Color Bleeding

What is color bleeding?#

Color bleeding happens when dye comes off a fabric in washing and transfers to other areas: white or light panels in the same garment, labels, trims, or other garments in the wash. It is a consumer-facing problem, often found only after the garment is sold, and a common reason for complaints and returns.

It is tested as the staining part of color fastness to washing.

What it looks like#

• Dark color spreading into white collars, cuffs, stripes or piping.
• Staining on care labels and inside seams.
• Colored wash water in the first washes.
• Staining on other items washed with the garment.
• Low staining grades on the multifiber strip in test reports.

Where it occurs#

• Garments combining dark and light colors: colorblock designs, white trims on dark bodies, stripes.
• Deep shades: red, navy, black, dark green.
• Printed garments with poorly cured pigment or reactive prints.
• Garment-dyed and washed products.

Likely causes#

Most bleeding is caused by dye that is not fixed to the fiber and has not been removed by washing-off after dyeing. Some dye classes also have limited fastness at higher wash temperatures. The risk grows when a garment combines a dark part with a white or light part that can be stained.

Machine-related causes#

• Insufficient soaping and rinsing after reactive dyeing, leaving unfixed dye.
• Fixation conditions: temperature, alkali and time outside the recipe.
• Print curing too short or too cool for pigment prints.

Material-related causes#

• Dye class not suited to the fiber or the required wash fastness.
• Deep shades with high dye loads.
• Trims and labels dyed with low-fastness dyes.

Operator and process-related causes#

• Garment washing at a higher temperature or longer time than specified.
• Shortened processes to save time.

Method-related causes#

• No wash test of the combined garment, only of each fabric on its own.
• Care label instructions that allow a higher temperature than the fabric can take.

How to confirm the cause#

1. Test color fastness to washing of the dark fabric to the buyer's method, and check staining grades.
2. Wash a whole garment under the care label conditions and look for staining on light parts.
3. Test trims and prints separately.
4. Review dyeing and washing-off records for the lot.
5. Compare with a lot that passed.

Immediate containment#

• Hold the fabric lot and garments already produced.
• Wash-test garments from bulk.
• Stop production of colorblock or contrast garments using the lot.

Corrective action#

Preventive action#

• Wash fastness tests of each color at development and in bulk.
• Garment wash tests for any design combining dark and light parts.
• Trim testing for color fastness.
• Dyehouse process control for washing-off.
• Care labels based on test evidence.

Inspection notes#

• Bleeding is found by testing, not by visual inspection of new garments.
• Keep test reports linked to fabric lots and styles.
• A failed staining grade or visible staining after a garment wash is normally a reason to hold the lot.

Example investigation#

A navy polo with white tipping on the collar shows blue staining on the tipping after a home wash. The navy body fabric passed its own wash test. The collar was knitted with navy and white yarns, and the navy yarn came from a different dyehouse. Testing the collar alone gives poor staining on cotton. The collar yarn dyehouse had shortened soaping. Future collar yarn lots were tested before knitting, and a whole-garment wash test was added for contrast styles.

Bleeding compared with other color problems#

Factory checklist#

• Each color tested for wash fastness
• Combined garment wash tested for contrast designs
• Trims and prints tested
• Dyeing and washing-off records reviewed for problem lots
• Care label matches test conditions

Related guides: poor rubbing fastness, shade variation.