I’m a big believer in washing my cross stitch after I’m finished, and whilst I know there are people out there that don’t wash their cross stitch, I recently started washing my aida before I cross stitch.
I know this initially sounds crazy, however there is a method to my madness, and washing your aida (or any fabric) before you start your cross stitch has one major benefit.
Why you should you wash it?
I short, dyes. Unlike problems with thread dye lot issues, this is a dye problem that goes under the eyes of many of us cross stitchers. In fact, it took a decade before I actually started to think about what was happening.
When you wash your fabric, the dye leaks out. And I don’t just mean a bit of leakage, I mean loads. And its not just black aida that has this either. We tested all of the best cross stitch aida brands using an inch by inch square in a pint of cold water for 10 minutes.
Left to right; Cream Aida, Black Aida, Navy Aida, Moss Green Aida, Christmas Red Aida, Red Aida
This dye on its own might not seem that problematic considering it’s only a little bit, but our test was using a 1 inch by 1 inch square in a pint of water. If you scale this up, its like stitching a 12 by 12 inch bit of aida in a whole bath of water. I imagine there are only a few of us out there willing to use a whole bath of water to wash our cross stitch, even if you aren’t an eco cross stitcher.
This dye isn’t going to totally change the color of your threads, however it will take that shine off, leaving you with something with a little less pop. This can be a serious problem with cross stitches of bright colors on black aida like my recent Star Trek Enterprise LCARS cross stitch, but it’ll even have impacts on smaller projects too.
How to wash it
Now we have the “why” sorted out, the solution is simple, wash your aida. And we don’t mean you have to go fancy like how you wash your cross stitch. No, you can just chuck the whole thing in a bowl of water for half an hour. Rinse once your done (just to make sure none of the dye is left on the fabric and dry). You don’t have to iron, blot or stretch the fabric either, as the cross stitch frame or hoop will do the work for you.
Happy stitching,
Lord Libidan
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why do cross stitch threads bleed?
Hand-dyed cross stitch threads and embroidery threads of poor quality can bleed as the dyes used to make them are not colorfast. By using trusted embroidery thread suppliers with colorfast dyes, you can ensure no thread bleed. However, it should be noted that using chemicals such as bleach can cause colorfast-dyed threads to bleed.
How can I prevent color bleeding when washing cross stitch?
Using colorfast threads from quality embroidery thread manufacturers will avoid bleeding, however, if you are using hand-dyed threads/fabric or are concerned by the possibility of bleeding, use cold water to wash your cross stitch.
Are certain brands more prone to bleeding?
Some cross stitch thread and fabric brands are more prone to bleeding as they do not use colorfast dyes. Cheaper cross stitch threads that claim to use colorfast dyes but sometimes do not, regularly bleed.
Does washing help soften the Aida at all? I haven’t used Aida for over 30 years, and I’m remembering why I swore never to use it again. I’ll never understand why it’s the standard in kits etc. except it’s cheap. It’s stiff and I actually find the holes harder to get into than linen or even weave. But Aida was the only black I could find for my next project, which I may not even do I dislike it so much. Was hoping off the bolt might have been softer……. It’s why I haven’t bought a kit in that long either, so I could source the fabric I wanted to use.
Washing aida will make it softer, but the main factor in softness is quality. The higher the quality, the softer the aida.
Sadly kits always cheap out and put bad quality aida in.
Wise advice! Another reason to wash your fabric before you start: this may not apply to aida, but I stitch mainly on linen and it can shrink.
Do you wash in warm or cold water?
Washing in cold will solve lots of issues with shrinking and bleeding. So I would always go cold, but warm is fine too (there’s just not advantage to washing in warm water).