To dye Brown with Crotal.
For 6¼ lbs. (100 oz.) of wool. Dye baths may be used of varying strengths of from 10 to 50 oz. of Crotal. Raise the bath to the boil, and boil for an hour. A light tan shade is got by first dipping the wool in a strong solution of Crotal, a darker shade by boiling for half-an-hour, and a dark brown by boiling for two hours or so. It is better, however, to get the shade by altering the quantity of Crotal used. The addition of sufficient oil of vitriol to make the bath slightly acid will be an improvement. (A very small quantity should be used).
To Dye Red with Crotal.—
Gather the lichen off the rocks—it is best in winter. Put layers of lichen and wool alternately in apot, fill up with water and boil until you get the desired tint. Too much crotal will make the wool a dark red brown, but a very pretty terra cotta red can be got. No mordant is required.
To Dye Pink from a bright yellow Lichen. (Parmelia parietina).
Mordant the wool with 3% of Bichromate of Potash, then boil with the lichen for 1 hour or more.
To Dye Brown from Crotal.
Boil the wool with an equal quantity of lichen for 1 or 1½ hours. No mordant is required.
To dye red purple from Cudbear & Logwood.
Dye with equal quantities of Cudbear and Logwood, the wool having been mordanted with chrome. A lighter colour is got by dyeing with 8 lbs. cudbear and ½ lb. logwood (for 30 lbs. wool).
To Dye Yellow on Linen with the Lichen Peltigera canina(a large flat lichen growing on rocks in woods).
Mordant with alum, (¼ lb. to a lb. of linen) boil for 2 hours. Then boil up with sufficient quantity of the lichen till the desired colour is got.
LIST OF LICHENS USED BY THEPEASANTRY OF DIFFERENTCOUNTRIES FOR WOOLDYEING.[11]
Shades of Red, Purple and Orange.
Roccella tinctoria.Orseille. Grows in the South of France, on rocks by the sea.
Lecanora tartarea.Crotal, Crottle, Corkur, Corcir, Korkir. Found in the Scotch Highlands and Islands, growing on rocks; used for the manufacture of Cudbear in Leith & Glasgow.
L. parella.Light Crottle, Crabs Eye Lichen. Found in Scotland, France, and England, on rocks and trees, formerly celebrated in the South of France in the making of the dye called Orseille d'Auvergne.
L. hæmatomma.—Bloody spotted lecanora, Black lecanora. Found in Scotland on rocks and trees.
Umbilicaria pustulata.—Blistered umbilicaria. Found on rocks in Norway and Sweden.
Isidium corallinum.White crottle. Found on rocks in Scotland.
I. Westringii.Westring's Isidium. Norway and Sweden.
Urceolaria calcarea.Corkir, Limestone Urceolaria. Found in Scotland, Western Islands, Shetland and Wales, growing on limestone rocks.
U. Scruposa.Rock Urceolaria. Grows on rocks in hilly districts in England.
U. cinerea.Greyish Urceolaria. In England, on rocks.
Parmelia saxatilis.Crottle, stane-raw, Staney-raw, (Scotland). Scrottyie, (Shetland). Sten-laf, Sten-mossa, (Norway and Sweden). Found on rocks and stones in Scotland, Shetland, and Scandinavia. In winter the Swedish peasantry wear home made garments dyed purple by this lichen. By the Shetlanders it is usually collected in August, when it is considered richest in colouring matter.
P. omphalodes.Black Crottle, Cork, Corker, Crostil or Crostal, (Scotch Highlands). Arcel, (Ireland). Kenkerig, (Wales). Alaforel-leaf, (Sweden). Found on rocks, especially Alpine, in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Scandinavia. One of the most extensively used dye-lichens. It yields a dark brown dye readily to boiling water, and it is easily fixed to yarns by simple mordants. It is stated to yield a red, crimson or purple dye.
P. caperata.Stone crottle, Arcel. Found in North of Ireland and Isle of Man, on trees. Said to dye yarn brown, orange and lemon yellow.
P. conspersa.Sprinkled parmelia. Found growing on rocks in England.
Evernia prunastri.Ragged hoary lichen. Stag's horn lichen. Found in Scotland, on trees.
Ramalina scopulorum.Ivory-like ramalina. Scotland, on maritime rocks. A red dye.
R. farinacea.Mealy ramalina. On trees in England.
Borrera ashney.Chutcheleera. India.
Solorina crocea.Saffron yellow solorina. In Scotland, on mountain summits. The colouring matter is ready formed and abundant in the thallus.
Nephroma parilis.Chocolate colored nephroma. Scotland, on stones. Said to dye blue.
Sticta pulmonacea.On trees.
Lecidea sanguinaria.Red fruited lecidea. In Scotland, on rocks.
Conicularia aculeata.var.spadicea. Brown prickly cornicularia. Canary Islands, Highland Mountains.
Usnea barbata.Bearded Usnea. Pennsylvania and South America. On old trees. Stated to dye yarn orange.
U. florida.FloweringUsnea. Pale greenish yellow or reddish brown.
U. plicata.Plaited usnea. On trees.
Shades of Brown
Cetraria Islandica.Iceland moss. Iceland heaths, and hills. It yields a good brown to boilingwater, but this dye appears only to have been made available to the Icelanders.
Parmelia physoides.Dark crottle, Bjork-laf. Found in Sweden, Scotland & Scandinavia, on rocks and trees.
P. omphalodes.In Scandinavia and Scotland. Withering asserts that it yields a purple dye paler, but more permanent, than orchil; which is prepared in Iceland by steeping in stale lye, adding a little salt and making it up into balls with lime.
Sticta pulmonacea.Oak lung, Lungwort, Aikraw, Hazel-raw, Oak rag, Hazel rag, Hazel crottle, Rags. Found on trees in England, Scotland, North of Ireland, Scandinavia. It dyes wool orange and is said to have been used by the Herefordshire peasantry to dye stockings brown. Some species yield beautiful saffron or gamboge coloured dyes, e.g.S. flava,crocata,aurata.
For continuation of list seeAppendix.
"Notwithstanding the very great facility of dyeing wool blue, when the blue vat is once prepared, it is far otherwise with regard to the preparation of this vat, which is actually the most difficult operation in the whole art of dyeing."—Hellot.
