sharonk,
Does it say whether it's colorfast on the "band" that keeps the floss secure? Is it the new DMC floss colors? Or are we talking about some of the other specialty threads? ie. Sampler, Weeks....
If it were me, I would soak the whole skein in tepid/cool water especially the reds and the dark greens. My grandmother always taught me, "Better to play it safe, than sorry"; if there is ANY question that the flosses could possible "bleed" I would soak the skeins....it's easier than trying to remove any bleeding from the fabric. Also, I always wash and rinse (and soak, if necessary) my completed projects in COOL water.

I wash my project after it is complete.

Bermuda:Thank you for your reply.

None of the threads I'm using are specialty threads. And none of them are in the newest 100 series.

I've purchased several Christmas kits recently and as I've kitted them up (separated the floss and traded out the fabric), I've noticed a number of the darker colors have an asterisk next to them indicating they're not necessarily colorfast. So........

Almost all of the kits are Bucilla or Dimensions, so the floss is "okay' although I notice that it seems thinner than regular DMC even when coded as DMC. Although I don't usually stitch on Aida, I had a quantity of Aida from my previous stitching years that seems much better than the kit fabric, so I'll be trading out the fabric on a good number of them.

I like full coverage on Aida so I will be blending some of the kit floss with DMC and stitching with 3 strands or even 4. I especially don't like the skimpy coverage on red, and of course there is a fair amount on christmas stockings so will have a bunch of that to wash.

Next question will be: do you take the bands off and just swish the skein in lukewarm water for awhile or do you make a special effort to separate the 6 strand threads.

I would not necessarily separate each strand of the floss, but I would definitely straighten the skein out and kinda pull the strands apart a bit. I also would NOT put all different color skeins of floss together in one bowl to soak. To me, that's like putting a new pair of dark denim jeans in the washer to soak with the white laundry; there's the risk of any "bleed" from the jeans coloring the whites. When I soaked some skeins of different colors, each color had their own bowl of water. I straightened each skein, pulled the strands apart slightly and threw them into a bowl of water. About an hour later, I emptied the different bowls of the water they were soaking in, refilled the bowls with water and let the strands soak some more. I did this until I could NOT see any discoloration of the water, then laid the strands out on an old clean white towel from them to dry overnight. I checked the strands in the morning to see if I saw any dye on the old white towel. No bleeding on the towel? Then I was satisfied. Had a light bit of green with one skein on the white towel, so I repeated the process of soaking in water for a couple of hours and relaid it on the old white towel. While it might seem to be a lot of work initially, I had no fear of bleeding floss when cleaning my completed project in some cool water and mild soap and rinsing. I do this with my specialty floss that I KNOW will bleed and any dark reds and greens...

Bermuda. thanks again - especially for the specific instructions!!!

This will be quite a project with so many items to stitch. But then, some of them use the same colors of floss, so maybe I can double up on some of them that have the same manufacturer with the same dark
colors.

I'll also add in a DMC floss skein of the same color in the bowl since some of them are relatively new, and I intend to add a couple of strands of DMC to the kit floss where I want to make sure that I have full coverage. I was surprised how many of the kits only instruct 2 strands --- and you can really see it on the kit photos.

So off I go tomorrow to choose my first couple of kits to start and to pull DMC from my DMC chart and the conversion charts. Hope to have floss in the water by this time tomorrow.

Let us know how it goes with everything, including if you get any bleeding and which colors they are and the NAME of the KIT Manufacturer and Kit TITLE if you get any "bleeders". You'll be helping warn others if they have or buy the same kits you are buying. I don't do kits (my choice) but I do use some of the Sampler and Weeks floss, so I'm careful about taking the time before I start to test for "bleeding."

Bermuda: I pulled the reds from 2 Dimension kits. Most bled not at all, but one them is bleeding and bleeding. I've changed the water in that one 4 times already, squeezed the floss under the tap, and it is still bleeding.

It's strange that the other kit has the same red and didn't bleed at all. The bleeder is from a 2003 kit. I will keep track and list my bleeders when I've done them all.

I wash all the floss from kits like Bermuda. Can't take the chance of ruining the picture after all the hard work.

I agree themtrocklady. It just isn't worth the aggravation and heartache to discover that the floss has bled all over your fabric. Taking the extra time and effert to soak the floss is easier than the fix!

Wow! 4 rinses and still bleeding like a stuck pig! Guess that evil-little-floss was waiting for you like a spider to cross stitch with it and then bleed all over your fabric when you got it wet!

Watch out for those "Sampler" flosses as well. I got some bleeding, in particular the dark green, I used on a small sampler. Yep, I didn't soak and bled onto my fabric. Also, NOT a good idea to use the STEAM position on the iron when ironing the finished project where I used a specialty thread....yep, the steam caused it to bleed out onto my white fabric, whereas I literally screamed, then swore, then stuck the whole thing into a bowl of clear water, changing the water frequently for the next 2 days before the "bled" area came out of the fabric. These 2 situations changed the way I deal with the flosses.
DMC appears to be the only floss that doesn't bleed BUT I haven't used any of their "newer" floss colors, so I can't say about those.
Let me know if your infamous "bleeder" ever stops and if this actually changes the color of the whole skein of floss. If it's still bleeding when you read this...either put a tourniquet on it or bury it! LOL! :)

Sharon, have you thought of converting the kit floss to DMC or Anchor? I have never, ever had problems with either brand. I don't know about the new colors you mention. I didn't know that they have new colors. I know from experience that DMC's variegated floss is a hot mess!

Bermuda, I'm going to bed. Reading about all this floss washing has made so tired.
Better to wash than to cry!