The Causes and Solutions of Dye Bleeding

Dye bleeding is a common problem in the dry cleaning industry. No matter whether it is in the dry cleaning, water cleaning, or the stain removal process, it can all happen. If people want to effectively prevent the color bleeding, they should handle the color bleeding. People should first know the reasons why the color bleeding happens so that they can do targeted prevention and restoration measures.

The Common Reasons for Dye Bleeding

● Poor color fastness

The color fastness is the firmness of the dyes on the textiles. If the quality of the dyes in the dyeing process is not good or the color fixation process is not sufficient, color fading and dye bleeding will easily occur. 

If people dry-clean clothes with oil-soluble dyes, the dyes will easily dissolve and transfer onto other clothes. 

If some dyes are unstable when they contact water, their colors will fade and contaminate other parts of this piece of clothing or other clothes when they are washed in water. 

When people remove stains, using some wet or dry chemical agents may also cause the dye migration and bleeding.

● Excessively high temperature of the solutions

The dry cleaning solvents’ chemical activity will increase at a high temperature, and their stain removal ability also increases. But it will easily dissolve the dyes in the textiles. Many dry cleaning shops will heat the dry cleaning solvents to improve the ability of stain removal. Though this method can help remove some stubborn stains, it also greatly increases the risk of dye bleeding.

● Improper water washing process

Even though people use dyes when dyeing some textiles, if the textiles are of low quality, they will still have problems with dye bleeding during water washing. In addition, the mechanical forces in the washing are not enough and cannot effectively wash away the dyes, which will also cause the dye bleeding. For example, the long-term soaking of clothes will more easily have the dye migration than the clothes that are often stirred when washing.

● The Nonstandard Stain Removal Operation

When doing the partial stain removal, people should put the white towels on the back of the clothes to absorb the colors that have fallen off. If there is no such operation, the fallen colors may contact 

When removing stains locally, a white towel should be placed on the back to absorb the fallen color. If this operation is not done, the fallen color may adhere to other parts of the clothes or another piece of clothing. In addition, using alkaline or protein-based stain removers will cause color bleeding on delicate fabrics such as silk and wool.

Prevention and Repair Methods for Dye Bleeding

● The Prevention during dry cleaning

- Control the temperature of the solvent: Use the cold solutions or low-temperature solutions to decrease its ability to dissolve the dyes.

- Avoid water: If the dye bleeding situation happens during dry cleaning. Please pay attention to avoid using water or water-based stain removers.

Once dye bleeding occurs in the dry cleaning process, people should dry clean it again immediately and use pure solvents to further dissolve and remove the free dyes.

● Anti-dye bleeding measures for water cleaning

- Choose the acid detergent: An Acid environment can help the stability of some dyes and reduce the dye bleeding phenomena.

- Low water temperature: Low-temperature washing can reduce the dye activity. It can effectively wash away the free dyes with the cooperation of the industrial washing machines’ sufficient stirring and rinsing.

If people find dye bleeding after water washing, they should immediately use industrial washing machines to rewash the clothes. Strengthening the water circulation can help the dye be discharged.

● Stain removal

- In any stain removal operations, people should put a white towel under the clothes to absorb any possible fallen dyes.

- Adopting a professional lubricant can keep the dyes suspended in the liquid without redepositing, which makes it easy to remove.

- If some parts already had dye bleeding, people can try to use a steam gun with compressed air to push the dye onto the towel and achieve rapid drying to prevent further diffusion.

Bleaching for Restoration

If the dye bleeding is severe and the original cleaning cannot store the clothes, people can consider using bleach. The premise is that the test should be first to ensure the bleach cannot damage the original color of the clothes. This requires experienced employees to do so.

● Common types of bleach:

Titanium sulfate: For various fabrics, especially suitable for certain natural fibers.

Sodium hypochlorite: For fabrics like cotton, linen, rayon, or polyester. (strictly control concentration and application time)

Mild oxidizing bleach: Try low-concentration oxygen-based bleaches. Soaking time must be short to avoid damaging the base dye.

Conclusion

Though the dye bleeding problem is common, a dry cleaning shop can effectively control the risk by mastering the above scientific precautions and restoration methods. The key is standard process, suitable solvents and auxiliaries, and immediate and correct actions when facing problems. Continuously training employees and strictly obeying the operation standards are reliable guarantees for avoiding disputes and improving service quality.