I. For this color, which has in itself a subdued tone of brown, or has the color of gray ostrich feathers, such naturally colored feathers may be used unbleached, but well cleaned and rinsed before dyeing. Prepare a luke-warm bath, to which add about one-half ounce tartaricacid to per quart of water and solution of methyl violet 6 B., according to shade, with a little aniline ponceau or fast brown for toning. While working the feathers, raise the temperature and continue dyeing at nearly boiling for one-half hour; then take out, wash and dry.
Or,
II. Prepare a boiling hot bath with alum, sulphuric acid and tartar; to which add acid fuchsine; enter the feathers, and dye one-half hour to a blue red, which tone, by the addition of decoction of logwood, continue at nearly boiling heat for one-half hour longer, lift, rinse lightly, starch, beat and dry.
III. Take a hot bath, upon which violet has been dyed, and refresh it with some solution of methyl violet, 5 B., and a few drops of sulphuric acid, or prepare a hot bath with the same ingredients, and indigo carmine, according to shade; or, instead of indigo carmine, indigo substitute, fast blue B. A., and indigotine; preferably, however, use indigo carmine, which develops more slowly, and therefore is surer to give better results, while the aniline dyestuffs run up more rapidly, and are apt to dye unevenly, unless their solutions are added gradually and the feathers handled quickly and carefully.
I. Light yellow is comparatively very little in demand for ostrich feathers, and scarcely used for trimming hats of children and young misses as a set-off for other colors. To produce it, prepare a pretty hot bath with a little sulphuric acid, so as to give it a slightly acid taste, add very little quinoline yellow, lay down the feathers in the bath for one-half hour, turning and agitating them from time to time, lift, rinse and dry. For this color, as well as for light blues and roses, the feathers must be perfectly white. (For this dye the quinoline yellow manufactured by the Actien Gesellschaft fuer Anilin Fabrikation, Berlin, is specially suitable). As the purity of all light shades of delicate colors greatly depends upon the purity of the water, it is advisable to bring the bath, before preparing it, to boil with some bran and chloride of tin and skim it off well.
Various shades of yellow can also be produced with the old natural dyestuffs, which are not, however, equal in brilliancy to the foregoing described colors. The feathers must be bleached for these as well as for anyclear color, which would be materially impaired by an impure bottom; still developed grays may be employed. After scouring and thoroughly rinsing the feathers, prepare a cold bath of alum, about one ounce to one gallon of clear water, or of acetic acid; lay the feathers down until well opened, so that the liquid can uniformly act upon all parts, for one hour. Then take them out, squeeze and centrifugate them, and dye the shade upon a fresh warm bath with the required quantity of flavine, decoction of color or of fustic; lift, rinse and starch as usual.
Or, dissolve a sufficient quantity of turmeric in boiling water, filter and enter the feathers while the filtrate is still well hot. Agitate them for five minutes, then take them up, add to the bath a small quantity of tartaric acid, this to promote its dissolution; then re-enter the feathers, work them again for five minutes, lift, rinse in cold water, and dry.
If these colors are to have a light reddish or warmer tone, add, when nearly done, some anotto to the dye bath.
Bleached grays answer for this color as well as naturally white feathers. Scour and rinse them well. Preparea bath, feebly acidulated with sulphuric acid, and add the filtered solution of two and one-half per cent. of the weight of feathers, dark yellow, (manufactured by the Leipziger Anilin Fabrik, formerly Bayer & Kegel). Enter the feathers in the cold and work them diligently until the color is well up, then raise the temperature slowly to 170° F., dye to shade, lift, rinse in clear cold water, starch and dry.
II. A new light yellow, which is fast to light and air, is obtained by products of Leonhardt & Co., at Manheim, viz: redarine and acme yellow. Add to a hot bath of 170-190° F., a quite small quantity of redarine and still less acme yellow; enter the feathers, manipulate for one-half hour, take out, rinse and dry them with starch, and beat well out. This color being extremely sensitive, the purification of the water for the bath is as necessary as the most scrupulous cleanliness of utensils and workshops.
