Are tie dyed shirts machine washable if I apply soda ash?

I used Procion MX dye to dye a cotton shirt, and I added soda ash to prevent it from bleeding and ruining the rest of my white shirts (that I wash in the same batch). However, I have heard that the soda ash will just help it bleed less. Will it ruin the rest of my white shirts if I wash them altogether? Thanks.

Yes, Procion MX dyed clothing is machine washable. If you followed a good recipe for tie-dyeing with Procion MX dyes and soda ash, then all you have to do now is remove the unattached excess dye. To do this, wash once in cool water, to remove the soda ash, then wash two or three times in the hottest water available, 140°F or higher. The heat of the water is what makes the dye wash-out work efficiently; cooler water will not work as well, so you'd have to wash it more.

After you have washed out all of the unattached excess dye in hot water, preferably in the washing machine, your shirts will be safe to wash at any temperature with any color of clothing. Unlike all-purpose dye (such as Rit or Tintex), which bleeds in the wash and should be hand-washed separately, Procion dyes bond permanently to the fiber in your cotton shirts. This permanent bond will not be broken even by boiling water.

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[Portions of this answer were first posted, by me, on Yahoo answers, on September 20, 2008.]