INDIGO
Indigo is the blue matter extracted from a plant,Indigofera tinctoria& other species, growing in Asia,South America and Egypt. It reaches the market in a fine powder, which is insoluble in water. There are two ways of dyeing with indigo. It may be dissolved in sulphuric acid or oil of vitriol, thereby making an indigo extract. This process was discovered in 1740. It gives good blue colours, but is not very permanent. Darker colours by this method are more permanent than the paler ones. It does not dye cotton or linen.
The other method is by the indigo vat process, which produces fast colours, but is complicated and difficult. In order to colour with indigo, it has to be deprived of its oxygen. The deoxydised indigo is yellow, and in this state penetrates the woollen fibre; the more perfectly the indigo in a vat is deoxydised, the brighter and faster will be the colour. For the dyeing of wool, the vats are usually heated to a temperature of 50°C. Cotton and linen are generally dyed cold.
Hellotsays "when the vat, of whatsoever kind it be, is once prepared in a proper state, there is no difficulty in dyeing woollens or stuffs, as it is requisite only to soak them in clean warm water, to wring them, and then to immerse them in the vat, for alonger or shorter time, according as you would have the colour more or less deep. The stuff should be from time to time opened, that is to say, taken out and wrung over the vat and exposed to the air for a minute or two, till it becomes blue. For let your vat be what it will, the stuff will be green when taken out and will become blue when exposed to the air. In this manner it is very proper to let the colour change before you immerse your stuffs a second time, as you are thereby better enabled to judge whether they will require only one or several dips."—"The Art of Dyeing Wool," byHellot.
The colour of the blue is brightened by passing the wool through boiling water after it comes out of the dye. Indigo is a substantive dye and consequently requires no mordant.
[13]1).To Make Extract of Indigo.—
Put 2 lbs. of oil of vitriol into a glass bottle or jar, stir into it 8 oz. of powdered indigo, stirring brisklyfor ½ hour, then cover up and stir 4 or 5 times a day for a few days, then add a little powdered chalk to neutralise the acid. It should be added slowly, little by little, as the chalk makes the acid bubble up. Keep it closely corked.
2).To Make Extract of Indigo.—
4 oz. sulphuric acid, ½ oz. finely ground Indigo. Mix like mustard, and leave to stand over-night. Prepare the wool by mordanting with 5 oz. alum to 1 lb. wool. Boil for ½ hour and dye without drying.
3).To Dye Wool with Indigo Extract
For 4 to 6 lbs. of wool. Stir 2 to 3 oz. of Indigo extract into the water of the dye bath. The amount is determined by the depth of shade required. When warm, enter the wool, and bring slowly to boiling point (about ½ hour) and continue boiling for another ½ hour. By keeping it below boiling point while dyeing, better colours are got, but it is apt to be uneven. Boiling levels the colour but makes the shade greener. This is corrected by adding to the dye bath a little logwood, 10 to 20 per cent. This should be boiled up separately, strained, and put in the bath before the wool is entered. Toomuch should be avoided however, as it dims the colour. It can be done in the same bath, but better results are got by separate baths. Instead of logwood a little madder is sometimes used; also Cudbear or Barwood.
4).To Dye Silk with Indigo Extract.
Dye at a temperature of 40 to 50°C. in a bath with a little sulphuric acid and the amount of indigo as is needed for the colour. Another method is to mordant the silk first with alum by steeping it for 12 hours in a solution of 25 per cent. and then, without washing, to dye with the Indigo Extract and about 10% of alum added to the dye bath. By this means compound colours can be made by the addition of cochineal, for purple, or old Fustic, Logwood, etc., for greys, browns and other colours.
5).Saxon Blue.—
Put into a glazed earthen pot 4 lbs. of good oil of vitriol with 12 oz. of choice Indigo, stir this mixture very hastily and frequently in order to excite a fermentation. It is customary with some Dyers to put into this composition a little antimony or salt-petre, tartar, chalk, alum and other things, but I findit sufficient to mix the oil and Indigo alone, and the colours will be finer, for those neutral salts destroy the acid of the vitriol and sully the colour. In 24 hours it is fit for use. Then a copper of a good size is to be filled with fair water (into which one peck of bran is put in a bag) and made pretty warm, the bran after yielding its flower must be taken out, and the Chymie, (Indigo Extract) mixed well with water in a Piggin, (a small pot) is put in according to the shade required, having first put in a hand-ful of powdered tartar; the cloth is to be well wet and worked very quick over the winch (stick on which it is hung) for half an hour. The liquor must not be made hotter than for madder red (just under boiling point). The hot acid of the vitriol would cause the blue to incline to green if too much heat was given. (From an old Dye Book).
6).To Make up a Blue Vat.—
Take 1 lb. Indigo thoroughly ground, put this into a deep vessel with about 12 gallons of water, add 2 lbs. copperas, and 3 lbs. newly slaked lime, and stir for 15 minutes. Stir again after 2 hours and repeat every 2 hours for 5 or 6 times. Towards theend, the liquor should be a greenish yellow colour, with blackish veins through it, and a rich froth of Indigo on the surface. After standing 8 hours to settle, the vat is fit to use.
7).Turquoise for Wool.—
Mordant with alum. For a pale shade use 1 teaspoonful of Indigo Extract (seeNo. 2) for 1 lb. of wool. Boil ¼ hour.
8).Blue for Wool.(Highlands).
Take a sufficiency of Indigo. (For medium shade about 1 oz. to every pound of wool). Dissolve it in about as much stale urine (about a fortnight old) as will make a bath for the wool. Make it lukewarm. Put in the wool and keep it at the same temperature till the dyeing is done. For a deep navy blue it will take a month, but a pale blue will be done in 3 or 4 days. Every morning and evening the wool must be taken out of the dye bath, wrung out and put back again. The bath must be kept covered and the temperature carefully attended to. Some add a decoction of dock roots the last day, which is said to fix the blue. The wool must then be thoroughly washed. This is a fast dye.
9).Indigo Vat.(For small dyers).
Add to 500 litres of stale urine 3 to 4 kilos of common salt and heat the mixture to 50° to 60°C., for 4 to 5 hours with frequent stirring, then add 1 kilo of madder, 1 kilo of ground Indigo, stir well, and allow to ferment till the Indigo is reduced.
10).Saxon Blue.(Berthollet).