I. The feathers being scoured and rinsed clean of soap, prepare a bath of five per cent., of the weight of feathers, bisulphate of soda, add solution (filtered) of azo orange, according to shade. Enter the feathersat 120° F.; heat up slowly to 170° F., while working the feathers; lift when the shade is obtained, squeeze out, starch and dry.
II. Prepare a bath with three per cent. (of the weight of the feathers) Glauber salt and one per cent. sulphuric acid. Enter the feathers at 100-120° F., after adding to the bath the solution of one per cent. golden yellow S. (of Gust. Doerr, Frankfort-on-Main), work the feathers repeatedly during one-half hour, when they all have assumed a rich, nourished color; take up, rinse lightly; starch and beat them dry.
Have the naturally white or decolorized gray feathers well washed in soap and rinsed clean from it. Prepare a hot bath at 170° F., to which add so much aniline cream as to color it dark reddish yellow. Enter the feathers and agitate them from five to ten minutes, according to the shade desired. Then take them up, add some sulphuric acid to the bath, re-enter the feathers, work for two minutes; then lift, rinse and dry. The bath can be preserved for further use.
So unpretending this color appears, so difficult is it to produce, and it requires a considerable amount of practice and good judgment to bring out a good color from the beginning, as very little too much or too little will spoil a color either in tone or in shade. A very good logwood gray, which with proper attention seldom fails to turn out satisfactory, is made as follows: Prepare a hot bath, to which add a small quantity of decoction of logwood; enter the feathers and work them in the bath for fifteen or twenty minutes, according to shade desired. Then take them up, add to the bath very little pyrolignite of iron, that is, only as much as to turn the color of the bath; re-enter the feathers, agitate them again for fifteen or twenty minutes in the liquid; then lift, rinse and starch as usual. This color might be best described as dark ash gray. Instead of pyrolignite of iron, some solution of copperas may be used. It will be easily understood, that the more concentrated the decoction of logwood is, the darker turns out the color, and it is in that respect particularly that the dyer has to use good judgment in producing shades from silver gray to dark ash gray. This color, besides, presents the advantage, that by topping it with solutionsof blue, brown, yellow or green coal-tar dyestuffs a great variety of mode colors can be produced.
After scouring and rinsing well, prepare a warm bath (100-120° F.) with five per cent., of the weight of feathers, bisulphate of soda, to which add solution of Victoria blue and of extract of archil, according to sample. Acid violet may be used, but requires a temperature near the boiling point, which ought to be avoided wherever possible in dyeing ostrich feathers. To be on the safe side, make the solutions of the dyestuffs of medium concentration, use only the clear of them, or better filter the same, and add it slowly and gradually first in small doses, finally by drops, for which purpose the use of a burette with squeeze-cock is recommendable.
Scour, respectively bleach, and rinse the feathers well clean, prepare a bath, work the solution of five per cent., of the weight of feathers, silver gray (Actein Gesellschaft fuer Anilin Fabrikation, Berlin), feeblyacidulated with sulphuric acid; enter the feathers in the cold, work well to make the color dye up evenly; then raise the temperature slowly under diligent working, to 170° F., continue at this temperature for five to ten minutes, lift, rinse and dry.
The series of brown colors, partly produced by combinations of spectrum colors, partly of direct brown dyestuffs, presents a large range of modifications and shades, from a light rust brown or buff to nearly black, blueish, yellowish, reddish, olive brown, etc., and is in this respect only inferior to the non-descript endless variety of modes. With the exception of the very lightest shades, which require perfectly white feathers, they can be dyed upon half-bleached, and the deeper shades upon unbleached gray feathers; the dyer, must, however, in the latter case, bear in mind, that the gray bottom color always influences to a certain degree, the tone of the color that is to be dyed upon it. Nevertheless, as to the proportions of the dyestuffs to be employed for a given tone or shade cannot be given, because the tinctorial value of artificial dyestuffs is very changeable and not even constant with the same makers.Experience, skill and trial dyes must, therefore, guide the dyer in composing the baths for browns as well as for modes, the majority of the latter being modifications of brown. In general the following may be observed:
I. After scouring the feathers and rinsing them perfectly clean of the scouring material, whether soap or soda, prepare a bath of 170 to 190° F., to which add fifteen per cent., of the weight of feathers, bisulphate of soda, indigo carmine, extract of archil and azo yellow.
