Help! My shirts are all ruined!

[Mimmy Mouse]

I have been making shirts, almost 30 to date, to get ready for our upcoming trip. I am going to WDW and on the Wonder with my 4 grandkids and my 2 dd and one sil in the fall. Shirts for 8 people. The kids and I had so much fun picking out what designs were their favorites. I started putting them on shirts last month. Well, 3 of the girls wanted to wear one of their shirts last week. I let them pick one to wear and was going to wash it and put away again for the trip. When I washed them (inside out, delicate, no dryer) they all ran. I am so upset. I have even made shirts for a friend's daughter that is also going to the World. Now, all these shirts will become disposible shirts. Wear once and them throw out. The girls don't know yet that their shirts are ruined.

Any thoughts as to what I did wrong? I used one pack of Wilton transfers. The rest were Print Works for colors. I prewashed all the shirts.

 

[bethbuchall]

I am so sorry that happened to your shirts. Unfortunately, I don't have any help for you.

I have used dark transfers by Avery and an HP printer (on "best") and not had any problems. I don't know if it was your transfers or the type of ink in your printer or something else. Is there a customer service phone number or e-mail on the transfer package? Is there a possibility that you didn't iron quite long enough to set the ink? How badly did it run? Is it something that you could try to bleach off?

I'm sorry that I don't have any answers for you. Maybe someone else here can help. I think that I would start with customer service for the transfers.

 

[jenketeer]

Maybe you could find some type of clear coat spray fabric paint or even regular since it sounds like you would have to throw all your shirts out it might be worth a shot. They might get hard I'm guessing . I would imagine this would set the colors. If it was me I would try it since I imagine with that many shirts they were expensive. Hope everything works out for you. Jenketeer

 

[KBerly]

I'm so sorry. Maybe you could call a fabric store and ask their advice. I didn't use those particular brands (I used both Avery Dark and ones from an Ebayer) but didn't have any color bleed. Ihope that you can save the other shirts.

 

[LuvMyLittleBoy]

When I washed them (inside out, delicate, no dryer) they all ran. I am so upset.
Any thoughts as to what I did wrong? I

I am not sure but maybe this is what went wrong. My pkg of Avery transfers said to wash inside out (it didn't say delicate cycle so I did regular), cold water, remove and dry immediately. Maybe because of the delicate cycle and the fact that the shirts were not put in the dryer caused the colours to run. Here is what my instructions say regarding this "Remove promptly from washer. Colours may bleed if left wet too long. If bleeding occurs, rewash immediately. Tumble dry on low heat. Add towels to improve drying." Delicate cycle tends to leave the shirts damper and if they were line dried they might have ran while drying. I am not sure, but this could be the problem. Maybe you could take a test shirt (one that is not a favourite) wash it in cold, on regular cycle and throw it immediately into the dryer. If it doesn't run you have your answer. If not I would contact the manufacturer of the transfers and complain. Goodluck. And I am so sorry this happened . I hope the rest of your shirts stay OK.

Kim

 

[LuvMyLittleBoy]

Oh and one more thing. My pkg of Staples transfers said that for the first time shirts should be washed individually and not with other items. So one at a time for each shirt. My goodness. That's a lot of

 

[Mimmy Mouse]

Everyone, thank you for your advice. Haven't figured anything out yet.

 

[KristineN]

I have a thread somewhere on this whole subject....

certain inks are more wash resistant than others...such as pigment based dyes (Epson uses this brand)

always print on a normal setting...the paper can not absorb all the ink if you print on a high quality setting

lastly spray your design with scotch guard....2 coats on the front....then turn the shirt inside out and spray the back of the design with 2 coats. More than anything, this makes a HUGE difference.

 

[dsnycrzy]

So do you spray the scotch guard on immediately after ironing on transfer? I know you are suppose to wash them again after doing the transfer? Or after the 2nd wash?

 

[KristineN]

after they cool, use the scotch guard....I wash the shirts prior to doing the iron on..I DO NOT wash them again until I wear them on vacation

So do you spray the scotch guard on immediately after ironing on transfer? I know you are suppose to wash them again after doing the transfer? Or after the 2nd wash?

 

[dsnycrzy]

thanks so much. I strart my t-shirts tomorrow, my 1st time . I'm just making sure I learn as much as I can from you guys

 

[LuvMyLittleBoy]

I have been prewashing and putting the shirts in the drier before doing the transfers. As per transfer (Avery) instructions after ironing on the transfers, I wash them inside out (cold reg cycle) and dry immediately. I have not Scotch guarded any shirts and none have ran. I am going on 15 shirts made and washed so far. I am using a HP Deskjet printer with HP ink. I like washing them after they are finished...at least this way after one or two made I knew if they were going to run or not. I would have hated to find out like the OP after making 30 shirts. Oh and the instructions said to wash each shirt individually which I did for about the 1st 5 shirts. I then thought this is too much and washed white shirts with other white shirts made and colours with colours....no running. I just made sure I only wash about a max of 4-5 shirts at a time.
Good luck.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I had mine done at the mall, and the first one I washed ran all over. I washed it inside out, on cold, with vinegar and no detergent per the instructions from the guy at the shop. I hung it to dry and I think that made the ink bleed. I washed it again and that made it better, but still blurry. I took it back and they made me a new one, which I washed in cold water and vinegar on the regular setting and IMMEDIATELY dried in the dryer. That shirt was fine, and I washed the other four all together and they were fine too. Good luck!

 

[lil_ragamuffins]

This info is good to know. Thanks!

 

[Donald & Daisy Duck]

thanks Kristine for your "scotch guard" advice. i printed my shirts and will be scotchguarding them when they cool.

 

[Mischa]

I'm sorry to hear about your shirts. But I am glad I found your post. I haven't done any shirts yet, but am planning on doing a bunch for a couple of upcoming trips. So I appreciate all the advice.