Prepare the wool with alum and tartar. A smaller or greater proportion of the Indigo solution is put into the bath, (1 part of Indigo with 8 parts of sulphuric acid, digested for 24 hours), according to the depth of shade wished to be obtained. For deep shades it is advantageous to pour in the solution by portions, lifting out the wool from the bath while it is being added. The cold bath acts as well as the hot.
11).The Cold Indigo Vat with Urine.
Take 4 lbs. of powdered Indigo and put it into a gallon of vinegar, leaving it to digest over a slow fire for 24 hours. At the end of this time the Indigo should be quite dissolved. If not dissolved pound it up with some of the liquor adding a little urine. Put into it ½ lb. madder, mixing it well. Then pourit into a cask containing 60 gallons of urine (fresh or stale). Mix and stir the whole together; this should be done morning and evening for 8 days or until the surface becomes green when stirred, and produces froth. It may be worked immediately without any other preparation than stirring it 3 or 4 hours before-hand. This kind of vat is extremely convenient, because when once prepared it remains so always until it is entirely exhausted. According as you would have your vat larger or smaller you reduce or enlarge the amount of the ingredients used in the same proportion as the original. This vat is sooner prepared in summer than in winter.
12).Indigo Vat on a small scale for Woollens and Cottons.—
Have a strong 9 gallon cask, put into it 8 gallons of urine, have a 4 quart pickle jar, into which put 1 lb. ground Indigo and 3 pints of best vinegar; put the jar into a saucepan filled with water, and make it boil well for 2 hours, stirring it all the time. Let it stand in a warm place for 3 days, then pour it into the cask; rake it up twice a day for a month. It must be covered from the air.
13).Blue Vat for Woollens.—
For every 20 gallons of water add 5 oz. ground Indigo, 8 oz. of potash, 3 oz. madder, and 4 oz. bran. Keep the solution at 140°F.; after 24 hours the whole will have begun to ferment, then add 2 oz. madder, stir and allow the whole to settle, after which the vat is ready for use.
14).To Dye Indigo Blue.Urine Vat.—
Prepare vat as follows:—To 3½ gallons of stale urine add 4½ oz. of common salt, and heat the mixture to 125°F. (as hot as the hand can bear). Keep at this heat for 4 to 5 hours, frequently stirring, then add 1¼ oz. thoroughly ground Indigo and 1¼ oz. Madder, stir well and allow to ferment till the Indigo is reduced. This is recognized by the appearance of the vat, which should be of a greenish yellow colour, with streaks of blue. Allow the vat to settle, when you can proceed with dyeing. Process of dyeing the same as in No. 15.
15).To Dye Indigo Blue.—Potash Vat.—
Into a pot 3 parts full of water put 1½ oz. Madder and 1½ oz. bran. Heat to nearly boiling, and keep at this heat for 3 hours. Then add 5 oz. Carbonateof Potash; allow Potash to dissolve and let the liquor cool down till luke-warm. Then add 5 oz. thoroughly ground Indigo, stir well and leave to ferment for two days, occasionally stirring, every 12 hours or so. Wool dyed in this vat must be thoroughly washed after the colour is obtained.
Process of Dyeing.—Into a vat prepared as above, dip the wool. Keep it under the vat liquor, gently moving about a sufficient time to obtain the colour required. A light blue is obtained in a few seconds, darker blues take longer. Take out wool, and thoroughly squeeze out of it all the dye liquor back into the vat. Spread out the wool on the ground, exposed to the air till the full depth of colour is developed. The wool comes out of the vat a greenish shade, but the oxygen in the air darkens it, through oxydation, to indigo blue. The wool should now be washed in cold water with a little acid added to it, and again thoroughly rinsed and dried.
16).Blue Vat for Cotton.—
In a clean tub put 10 pails of water, slacken 1 bushel of lime into it, and cover while slackening; put 6 lbs. ground Indigo in a pot and mix it into apaste with hot water and then put 4 pails of boiling water on to it, stir it, cover it, and leave it. In another pot, put 20 lbs. copperas, pour 4 pails of water on this, stir it and leave it covered. Pour 4 pails of water on the top of the lime that is slackening, rake it up well and put in the melted copperas; rake it well and put in the Indigo; stir well and leave covered for a couple of days, stirring occasionally. Half fill a new vat with the mixture. Rake it well and while you are raking, fill it up with clean water, continue raking for an hour. Cover it over; it can be used the next day. This is a colour that never washes out.
17).Gloucestershire Indigo Vat.
Size 5 feet over the top: 7 feet deep, 6 to 7 feet at the bottom.
Take ½ cwt. bran, ¼ peck lime and 40 lbs. indigo. Warm up to 180 to 200°F., rake it 4 times a day. If it ferments too much add more lime: if not enough, more bran. An experienced eye or nose will soon tell when it is ripe or fit to use, which should be in about 3 days. Regulate the strength of the vat from time to time to the colour required. No madder or woad is used when much permanency is wanted.
18).Cold Indigo Vat for Dyeing Wool, Silk, Linen and Cotton.
1 part Indigo, 3 parts good quicklime, 3 parts English vitriol, and 1½ parts of orpiment. The Indigo is mixed with water, and the lime added, stirred well, covered up, and left for some hours. The powdered vitriol is then added, and the vat stirred and covered up. After some hours the orpiment powder is thrown in and the mixture is left for some hours. It is then stirred well and allowed to rest till the liquid at the top becomes clear. It is then fit for dyeing.
WOAD
Woad is derived from a plant,Isatis tinctoria, growing in the North of France and in England. It was the only blue dye in the West before Indigo was introduced from India. Since then woad has been little used except as a fermenting agent for the indigo vat. It dyes woollen cloth a greenish colour which changes to a deep blue in the air. It is said to be inferior in colour to indigo but the colour is much more permanent. The leaves when cut are reduced to a paste, kept in heaps for about fifteendays to ferment, and then formed into balls which are dried in the sun; these have a rather agreeable smell and are of a violet colour. These balls are subjected to a further fermentation of 9 weeks before being used by the dyer. When woad is now used it is always in combination with Indigo, to improve the colour. Even by itself, however, it yields a good and very permanent blue.