According to the proportionally greater or smaller quantity of either dyestuff added to the dyebath either browns are obtained, or olives, Russia green, reseda, or a variety of modes. The trouble with all colors into whose compositions indigo carmine enters is, that this dyestuff requires a comparatively high temperature to run up, preferably a boiling bath, which, however, is decidedly objectionable with ostrich feathers. To avoid this difficulty, the new acid Victoria blue is used instead of indigo carmine, and fuchsine S. instead of extract of archil. Victoria blue dyes up readily at a moderate temperature.
II. The feathers being scoured and rinsed clean, prepare a boiling bath with so much sulphuric acid as to give a feebly sour taste, and add fast aniline brown,turmeric, and indigo carmine or cloth-blue S., according to the tone and shade desired. Prepare the bath so that it shows exactly this tone of color which is to be dyed, and bring it to boil in order to produce a perfect mixture of the three dyestuffs, or rather their filtered solutions. Then chill the bath to about 120° F., enter the feathers, while raising the temperature in about fifteen minutes to near the boiling point; then dye to shade, lift, rinse and dry.
It is advisable, in order to obtain a level dye, to add not the whole amount of dyestuff solution required at one time, but at least in two times; which rule altogether applies to all aniline dyestuffs, more or less, as they mostly run up very rapidly and are apt, therefore, to give uneven dyes.
If a yellowish tint is wanted, use a little azo yellow or azo orange; picric acid, which was formerly very freely used for this purpose, has been almost entirely abandoned.
Clean and rinse them as usual, prepare a bath of 170-190° F., with redarine, a trace of orange O, and some acid green; enter feathers and work for one-halfhour, then lift, rinse and dry. By varying the proportions of dyestuffs, a series of modes is obtainable. (Dyestuffs manufactured by Leonhardt & Co., of Mannheim).
Prepare a slightly acidulated warm bath with three per cent., of the weight of feathers, fast aniline brown, one per cent. azo yellow, one percent. extract of indigo, and a little sulphuric acid; enter the well scoured and rinsed feathers at 120-140° F., work the feathers for one-half hour, while slowly raising the temperature to the boiling point; continue dyeing at that degree of heat, but not boiling, for five minutes; lift, rinse, starch and dry.
I. Scour and rinse well; prepare a warm bath, in which dissolve three per cent., of the weight of feathers, alum, add twenty-five per cent. extract of archil, one and one half per cent. azo yellow, and if required for shade, one-half per cent. indigo carmine; enter at 170° F., dye to shade while slowly raising the temperature to near the boiling point, continue at that temperature for ten to fifteen minutes longer; then lift, rinse and dry.Instead of indigo carmine, cloth-blue S. may be used, in which case enter at 120° and raise the temperature slowly, not above 190° F. Or,
II. Prepare a bath at 190° F., add five per cent. bisulphate of soda, when dissolved, add solution of extract of archil, fast yellow and indigo carmine as required for the shade, and dye at that temperature to sample. Instead of archil, any red or orange azo dyestuff may be used, preferably bordeaux.
Have the feathers will cleaned and rinsed, bleaching being not required, prepare a bath with three per cent. alum (of the weight of feathers), at 170° F., add indigo carmine, bordeaux and azo yellow, according to sample, and dye to shade while slowly raising the temperature to near the boiling point, but bring not to boil, but continue until the indigo carmine is well up. A less fast color is obtained with archil, indigo carmine and picric acid. When finished dyeing, rinse, starch and dry as usual.
The dyestuffs for brown being nearly the same for all shades, while the depth and tone of the color is produced by differently proportioning the quantities of thedifferent dyestuffs and the time of dyeing, it is advantageous to have the solutions of dyestuffs near by on hand; it is advisable, however, if good work is intended, to always filter before using solutions which have been standing for some time. This precaution is necessary, because from most solutions, if allowed to stand for a day or longer, some dyestuff which was not dissolved but only suspended in the liquid, separates out forming a more or less copious sediment which, if it passes into the dye bath, settles upon the feathers causing spots or streaks of a different shade than the rest of the feathers.
