Vietnam, have been improperly dyed and will continue to crock dye no matter what you do. It is often not possible to solve this problem; it may be necessary to return the improperly-dyed items for a refund, which is impractical for items purchased while traveling.

There is no dye fixative that can be used to set improperly dyed indigo. Indigo is a vat dye, so it has a neutral chemical charge, and therefore cannot be fixed with cationic dye fixatives such as Retayne. Your only hope is to wash the items, preferably in hot water, using detergent. You may use vinegar to rinse your fabric, using two to four tablespoons of vinegar per gallon of water, but this will not produce a miracle cure if your textiles have been dyed incorrectly. It merely neutralizes the high pH that is left on indigo-dyed items after dyeing and is truly helpful only for properly-applied indigo.

This is a commonly asked question on my site. See, for example, the following blog posts:

• "How can I stop the dye from rubbing off of fashion denim fabric?" (September 20, 2008)
• "I am looking for something that can fix the dark denim dye in a pair of jeans" (February 21, 2008)
• "I have bought a viscose denim coloured two piece, and I was wondering if there is any treatment that would hold the colour, as it rubs onto undergarments" (May 13, 2008)
• "How do you block the color of cotton blue jeans from bleeding?" (June 23, 2007)
• "How do I stop the blue denim color from running?" (October 10, 2007)

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