It is not now known how the ancients prepared the blue dye, but it has been stated (Dr. Plowright) that woad leaves when covered with boiling water, weighted down for half-an-hour, the water then poured off, treated with caustic potash and subsequently with hydrochloric acid, yield a good Indigo blue. If the time of infusion be increased, greens and browns are obtained. It is supposed that woad was "vitrum," the dye with which Cæsar said almost all the Britons stained their bodies. It is said to grow near Tewkesbury, also Banbury. It was cultivated till quite lately in Lincolnshire. There were four farms in 1896; one at Parson Drove, near Wisbech, two farms at Holbeach, and one near Boston.Indigo has quite superseded it in commerce.[14]
"It is like the Indigo plant, but less delicate and rich. It is put in vats with Indigo and madder to dye a never-fading dark blue on wool, and was called woad-vats before Indigo was known." (Thomas Love). And again "Woad, or what is much stronger, pastel, always dyed the blue woollens of Europe until Indigo was brought over here."
Bancroft says "Woad alone dyes a blue colour very durable, but less vivid and beautiful than that of Indigo."
LOGWOOD
(Bois de Campêche, Campeachy Wood)
Logwood is a dye wood from Central America, used for producing blues and purples on wool, black on cotton and wool, and black and violet on silk. It is called by the old dyers, one of the Lesser Dyes, because the colour loses all its brightness when exposed to the air. But with proper mordants and with careful dyeing this dye can produce fast andgood colours. Queen Elizabeth's government issued an enactment entirely forbidding the use of logwood. The act is entitled "An Act for the abolishing of certeine deceitful stuffe used in the dyeing of clothes," and it goes on to state that "Whereas there hath been brought from beyond the seas a certeine kind of stuff called logwood, alias blockwood, wherewith divers dyers," etc., and "Whereas the clothes therewith dyed, are not only solde and uttered to the great deceit of the Queene's loving subjects, but beyond the seas, to the great discredit and sclaunder of the dyers of this realme. For reformation whereof, be it enacted by the Queene our Soveraygne Ladie, that all such logwood, in whose handes soever founde, shall be openly burned by authoritie of the maior." The person so offending was liable to imprisonment and the pillory. This is quoted from "The Art of Dyeing," by James Napier, written in 1853. He goes on to say, "Upwards of eighty years elapsed before the real virtues of this dyeing agent were acknowledged; and there is no dyewood we know so universally used, and so universally useful." The principal use for logwood is inmaking blacks and greys. The logwood chips should be put in a bag and boiled for 20 minutes to ½ hour, just before using. "Logwood is used with galls and copperas for the various shades of greys, inclining to slate, lavender, dove, and lead colour, etc. For this purpose you fill a cauldron full of clean water, putting into it as much nut galls as you think proper. You then add a bag of logwood, and when the whole is boiled, having cooled the liquor, you immerse the stuff, throwing in by degrees some copperas, partly dissolved in water."—Hellot. Hellot is very scornful of logwood, naming it as one of the lesser dyes, and not to be used by good dyers.
RECIPES FOR DYEING with LOGWOOD
1).Black for Cotton.—
After washing, work the cotton in a cold infusion of 30% to 40% of Sumach, or its equivalent in other tannin matter[15](ground gall nuts, myrobalans, etc.) and let steep over-night. Squeeze out and without washing pass through a bath containing a diluted solution of lime water, or soda. Work in a cold solution of copperas for ½ hour, then back intothe soda for a ¼ hour at a temperature of 50° to 60°C. Then wash. Dye in a freshly made bath of logwood with a small proportion of old Fustic or Quercitron Bark. The cotton is introduced into the cold dye liquor and the temperature gradually raised to boiling. Boil for ½ an hour. After dyeing, the cotton should be passed through a warm solution of Bichromate of Potash. (5 grains per litre). It is then washed and worked in a warm solution of soap and dried. More Fustic makes a greener black.
When catechu is the tanning matter employed, the cotton should be worked in a boiling decoction of it and allowed to steep till cold.
2).Grey Drab for Wool.
(10 lbs.) Dissolve ½ oz. Bichromate of Potash in water, and then boil for ½ hour; lift the wool and add 1 oz. logwood: boil for ½ hour. Lift out, wash and dry.
3).Logwood Grey on Cotton.
The cotton is worked in a weak decoction of logwood at 40° to 50°C., and then in a separate bath containing a weak solution of ferrous sulphate or Bichromate of Potash. Wash.
4).Green Black for Wool.—
Mordant wool with 3% Bichromate of Potash and 1% Sulphuric acid (or 4% Tartar) for 1 to 1½ hours. Then wash and dye with 35% to 50% of Logwood. This gives a blue black. It is greened by adding 5% old Fustic to the dye bath. The more Fustic the greener the black becomes. If 3% to 4% alum is added to the mordanting bath, a still greener shade is obtained. Sulphuric acid in the mordant produces a dead looking blue black. Tartar yields a bright bluish black.
5).Logwood Blue for Wool.
Mordant the wool for 1 to 1½ hours at 100°C., with 4% alum and 4 to 5% cream of Tartar. Wash well and dye for 1 to 1½ hours at boiling point with 15 to 30% logwood and 2 to 3% chalk. This colour is not very fast, but can be made faster by adding 1 to 3% bichromate of potash and 1% sulphuric acid. The brightest logwood blues are obtained by dyeing just below boiling point. Long boiling dulls the colour.
6).Green Black for Wool.
Mordant with 2% Chrome and 25% sulphuricacid. Boil 1½ hours and leave overnight. Dye with 40% logwood and 10% Fustic. Boil 1 hour.
7).Logwood Blue for Wool.
Chrome 1%, Alum 3%, Tartar 1½%. Boil 1½ hours and leave over-night. Dye with logwood 20% and Cudbear 1%. Boil one hour, then throw in 20 quarts of single muriate of tin, diluted with 20 to 30 gallons of water. Immerse 15 minutes and wash.
8).Fast Purple for Cotton.
(For 20 lbs. cotton.) Mordant with copperas. Wash slightly; then a bath of muriate of tin. Dye with 4 to 5 lbs. logwood.
9).Fast Black on Wool.—
Put wool into a strong logwood bath, the stronger the better, and boil for 1 hour. Take out and drain, and put into a Bichromate of Potash bath and keep at 150°F. for about 5 minutes. Then a bath of Fustic or Quercitron. After which wash well in cold water.
