Again coming late to this discussion. Re: West Timorese textiles..... Most natural dyes will be fixed with lime powder acting as mordant. I am always hesitant to purchase cloth with red dyes as indeed commercial red is notorious for running. Morinda and indigo dye is completely different and loves being beaten on rocks under the full moon. Dance in the bath then twist it to squeeze out the water, hang over line or lay flat on towel to dry.
I am blessed to stay with a grandmother whose specialty is washing IKAT. She goes at it with pure soap flakes and a soft scrubbing brush, as well as whamming it on the smooth concrete wash room floor before plunging it repeatedly into water to get out the village dirt and excess dye and as she says the penyakit...any sickness or virus which she certainly does not want to send out of her town. She often advises me if she thinks that a textile will run and 98% of the time she is spot on. But as we passionate collectors all know it is often that 2% that ranks amongst the special favorites and it is always a sad moment to see the work of a true crafts woman Fuzz as John would put it.
I do purchase textiles and advise on the catalog description tag that I provide with each cloth that THIS ONE SHOULD NOT BE WASHED....indeed I have has some very special ones, of a similar ilk to the Ibans, that are party cloths and are not meant to be washed as they are only rarely worn.
Indeed rinsing in salt water does cleanse and fix most natural dyes once the bleeding process is completed the women in Alor use this technique, they particularly favour the cool fast running water and often tie the cloth to ropes in order not to have to stand in the cold current for too long. However, rinse the textile again in rain water or distilled water as the salt continues to absorb moisture if left in the thread, this speeds up the perishing of the fiber/thread and can add hugely to the weight of your cloth.
Wool wash is ok to use as well.......
PS Pamela,,,, how can I post more than one image at a time? I resized and attached 3 so that the total was under 500kb but only one has showed...
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File comment: Some of the special DO NOT WASH ones.

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_________________ Julie Emery
www.timortreasures.com
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