Scour and rinse the feathers well; grays can be used in their natural color without bleaching. Prepare a warm bath, in which dissolve eighty per cent., of the weight of feathers, tartaric acid and eighty per cent. Glauber salt; then add sixteen per cent. aniline fast brown; eight per cent. azo yellow, and sixteen per cent. induline or nigrosine, and bring the bath to a boil; after a few minutes of boiling, chill by the addition of cold water, enter the feathers and work them at hand-heat for fifteen or twenty minutes until the color has become level; then bring the bath again to near the boilingpoint; lay the feathers down in the bath, shut off the steam, or withdraw from the fire, and let the bath cool down. When cold, that is in about one or two hours, take out the feathers, rinse and dry.
Prepare a warm bath with five per cent. bisulphate of soda, add solutions of azo orange, acid violet and some archil cautiously in several doses until the bath has the desired color. Enter the scoured and rinsed feathers and agitate for fifteen or twenty minutes, to produce a level dye; then raise the temperature slowly to 190-200° F., dye for a few minutes longer, lift, rinse and dry.
By varying the proportions of the dyestuffs, drab, wood brown, lead color, etc., can be obtained, and olives by increasing the quantity of acid violet and omitting the extract of archil.
Scour and rinse the feathers well; natural grays may be used unbleached. Prepare a decoction of one and one quarter pound cudbear, and six ounces turmeric intwo gallons of water, strain through a cloth and enter the feathers at hand heat (about 90-100° F.); work them for twenty or thirty minutes, or until they have attained a nourished garnet color. Then take them out, rinse, lay them down for five minutes in a cold solution of about six ounces copperas in one-half gallon of water, take them up and rinse in cold water. Then return to the first bath, operate for fifteen minutes at hand heat, enter again, after rinsing, the iron bath, and continue alternately dyeing upon the two baths until the required shade is obtained. Rinse every time on shifting from one bath to the other, in clean water, and finally rinse well, starch and dry.
I. For this color it is advisable to use naturally white or bleached feathers, scour or wash them clean in soap and warm water and remove the soap by thoroughly rinsing in two warm and one cold waters. Prepare a bath slightly acidulated with sulphuric acid, to which add eighty per cent., of the weight of feathers, tartaric acid, eight per cent. azo yellow, six per cent. fast brown, and three and a quarter per cent. acid green. Enter the feathers at 100-120° F. and manipulate atthat temperature for ten or fifteen minutes. Then raise the temperature to the boiling point (but do not boil), lay the feathers down in the bath for one-half to one hour, while the bath cools down, lift, starch and finish as usual.
II. Prepare a bath slightly acidulated with sulphuric acid, bring to nearly boiling, add a concentrated solution of orange S. and some acid green, enter the feathers and dye to shade; then pass them through a week oil-bath, and dry them, placed straight between several laps of clean muslin.
III. Prepare a bath of the decoction of twelve and a half per cent., of the weight of feathers, alum and twenty-five per cent. turmeric; strain, enter the feathers at 170-190° F., and let them lie in the bath over night. On the following day dye, at 100° F., with decoction of fustet, tone with decoction of logwood or of brazil, according to sample, starch and dry.
I. For this elegant color take naturally white or bleached gray feathers, scour and rinse them well. Prepare a hot bath with five per cent., of the weight of feathers, bisulphate of soda, to which add, as required,filtered solutions of fast yellow, indigo carmine and ponceau G. Enter the feathers at 170° F., work them for ten or fifteen minutes and raise the temperature slowly to near the boiling point. Add the dyestuffs in small quantities gradually, making the additions only when the dyestuff of the bath has been completely absorbed, and then by drops so as to be able to correct the color without waste of dyestuff. Bear in mind, that the indigo carmine dyes up slowly and requires a high temperature. An easier process is, therefore, the following:
II. After cleaning and rinsing well, prepare a bath at 170° F., with four per cent. bisulphate of soda, to which add gradually in small quantities, as required, some nigrosine, azo orange and a little mandarin or nigrosine, alkaline blue and fuchsine S., rinse, starch and dry.
