Q: Still one of the most common problems out there: How do I correct garments when bleach has dropped onto it?

A: Bleach stains are one of the hardest things to resolve. As noted in a previous newsletter, it's sometimes best to trash the garment and learn the hard lesson. For the times, where it's a garment of personal or high value where disposal is not an option, there are a few ways to approach this depending on the spotting

• If the bleach spots are isolated and not large, you can use a colorant to try to touch it up. Although it's quite hard to rematch the colour, we find that G&S Liquid Colors the best product for touching up.

After mixing the correct colour, test on a scrap fabric to see if it dries to the correct colour. Colors are not very accurate when they are wet on the fabric. Using a Q-Tip, dab a small amount of the colour and blot off excess colour on a Kleenex. The cotton swab should be only slightly wet (almost dry). Lightly brush on the Liquid Colors in the bleached out area. The colors will slowly pick up. If the colors start bleeding on the garment the cotton

swab is too wet. Let the paints dry and see if it is the correct colour. Reapply if too light. When dry again, use an iron on low setting and press for 20-40 seconds (don't burn your fabric). Now it's as good as new. After the first washing you may have to reapply again, but the color should fix permanently.

• If the bleached areas are larger or in too many spots on the garment the only option is to strip all the colours off the garment and re-dye the whole piece. We recommend using Thioureadioxide (Thiox for short) for this process since it's a lot safer on the fabrics than bleach. It will not yellow or disintegrate your finer fabrics, especially silk. "Thiox" can be used with hot tap water for reducing colour but it's better to boil fabrics to remove more colour.

Once the original colour is removed or lightened a lot, you can redye again. Depending on the fabric, you'll use Procion MX or Country Classics. Procion MX dyes works best on cotton, linen, rayon & silk, while Country Classics works on nylon, silk or wool.

See instructions for each particular dye for exact use.

Make sure that before you move the screen that there is as little ink lying on the screen. Pick up the screen by the front edge, letting the back edge rest on the table as a pivot point and slide the screen to the right. Line up the right edge of the screen with the second chalk mark and the front edge with the table. By printing every other repeat first, and leaving it to dry before printing the in between repeats reduces smudging the wet ink. Add more as it is needed while printing, too little ink will leave empty spots in the print and too much can be harder to control with the squeegee and messy. Continue printing until you reach the end of your fabric. On the last print, leave the screen on the fabric with a thick coat of ink. This is called "flooding" the screen and prevents the screen drying out and the ink from blocking the design. Wait for the first run of printing to dry, this takes about 20 minutes. When the ink on the fabric is dry to the touch, squeegee the

ink off the flooded screen, pick it up and place it at the first chalk mark and finish the printing, filling in the design.

The clean up

The ink is water soluble and easy to clean up. First remove as much of the leftover ink from the screen as possible. The screen can then be easily washed off in a tub with a hose attachment. It is important to clean off all the ink, as any left in the screen can block up the design or if the next time you print the old ink can show up in the print.

Silk-screening is a technique that takes some practice. For your first time, practice with some inexpensive fabric to get used to the process. After you get the hang of it, there no stopping you! Check out our free 20 page booklet on Screen Printing.