Kimono Fabric Colorfastness

First, let me say that the kimono fabrics I have worked with that have patterns stenciled or stamped on a solid color have all been relatively colorfast when using the right tools.

[Pink kimono with hand stamped designs – no color loss. Gold outlines still intact.]

Even kimono with a mixture of painted and woven patterns are also fairly easy to avoid color bleed if you are careful.

Please stick to the steps and formula below when washing any kimono fabric. I have made mistakes. I got too cocky recently and did not test a red Meisen kimono enough and it caused the white in the pattern to turn pink. Please, please, please learn from my mistake. 

[Original fabric photo above an image taken after the bleed. Note that white has gone pink and blue has faded.]

[Note how red the color catcher is in the picture above. I had 4 color catchers in the load, but did not use enough Synthrapol for the quantity of fabric.]

As you can see in the photos above, there was quite a bit of bleed of the red that made the white weft threads turn pink. For me it was a catastrophic mistake. As a hand dyer, I should know better. That being said, I did make a bag using some of the fabric and I lined it with some fabric I custom dyed. Funny enough, people love the bag, and they love the way the fabric changed. When washed twice, the Meisen lost its sheen but became buttery soft. So, even a disaster resulted in a lovely result.

Take a look at the bag in one of my other posts.

Follow my recipe in the next post and always test wash a small section of every fabric before washing the rest of that fabric.