Scour and rinse the feathers as usual; bleached grays may be used. Prepare a bath with five per cent., of the weight of feathers, bisulphate of soda and the clear solutions of acid violet, azo orange and fuchsine S.; add the dyestuff in small portions and finally bydrops, until the bath has the desired shade of color; then enter the feathers and dye at 170° F. to sample, squeeze or centrifugate, starch and dry.
I. For this color take either naturally white or well-bleached gray feathers, scour or wash and rinse them clean. Prepare pretty thin solutions of aniline orange (chrysaniline) and violet, add very little of them at a time and finally by drops to the dyestuffs containing either five per cent. bisulphate of soda or a small dose of sulphuric acid; enter the feathers at 145° F. and dye to shade at the same temperature, which will require about twenty or thirty minutes; lift, rinse, squeeze and starch.
II. Have the feathers well cleaned, respectively, bleached, and rinsed. Prepare a hot bath (170-190° F.), with a little sulphuric acid, just enough to give it a slightly sour taste, add a few drops of solution of fast brown and a little more solution of acid green (both dyestuffs of the Farbwerke, formerly Meister, Lucius & Bruening, Hoechst-on-Main); take of them one or two drops, respectively two or three drops per gallon of water for a light shade and increase quantities proportionallyfor darker shades. Rinse after dying, starch and dry.
III. Take white feathers or grays very well bleached to nearly white, scour and rinse them well. Prepare a bath of warm water, 100-120° F. and some vinegar so as to give it a distinct sour taste; add to a basin full, or about one-half gallon of the bath a little solution of fast brown, one or two drops of indigo carmine, and a trace of turmeric. Lay the feathers down in the bath for fifteen or twenty minutes and agitate them repeatedly in the liquid to make them level.
For a Gray Beige, add a little nigrosine to the bath and proceed as above.
For the modes it is impossible to give generally applicable directions, as these colors are of an indefinitely varying character, consisting in modifications of other compound or mixed colors which are affected by sometimes very trifling, unmeasureable additions of a toning dyestuff, and coloring effects are produced which cannot be described nor defined by names, but must be judged by the experienced eye of the dyer. Most of these colors are derived from grays or browns as above remarked,and the safest way for the dyer is, to begin dyeing with light shades of the prevalent characteristic color and give them the peculiar tone by the addition of other colors by drops. The proportions of dyestuffs thus ascertained for light shades, are then easy to increase for deeper shades. It needs not to be remarked, that for these colors the feathers must be bleached, especially for light and medium shades, and that, if unbleached, grays are to be dyed in dark shades, the effect of the natural color must be considered in composing the dye.
In general all modes are dyed upon a bath which is acidulated with bisulphate of soda, with azo orange, azo yellow, azo brown, acid violet, indigo carmine, solid blue or cloth blue, induline or nigrosine, archil or acid fuchsine. For brown modes, solution of Bismarck brown may be added at the beginning, in which case the other dyestuffs serve only for giving the peculiar tone.
For a yellowish green mode take orange O, azo yellow, and solid blue (fast blue); for darker shades add a little violet 6 B., or a few drops sulphate of indigo. If alizarine dyestuffs are to be employed, use tartaric acid as mordant, but for neutral dyestuffs add also a little alum to the dyebath.
For gray modes use the same dyestuffs as above, excepting the orange, instead of which a blue-red dyestuff is to be employed, such as azo rubine, bordeaux, fuchsine, etc., with the addition of a little acid green. The bath must be acidulated with a little sulphuric acid, or better with tartaric acid, or tartaric acid and alum, and after dyeing the feathers must be rinsed, starched and dried as usual.
For particularly fast modes add only tartaric acid to the dyebath and no alum, and a few drops of solution of thio-scarlet, thio-rubine, and thio-brown; for grays add a little azo yellow and sadden with solid blue. Alum does not agree with the thio dyestuffs which are manufactured by Dahl & Co., Barmin, and are fast against soap and light. Feathers dyed with these dyestuffs which have become soiled, can be washed, therefore, with neutral soap without injury to the color, but must naturally be dressed anew.