10).Black for Cotton.—
(For 10 lbs.) Steep cotton in hot decoction of 3lbs. Sumach and let stay over night. Wring out and work for 10 minutes through lime water: then work for ½ hour in a solution of 2 lbs. copperas. It may be either washed from this, or worked again through lime water for 10 minutes. Dye for ½ hour in a warm decoction of 3 lbs. logwood adding ½ pint chamber lye. Take out cotton and add to the same bath 2 oz. copperas. Work 10 minutes, then wash and dry. 1 lb. Fustic is added for jet black.
11).Fast Black for Woollens.—
(For 50 lbs.) Mordant with 2 lbs. chrome, 1 lb. Tartar, 1 quart Muriate of Tin. Boil 1 hour and wash well. Dye with 25 lbs. logwood and 3 lbs. Fustic. Boil 30 minutes. Take out and add 1 pint Vitriol. Return for 10 minutes, wash and dry.
12).Jet Black for Silk.
(For 50 lbs.) Mordant in hot solution of Nitro-Sulphate of Iron at 150°F., work for ½ hour. Wash well, then boil up 18 lbs. Fustic. Put off the boil, enter silk and work for 30 minutes. Take out. Boil 16 lbs. logwood, put off the boil and decant the liquor into fresh bath, add 1 lb. white soap, enter and work from 30 to 40 minutes. Wash well.
13).Lavender for Wool.
(For 6¼ lbs.) Mordant with 3 oz. Bichromate of Potash, for 45 minutes and wash. Dye with 2 oz. madder, 1 oz. logwood. Enter the wool, raise to the boil and boil for 45 minutes. The proportion of logwood to madder can be so adjusted as to give various shades of claret to purple.
14).Black for Wool.
Mordant 6¼ lbs. wool with 4 oz. Chrome. Boil for 45 minutes. Dye with 50 oz. logwood, 1 oz. Fustic. Raise to boil and boil for 45 minutes.
15).Fast Chrome black for Wool.
(For 40 lbs. wool.) Dissolve 3 lbs. copperas and boil for a short time. Then dip the wool in this for ¾ hour, airing frequently. Take out wool and make dye with 24 lbs. logwood. Boil for ½ hour. Dip ¾ hour, air wool, dip ¼ hour longer and then wash in strong soap suds.
16).Light silver drab for Wool.
(For 50 lbs. wool). ½ lb. logwood, ½ lb. alum. Boil well and enter wool and dip for 1 hour.
17).A fast Logwood Blue for Wool.
(Highland recipe). Mordant with 3% Bichromate of Potash and boil wool in it for 1½ hours. Wash and dry wool. Make a bath of 15 to 20% logwood with about 3% chalk added to it. Boil the wool for 1 hour, wash and dry. The wool can be greened by steeping it all night in a hot solution of heather, or boiling it in heather till the desired tint is obtained.
18).Green Black for Wool.
(For 50 lbs. wool). Boil 20 minutes with 1 lb. chrome. Dye with 20 lbs. Fustic, 8 lbs. logwood. Boil for ½ hour.
19).Slate Purple.
(For 80 lbs. yarn). Mordant with 2 lbs. chrome for 20 minutes. Dye with 10 lbs. logwood & 1 lb. Cudbear. Boil for ½ hour.
20).Raven Grey for Wool.
(For 60 lbs.) Dissolve 8 oz. Alum and work the wool very quickly for ½ hour at boiling heat; then take it out and add to the same liquor 3 or 4 lbs. copperas, & work it at boiling heat for ½ hour. Thenwash. In another copper, boil 1 pailfull of logwood chips for 20 minutes. Put the wool into this for ½ hour; then return it into the alum and copperas for 10 to 15 minutes.
21).Dark Red Purple with Logwood for Wool.—(For 2½ lbs.)
Mordant with 10 oz. alum and 2½ oz. cream of tartar for 1 hour. Let cool in the mordant, then wring out and put away for 4 or 5 days in a linen (or other) bag in the dark.
Dye with 1 lb. logwood, and ½ lb. madder. Boil up the logwood and madder in a separate bath and pour through a sieve into the dye bath. Enter the wool when warm and bring to boil. Boil from ½ hour to 1½ hours. Wash thoroughly.
22).Violet with Logwood for Silk.
The silk is washed from the soap and drained. For every pound of silk, dissolve in cold water 1 oz. verdigris; when it is well mixed with the water, the silk is immersed and kept in this liquor for an hour. This does not give colour. It is then wrung & aired. A logwood liquor is then made; the silk dipped in it when cold; it takes a blue colour sufficiently dark. The silk is taken out and dipped in a clear solution ofalum; it acquires a red which produces a violet on the silk just dyed blue. The quantity of alum is undetermined; the more alum the redder the violet. The silk is then washed.
23).Ordinary Logwood Purple for Wool.
(For 1 lb.) Mordant wool with ¼ lb. alum and ½ oz. tartar for 1 hour; wring out and put away in a bag for some days. Dye with ¼ lb. logwood for 1 hour.
KERMES.
Kermes, or Kerms, from which is got the "Scarlet of Grain" of the old dyers, is one of the old insect dyes. It is considered by most dyers to be the first of the red dyes, being more permanent than cochineal and brighter than madder. In the 10th century it was in general use in Europe. The redsof the Gothic tapestries were dyed with it, and are very permanent, much more so than the reds of later tapestries, which were dyed with cochineal. Bancroft says "The Kermes red or scarlet, though less vivid, is more durable than that of cochineal. The fine blood-red seen at this time on old tapestries in different parts of Europe, unfaded, though many of them are two or three hundred years old, were all dyed from Kermes, with the aluminous basis, on woollen yarn."
Kermes consists of the dried bodies of a small scale insect,Coccus ilicis, found principally on the ilex oak, in the South of Europe. It is said to be still in use in Italy, Turkey, Morocco and other places.
William Morris speaks of the "Al-kermes or coccus which produces with an ordinary aluminous mordant a central red, true vermilion, and with a good dose of acid a full scarlet, which is the scarlet of the Middle Ages, and was used till about the year 1656, when a Dutch chemist discovered the secret of getting a scarlet from cochineal by the use of tin, and so produced a cheaper, brighter and uglier scarlet."
Kermes is employed exactly like cochineal. It has a pleasant aromatic smell which it gives to the wool dyed with it.
