Name: Mack
Message: Would it help to put something in the washer to neutralize the soda ash and prevent color bleeding when washing out several items at once?  I use dry acid to lower the ph in my swiming pool, so I thought it might work in the wash, also.  

No, actually you don't want to neutralize the soda ash chemically. There's no need. Soda ash is a major constituent of most laundry detergents. All you need to do is rinse it out. Unlike chlorine bleach, soda ash rinses out cleanly from fabric.

Neutralizing the pH will do nothing to prevent color bleeding. If you have dyed your own clothing (or purchased high quality tie-dyes) with fiber reactive dyes, all you need to do is wash out all of the unattached dye, which is best done by washing once in cool water (to remove the soda ash and any other auxiliary chemicals), and then two or three times in very hot water.

If you purchase clothing which is not washfast, acid will not keep it from bleeding. What you need in that case is a commercial cationic dye fixative, such as Retayne or Raycafix. The positively charged particles of the dye fixative cling to the negatively charged particles of most dyes, effectively enlarging them and sticking them more firmly into the fabric. You can purchase Retayne, Raycafix and similar dye fixatives from many of the different companies listed on my Sources for Dyeing Supplies page

Here is a summary of the uses of acid in home dyeing:

• Acid is used instead of soda ash when dyeing wool, silk, and nylon. (Silk can also be dyed with soda ash.) The acid used in this case is generally a very weak acid, though. Dyers use vinegar, diluted acetic acid, citric acid, or ammonium sulfate, all of which are much weaker than the acid that you use in your swimming pool. 

• A strong acid, muriatic acid, is used when it is necessary to remove a permanent press finish (e.g., see ProChem's instructions), but since, as you probably know already, muriatic acid is quite dangerous, this is not a commonly recommended procedure for novice dyers.   

• The sodium bisulfate sold as 'dry acid' for swimming pools, which is safer and less caustic than muriatic acid, is used in 'devore' processes in which the acid burns out a cellulose fiber from a blend, such as a rayon/silk blend, leaving a pattern; see ProChem's instructions for the devoré process. Do not confuse sodium bisulfate, the acid, with sodium bisulfite, the bleach neutralizer! The mnemonic for which of these two similar-sounding chemicals is which: "bisulfATE ate my fabric".  
  

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