hopefully the mods can make this a sticky, but i simply had to post due to my recent costume mishaps. i am dealing with synthetic fabrics here, which are difficult when dye stains occur.

i have a nurse costume i made, which is a white mesh short dress. i sewed a red spandex applique onto it. when the item dried, it left horrid red streaks onto the white. it had been handwashed in gentle detergent. NOTHING solved this issue. not even a bleach & water mix. this didnt happen to my previous costume i made like this one. i wound up removing the applique and using rit color remover on the dress (the item is mostly made of spandex). so, ladies, before you sew on an applique, wash the red fabric in warm water and hang dry. sometimes companies don't set the red dyes into their fabrics properly (this shouldnt occur with synthetic fabrics usually, it's more common with cottons). do this a few times. i had read somewhere that vinegar will seal in red dye, but i haven't tried it yet. if you have, let me know.

my other costume, which is also white with red trim, had the same issue. however, this is a different fabric blend: mostly polyester with spandex. item care said do not bleach. so i tried carbona color run, which helped only a teeny bit. some had gotten on the all-white skirt, which i bleached out using 2 tablespoons clorox and warm water. so on the top i tried a clorox bleach pen on a small section, and i put a teeny bit on the red trim, to test for colorfastness. no fading on the red (bleach doesnt seem to effect dyes with polyesters or spandex, but beware of the item's stitching). so i broke down and put 2 tablespoons of bleach in 1 qt warm water and let it soak for hours. ta da! red stains gone! yay! made sure when i hung up the item that the red trim was at the bottom to prevent more staining while drying.

so my notes here on how to deal with this:
* keep the item wet! dont let it dry, this sets the stains in.
* try a second washing first, with warm water.
* when testing a method, only dip a small section of the item first to test it. yes, you may ruin an outfit. what works for one piece doesnt always work for another.
* try carbona color run remover first (rit's brightener and whitener did nothing for me)
* 1 tbs of ammonia, with 1 tbs of detergent and 1 qt warm water. i tried this, it only made the excess red bleed out, didn't help the stains on white. it may work for a different fabric blend.
* try 2 tbs bleach & 1 qt warm/hot water (try the clorox bleach pen on a section first)
* as a last resort, use rit's color remover. this will wreck red trim and should be used only on whites.