The following recipe for its use is from an old French dye book:—
20 lbs. of wool and ½ a bushel of bran are put into a copper with a sufficient quantity of water, and suffered to boil half-an-hour, stirring every now and then. It is then taken out to drain. While the wool is draining the copper is emptied and fresh water put in, to which is added about a fifth of sour water, four pounds of Roman Allum grossly powdered and two pounds of red Tartar. The whole is brought to boil, and that instant the hanks are dipped in, which are to remain in for two hours, stirring them continually. When the wool has boiled two hours in this liquor, it is taken out, left to drain, gently squeezed and put into a linen bag in a cool place for five or six days and sometimes longer. This is called leaving the wool in preparation. After the wool has been covered for five or six days, it is fitted to receive the dye. A fresh liquor is then prepared, and when it begins to be lukewarm, take 12 oz. of powdered Kermes for each pound of wool tobe dyed, if a full and well coloured scarlet is wanted. If the Kermes was old and flat, a pound of it would be required for each pound of wool. When the liquor begins to boil, the yarn, still moist, (which it will be, if it has been well wrapped in a bag and kept in a cool place) is put in. Previous to its being dipped in the copper with the Kermes, a handful of wool is cast in, which is let to boil for a minute. This takes up a kind of scum which the Kermes cast up, by which the wool that is afterwards dipped, acquires a finer colour. The handful of wool being taken out, the prepared is put in. The hanks are passed on sticks continually stirring and airing them one after the other. It must boil after this manner an hour at least, then taken out and placed on poles to drain, afterwards wrung and washed. The dye still remaining in the liquor may serve to dip a little fresh parcel of prepared wool; it will take some colour in proportion to the goodness and quality of the Kermes put into the copper.
Another Recipe for Dyeing with Kermes.—The wool is first boiled in water along with bran for half-an-hour(½ bushel of bran for 20 lbs. of wool) stirring it from time to time. Drain. Next boil for 2 hours in a fresh bath with a fifth of its weight of alum and a tenth of Tartar. Sour water is usually added. It is then wrung, put into a bag and left in a cool place for some days. The Kermes is then thrown into warm water in the proportion of 12 oz. to every pound of wool. When the liquor boils, a handful of waste wool is thrown in, to take up the dross of the Kermes, and removed. The wool is then put in and boiled for an hour. It is afterwards washed in warm water in which a small quantity of soap has been dissolved. Then washed and dried.
"To prepare wool for the Kermes dye, it is to be boiled in water with about ⅕ of its weight in alum, and half as much of Tartar, for the space of two hours and afterwards left in the same liquor four or five days, when being rinsed, it is to be dyed in the usual way with about 12 oz. of Kermes for every pound of wool. Scarlets, etc., given from Kermes, were called grain colours, because that insect was mistaken for a grain. Wool prepared with a nitro-muriatic solution of tin (as is now practised for the cochineal scarlet) and dyed with Kermes takes a kind of aurora, or reddish orange colour."—Bancroft.
"To prepare wool for the Kermes dye, it is to be boiled in water with about ⅕ of its weight in alum, and half as much of Tartar, for the space of two hours and afterwards left in the same liquor four or five days, when being rinsed, it is to be dyed in the usual way with about 12 oz. of Kermes for every pound of wool. Scarlets, etc., given from Kermes, were called grain colours, because that insect was mistaken for a grain. Wool prepared with a nitro-muriatic solution of tin (as is now practised for the cochineal scarlet) and dyed with Kermes takes a kind of aurora, or reddish orange colour."—Bancroft.
COCHINEAL
The dried red bodies of an insect (Coccus Cacti) found in Mexico are named Cochineal.
Recipes for Dyeing.
1).Scarlet for Wool.
For each pound of wool put 20 quarts of water. When the water is warm, add 2 oz. Cream of Tartar, 1½ drachms of powdered Cochineal. When the liquor is nearly boiling, put in 2 oz. of Solution of Tin (which the Dyers call Composition for Scarlet). As soon as it begins to boil, the wool, which has been wetted, is dipped and worked in the liquor for an hour and a half. A fresh liquor is then prepared, 1½ oz. of starch is put in and when the water is warm 6½ drachms of Cochineal. When nearly boiling 2 oz. of solution of tin is put in. It must boil, and then the wool is put in and stirred continually for 1½ hours. It is then taken out, wrung and washed. The Scarlet is then in its Perfection.
2).Cochineal for Cotton.
Prepare 50 lbs. of cotton with 15 lbs. Sumach, 10 lbs. Alum. Dye with 2¼ lbs. of Cochineal. Leavefor 24 hours in the Sumach; lift; winch 2 to 3 hours in a hot solution of Alum; wash in two waters, then boil up the cochineal; put off the boil, enter cotton & winch till colour be full enough; then wash and dry.
3).Orange Red for Wool.
4).Pink with Cochineal for Wool.
(For 60 lbs. wool). 5 lbs. 12 oz. alum. Boil and immerse wool for 50 minutes. Then add 1 lb. Cochineal and 5 lbs. cream of tartar. Boil and enter wool while boiling, till the required colour is got.
5).Scarlet for Wool.
(For 100 lbs.) 6 lbs. of Tartar are thrown into the water when warm. The bath is stirred briskly and when hot ½ lb. powdered cochineal is added and well mixed. Then 5 lbs. of clear solution of Tin is carefully mixed in. When it is boiling the wool isput in and moved briskly. After 2 hours it is taken out, aired and washed.
The second bath. When the water is nearly boiling 5¾ lbs. of powdered cochineal is put in. A crust will form on the surface which will open in several places. Then 13 to 14 lbs. of solution of tin is poured in. After this is well mixed, the wool is entered and stirred well. Boil for an hour, then wash and dry.
These two processes can be done together with good result. The colour can be yellowed by fustic or turmeric. More tartar in the second bath increases the colour. The scarlet may be brightened by common salt. Alum will change the scarlet to crimson, the wool being boiled in a solution of it for one hour.
6).Crimson for Wool.
Mordant with 2½ oz. alum and 1½ oz. tartar for every lb. of wool. Then dye with 1 oz. cochineal. Solution of tin is sometimes added. Also salt.
7).Violet for Wool.
Mordant with 2 oz. alum for 1 lb. wool. Dye with 1 oz. cochineal and 1 oz. of solution of iron in which the wool is kept till the shade is reached.
8).Scarlet with Cochineal, for Wool.
