Shirt color bleeds into print

[going slightly mad]

Hi all, I'm in desperate need of some good advice!

On Wednesday my workplace is having a big event, for this event we ordered 200 T-Shirts with our Logo printed on, for all staff to wear but also to give away. The shirt is dark green, our logo a light gray and printed large in the lower left corner (don't ask about the strange positioning, but it looks rather good).

BUT when the shirt is worn the color of the shirt bleeds into the gray print and gives it very ugly stains. I have washed a couple of shirts but it still happens (washed them at 30° Celsius or 86° F, the recommended temperature written on the shirt label though at the moment I'm washing it double that temp hoping for the best). Also the stains that are already there don't go away with washing. It doesn't happen during washing, only when the shirt is worn.

Anyone know whats up with that and even better, how to prevent it? Please tell me someone has a magic cure to fixate that color. I would be eternally grateful, I'm really not looking forward to tell my boss about this

[rhiandmoi]

There are dye fixatives that you can use in the wash or color capturing sheets.

http://www.amazon.com/Retayne-Color-.../dp/B000YZ5HL8

http://www.drugstore.com/products/pr...ELAID=61272540

But is the dye bleeding while you wear the shirt or when you wash it?

ETA: The hot water may be setting the stains, try washing one in cold water.

[AnglRdr]

Are they 100% cotton, or a blend of some sort?

[Mickey is a gyrl]

It sounds like the color wasn't set properly. A cheap solution would be a vinegar rinse, though I'm not sure if that's only good for animal fiber. You need a very acidic solution to set it.

[going slightly mad]

Thanks for the fast replies!

The shirts are 100% cotton.

The color only bleeds when they are worn. Washing at low temperature (lukewarm) doesn't have the same effect. At the moment I'm washing a few at hot to see what happens, so I can't say for sure.

Setting the color with vinegar or similar (I have also heard of salt) sounds great but would that still work when the Shirts are already printed, wouldn't that stain/do something else horrible to the print?

[AnglRdr]

It really sounds as if the dye quality control was bad, and it probably is way too late to get them redone.

I don't know that anything can be done to really correct it, but I don't think vinegar will hurt anything.

[erwins]

You need to call the place that you ordered them from. They need to either tell you how to fix it, how they are going to fix it, or how they are going to get you 200 shirts that don't bleed by Wednesday, correct?

erwins

[going slightly mad]

Originally Posted by AnglRdr

I don't know that anything can be done to really correct it, but I don't think vinegar will hurt anything.

Except that I get the urge to vomit every time I smell vinegar, I'm not sure I'm ready to suffer that much for my job . But I will try it on a few and see if it works.

Originally Posted by erwins

You need to call the place that you ordered them from. They need to either tell you how to fix it, how they are going to fix it, or how they are going to get you 200 shirts that don't bleed by Wednesday, correct?

erwins

I'm afraid I have a better chance of the apocalypse happening tomorrow that getting new shirts before Wednesday. An additional difficulty is, that tomorrow is a national holiday. I probably won't reach anyone (or can buy any supplies like vinegar or salt) until Tuesday. I pretty sure I won't manage to wash, dry and iron 200 T-Shirts and 21 sweaters in just one day. In other words, I'm doomed.

[going slightly mad]

Well, maybe the apocalypse is near, though probably not.

I realized that I had the printers cell phone number and didn't have to rely on his office being manned. So I went against everything my grandmother taught me about manners and called him on a Sunday evening, disturbing his time with wife and kids. Oh well, I'm plenty disturbed too and don't feel guilty for sharing the joy.

According to him he has never heard of anything like this happening before, thing is, I believe him, he has a very good reputation and has been in the business for over a decade. But something went seriously wrong with those shirts because they really aren't supposed to bleed color like that.

He will get them tomorrow morning, he says the only thing he can try is to print over the original design for a second time but he can't promise it will work, or even if they will be finished until Wednesday. There's for hoping.

In the meantie I will try different methods of washing them and see if anything helps. I already tried washing with salt, I don't have vinegar, would lemon juice work you think?

Thanks all very much for the support, I'm very grateful. If you can think of anything else to try, please don't hesitate to recommend it.