Prewash Xmarks PV tartan?

[Tartan Tess]

That is what I am cautious about. I don't want any goin north, goin south on this kilt, after the first washing. After all, that is what PV is all about right? We can wash it in the machines.
I am from the timeline when we would buy 501 Levi jeans and sit in a bathtub of water to "shrink to fit" us.

[Steve Ashton]

The X Marks Tartan woven in P/V is done for us by Marton Mills. It is the highest quality Polyester/Rayon blend fabric available. It is perfectly safe to machine wash and machine dry.

The dark Blue/Gray color used for the X Marks Tartan is a very hard color to achieve. The yarns are vat dyed and they use A LOT of dye. The fabric after weaving and finishing does have excess dye still on it. Sometimes there is so much dye that it will come off on your hands as you handle the fabric.

We suggest that everyone pre-wash their fabric to remove this excess dye. It will not fade the Tartan, you are just getting rid of the excess.

We suggest a machine washing in cold water with liquid detergent. Use a permanent press or gentle cycle if your machine has one.

The X Marks fabric is Teflon coated. The cold water wash should not remove this coating.

A caution ----- If your fabric is already cut length-wise you may wish to zig-zag or overcast the raw edges to prevent fraying. There will not be much fraying but there will be some long yarns that tend to wrap around the fabric while it is agitating in the machine. This may trap the excess dye in tight folds which defeats the whole purpose of the prewash.

This fabric can be safely machine dried. We suggest a permanent press setting or low heat depending on your machine.

I have actually measured Marton Mills fabrics before and after washing and drying to determine if there is any shrinkage. I can find no appreciable shrinkage.

Wash and dry your X Marks Tartan fabric without fear. It is good stuff.

[Tartan Tess]

Thanks Steve. I really like the feel of this fabric.

[Burly Brute]

I think this tartan has been on hold for a few years. Maybe Marton mills did a run once eh?
I agree Alan, I would rather beat it up before I sew it.
Burly Brute just wash it alone so you don't have to worry about the blue bleeding onto your best shirt or anything else of value. Or wash it with towels or something that wouldn't be a crisis if the color morfed onto the other items.

I should have made more sense in my post, I tend to do that haha. Anyhow, I meant the other colors of the tartan itself, how does one keep it from bleeding into them? Or does it?

[sydnie7]

There's a product called "color catcher," I think from the Shout laundry line. They look something like dryer sheets but you put them in the wash and supposedly they absorb excess dye from the wash water before it can deposit on other fabric/other colors in the same fabric.

I've used up a few boxes of them over the years, don't put them in every wash but when I have a new garment or something like the XMarks fabric that I suspect might shed excess dye. Can't say that they have prevented any disasters, but I haven't had any disasters when using them.

Seems to be a free sample offer going HERE but can't promise that is still a good link, it just popped up in my URL history.

[Alan H]

My bad....or maybe "you learn something new every day"!

Thanks Steve.