(For 100 oz. clean wool). Put 6 oz. Oxalic acid, 6 oz. Stannous Chloride (Tin Crystals), 8 oz. powdered cochineal in a bath containing about half the quantity of water required to cover wool. Boil 10 minutes, then add sufficient water to cover wool. Enter the wool, work well in the dye and boil for ¾ hour, after which take out the wool, wash and dry.
9).Purple, for Wool.
(For 2½ lbs. wool). Mordant with Bichromate of Potash, 1½ oz. in 10 gallons of water. Dye with 6 to 8 oz. cochineal. With alum mordant (4 oz.) a crimson colour is got. With tin mordant (2 oz.) a scarlet. With iron mordant (2 oz.) a purplish slate or lilac.
10).Scarlet, for Wool.
Mordant the wool for 1 to 1½ hours with 6% stannous chloride and 4% cream of tartar. Wash. Dye with 5 to 12% of ground cochineal for 1 to 1¼ hours. To dye the wool evenly, enter it in both the mordant and the dye when the water is warm, and raise gradually to boiling.
11).Scarlet, for Wool.
Fill the dye bath half full of water, add 6 to 8% of Oxalic acid, 6% of stannous chloride and 5 to 12 per cent. ground cochineal, boil up for 5 to 10 minutes, then fill up the dye bath with cold water. Introduce the wool, heat up the bath to the boiling point in the course of ¾ to 1 hour and boil ½ hour. Washing between mordanting and dyeing is not absolutely essential. The addition of tartar up to 8 per cent. increases the intensity and yellowness of the colour.
In order to obtain bright yellow shades of scarlet it is usual to add a small proportion of some yellow dye to the bath.
Wool mordanted with 10 per cent. of Copper sulphate and dyed in a separate bath with cochineal gives a reddish purple, or claret colour.
With ferrous sulphate as mordant very good purplish slate or lilac colours can be got. Mordant and dye in separate baths. Use 8 per cent. of ferrous sulphate and 20 per cent. of tartar.
12).Crimson for Silk.
Mordant the silk by working for ½ hour in a concentrated solution of alum, then leave to steep overnight. Wash well and dye in a fresh bath containing 40 per cent. of cochineal. Enter the silk at a low temperature and heat gradually to boiling.
13).Scarlet for Silk.
After boiling and washing, the silk is first slightly dyed with yellow by working it for ¼ hour at 50°C., in a weak soap bath containing about 10 per cent. of Annatto; it is then well washed. Mordant the silk by working it for ½ hour, then steeping it over night in a cold solution of 40 per cent. of nitro-muriate of tin. Wash and dye in a fresh bath with a decoction of 20 to 40 per cent. of cochineal and 5 to 10 per cent. cream of tartar. Enter the silk at a low temperature and heat gradually to boiling. Brighten in a fresh bath of cold water, slightly acidified with tartaric acid. Good results can also be obtained with the single bath method with cochineal, stannous chloride and oxalic acid.
With the use of iron mordants very fine shades of lilac may be obtained on silk with cochineal.
LAC DYE.
Like Cochineal and Kermes, Lac is a small scale insect,Coccus lacca. It is found in India, Burmahand other Eastern countries; it was introduced into England in 1796.
The method of dyeing with lac is very much the same as with cochineal; it yields its colour less readily however, and should be ground into a paste with the tin solution employed and a little hydrochloric acid and allowed to stand for a day before using. It is said to be a faster dye than cochineal, but is often used in combination with it, being a fuller colour though not so bright.
A good fast scarlet is produced by the following recipe:—For 100 lbs. wool. 8 lbs. lac, previously ground up with part of the tin spirits, 5 lbs. cochineal, 5 lbs. tartar, 20 lbs. tin spirit.
MADDER.
Madder consists of the ground up dried roots of a plant, (Rubia tinctorum) cultivated in France, Holland, and other parts of Europe, as well as in India. Madder is not much used for silk dyeing, but for wool, linen and cotton it is one of the best dyes. It is also used largely in combination with other dyes to produce compound colours. When used for cotton the colour is much improved by boiling in a weak solution of soap after the dyeing. The gradualraising of the temperature of the dye bath is essential in order to develop the full colouring power of madder; long boiling should be avoided, as it dulls the colour. If the water is deficient in lime, brighter shades are got by adding a little ground chalk to the dye bath, 1 to 2 per cent.
Berthollet distinguishes two kinds of madder red on cotton, one of which is given inNo. 4. The other is the well-known Turkey red or Adrianople red, a very difficult and complicated dye, but one of the most permanent dyes known. Madder reds are said to be not so beautiful as those from Kermes, lac or cochineal, but my experience has been that with care, the finest reds can be got with madder.
Birch leaves are used in Russia to improve the colour of madder. They are added to the dye bath.
Recipes for use of Madder.
1).Red for Wool.
For 100 oz. (6¼ lbs.) wool.
Mordant 8 oz. Alum and 2 oz. Tartar. Boil the wool in the mordant for one hour and wash in cold water. Dye: 50 oz. Madder. Enter the mordanted wool, raise to boil and boil gently for one hour.Wash thoroughly in cold water and dry. If the water is very soft, a small quantity of lime or chalk added to the dye bath improves the shade. Alder bark or alder leaves added to the dye bath darkens the colour. The best results are obtained when the dye bath is maintained just under the boiling point.
2).Reddish brown for Wool.
Mordant with 3% bichromate of potash and dye with Madder. Good results can be got by the single bath method. (See page 14, No. 3.)
3).Brownish red for Wool.
Mordant the wool with 6 to 8 per cent. of alum and 5 to 7 per cent. of tartar. Dye with 60 to 80% of Madder. Begin the dyeing at about 40°C., and raise the temperature of the bath gradually to 80° to 100°C., in the course of an hour, and continue the dyeing about an hour. Wash and dry. The colour can be brightened by adding a small proportion of stannous chloride to the mordant or it can be added to the dye bath towards the end of the dyeing.
Brighter shades are got by keeping the temperature at about 80°C., and prolonging the dyeing process. After dyeing, the colour can be brightenedby working the wool at 70°C., in a weak soap bath, or a bath containing bran.
4).Bright red for Cotton.[16]
(For 22 lbs.). The cotton must be scoured, then galled in the proportion of 1 part of nut galls to 4 of cotton, and lastly alumed in the proportion of 1 of alum to 4 of cotton. To the solution of alum is added one twentieth of solution of soda ley (½ lb. ordinary soda to 1¾ pints water). It is then dried slowly and alumed again. Then dried slowly again. The more slowly the drying takes place the better the colour. The cotton is then ready to be dyed.
Heat the water of the dye bath as hot as the hand can bear; mix in 6½ lbs. madder and stir carefully. When thoroughly mixed, put in the cotton & work for ¾ hour without boiling. Take it out & add about a pint of soda ley. The cotton is then returned to the bath and boiled for 15 to 20 minutes. It is then brightened by passing it quickly thro' a tepid bath with a pint of ley in it. It is then washed and dried.
5).Bright Orange red for Wool.
For 1 lb. scoured fleece, mordant with 4 oz. alum and 1 oz. cream of tartar. Dissolve the mordant, enter the wool and raise to boiling point and boil for 1 hour. Allow the wool to cool in the mordant. Then wring out and put in a linen bag in a cool place for 4 or 5 days. Soak 8 oz. madder over night in water and boil up before using. Put into dye bath, enter wool when warm, bring gradually to the boil and boil for ¾ hour.
6).Bright Red For Wool.
Mordant 1 lb. wool with 5 oz. of Alum, and 1 oz. of Tartar; leave to drain and then wring out; put into a linen bag and leave in a cool place for several days. (The wool should still be damp when taken out to dye; if it is dry, damp with warm water). If the Tartar is increased a cinnamon colour is got. Dye with ½ lb. of madder for every pound of wool. The water should not boil, but kept just below boiling for an hour; then boil up for 5 minutes before taking out and washing.
With sulphate of copper as a mordant, madder gives a clear brown bordering on yellow (one part of sulphate of copper and 2 parts of madder).
7).Red for Silk.
The silk is mordanted over night with alum, by steeping it in a cold concentrated solution; wash well and dye in a separate bath with 50 per cent. of madder. Begin dyeing at a low temperature and gradually raise to 100°C. The addition of bran tends to give brighter colours. A small quantity of Sumach could be added if a fuller colour is wanted. After dyeing, wash and then brighten in a boiling solution of soap, to which a small percentage of stannous chloride has been added. Afterwards wash well.
By mordanting with Copperas, either alone or after an Alum bath, violet and brown shades can be got.
8).Red with Madder for Wool.
Pound up carefully without heating some roots of madder. Mordant the wool with Alum, adding some cayenne pepper. Dye with the madder, adding cream of tartar to the dye bath. Birch leaves improve the colour.
9).Madder Red for Cotton.
Take a piece of white cotton, about 20 yards. Melt in some water 1 lb. of potash; boil the cottonin this for 20 minutes, then rinse it. Put 4 lbs. of the best Sumach in the copper and fill it up with boiling water, and boil for 10 minutes. Put to cool and work the cotton well in this for an hour. Take it out and give it a scalding hot alum and sugar of lead bath for half-an-hour; rinse in two waters; put it back in the sumach for half-an-hour; then alum again for 20 minutes. Rinse. Put 2 lbs. of madder into hot water and boil gently for a few minutes. Put in the cotton, work well and boil for half-an-hour gently. After, give it a hot alum for 20 minutes, and rinse. Put 1 lb. fresh madder in the copper, put in the cotton and boil for 20 minutes. Then wash.
10).Red for Cotton.
Scour the cotton. Then gall in the proportion of 1 of gall nuts to 4 of cotton. Then alum in the proportion of 1 of alum to 4 of cotton, with a little soda and tartar added. Dissolve the alum, etc., and put in the cotton, and boil half-an-hour. Cool down and ring out. Then dry slowly. Repeat the aluming. Put madder into water and when hot dip in cotton for ½ hour, keeping it under boiling point, then boil up for ¼ hour and wash. Dry.
11).Madder Red for Cotton & Linen.
(For 1 lb.) 1st Mordant.—Boil 1 oz. ground gall nuts in 5 quarts of water for ½ hour. Put in thread and soak for 24 hours. Dry.
2nd Mordant.—Melt 2 oz. of alum, ⅛ oz. of Turmeric, and ½ oz. of gum Arabic in two quarts of water, over a slow fire. Let cool. Melt 1 oz. soda, 1 oz. arsenic, ¼ oz. potash (crushed) in a bath, and when dissolved, add the alum, turmeric and gum Arabic mixture. Stew ½ hour. Put in thread, which should be covered with the liquid, and let it soak for 24 hours. Dry.
1st. Bath.—Put 2 oz. Madder into 10 quarts of water, heat up to boiling but do not let it boil. Put in thread and stir well for 1 hour.
2nd. Bath.—Put 3 oz. Madder in 10 quarts of water; treat as in first bath, from which the thread should be taken and put straight into the 2nd. bath. Stir for 1 hour. Soak for 24 hours; wash and dry.
3rd. Bath.—Put 3 oz. Madder in 10 quarts water; repeat the process described for 2nd. bath. The thread should be washed in cold water & lastly in warm water in which a little soft soap has beendissolved. When drying do not wring the skeins as this is likely to make the colour uneven.
There are a few other red dyes of minor importance which should be mentioned.
BRAZIL WOODS, various leguminous trees, including lima, sapan and peach wood, dye red with alum and tartar, and a purplish slate colour with bichromate of potash. They are not fast colours.
Some old dyers used Brazil wood to heighten the red of madder.
CAMWOOD,BARWOOD,SANDALWOOD or SANDERSWOOD, are chiefly used in wool dyeing, with other dye woods such as Old Fustic, and Logwood for browns. They dye good but fugitive red with bichromate of potash, or alum.
RED from LADIES BEDSTRAW.
The crushed roots of this plant are used. Mordant the wool with either alum or bichromate of potash. The red with alum is an orange red, with chrome, a crimson red. Make the dye bath with 30 to 50% of bedstraw roots and boil the mordanted wool in it for an hour.
RED for COTTON.
For 10 lbs. cotton boil 3 lbs. Sumach, let the cotton steep in this over night: wring out and work in red spirits (1 gill to a gallon of water). Wring out and wash well. Boil up 3 lbs. limawood (or Brazil or Peach wood) and 1 lb. fustic. Work the cotton in this ½ hour, as warm as the hand can bear; add 1 gill red spirits and work 15 minutes longer. Wash.