Scour the white, respectively bleached feathers and rinse well. Prepare a bath with five per cent., of the weight of feathers, bisulphate of soda, to which add gradually and carefully the filtered solution of acidviolet, fast yellow and fuchsine S., making the additions from the beginning in small quantities only, until the desired tone and shade are obtained; then enter and work the feathers to sample at 173° F.
It is for this dye particularly important that the bisulphate of soda used be crystallized, that is, pure bisulphate free from surplus sulphuric acid, while the commercial article is often nothing but a mixture of Glauber salt (sulphate of soda) into sulphuric acid, answer for this dye.
A good reseda is also easily obtained by adding to the acidulated bath small quantities of decoction of logwood and turmeric, so as to give a feeble bath. Enter the scoured and bleached feathers, after rinsing, at 170° F., work them for about fifteen minutes, until level, and sadden with a little solution of blue stone. Rinse, starch and dry as usual.
For two and one-half pounds of feathers boil two and one-half pounds of fustic for one-half hour with three quarts of water, pour the decoction off and boil the chips again for one-half hour with three quarts of water, mix the two decoctions and strain. Add threeounces alum and one and one-half ounces tartar, enter the feathers well scoured and rinsed, and dye to shade at 170° F. Or, prepare the dyestuffs of decoction of fustic or turmeric, and indigo carmine, according to shade, enter at 170° F., work for one-half hour while slowly raising the temperature to near the boiling point, and dye to sample; lift, rinse, squeeze and starch as usual.
I. Scour, respectively bleach, and rinse the feathers. Prepare a hot bath with the solution of forty per cent., of the weight of feathers, tannin, and treat the feathers in it for 1 hour at 170°F. Prepare a bath with a filtered solution of methyl green, according to shade, tone, if a yellowish green is wanted, with the clear solution of picric acid, and dye to sample at 150° F. Lift, squeeze and starch without rinsing.
II. A better color is obtained upon a lightly acidulated bath (with sulphuric acid) with acid green, malachite green, fast green, etc., that is, with the filtered solutions of these dyestuff's, added to the bath in quantities of from ten to twenty per cent. to suit the shade. Enter at 170° F.; dye for twenty or thirty minutes,lift, rinse, squeeze and dry with starch. If a yellowish tone is wanted, add the clear solution of picric acid, or of acid yellow.
Scour and rinse the feathers well; for dark shades unbleached grays may be used. Prepare a feebly acidulated bath with sulphuric acid, at a temperature near the boiling point; add turmeric freely and Guinea green G less. Enter the feathers and manipulate at the same temperature for fifteen or twenty minutes, according to the desired tone, re-enter and dye to shade.
By varying the proportions of the three dyestuffs, a great variety of green-brownish modes can be produced, which approach medium and dark bronzes the more the fast brown predominates in the composition of the color.
This color is preferably dyed upon unbleached gray feathers. Scour and rinse them, prepare a decoction of green walnut husks or of sumac; lay the feathers down in it for two hours, working them from time to time;then add some decoction of logwood and dye to shade at 170° F., or indigo carmine and dye to shade while slowly raising the temperature to near the boiling point. Rinse, squeeze, starch and dry.
Scour, respectively bleach, and rinse the feathers. Prepare a boiling bath with turmeric and indigo carmine; chill, enter the feathers at 170° F., dye for one-half hour, raise the temperature slowly to near the boiling point and dye to shade, take up, rinse and pass through a handwarm bath of tartar; lift, squeeze, starch and dry.
I. Scour the feathers as usual and rinse well. Prepare a bath slightly acidulated with sulphuric acid, add two per cent., of the weight of feathers, acid green and one per cent. aniline navy blue dissolved in warm water and filtered acid, according to sample, some filtered decoction of turmeric or solution of fast yellow. Dye at 170° F. to shade, lift rinse and dry with starch.
II. Have the feathers well cleaned and rinsed. Prepare a bath twenty per cent., of the weight of feathers,new green, eight per cent. canarine, sixteen per cent. aniline blue black, sixty per cent. alum, and one-quarter litre sulphuric acid (for two and a half pounds of feathers). Bring the bath to a brisk boil, then chill with cold water, enter the feathers and work them for one hour; finally sadden and tone by adding some decoction of fustic and of logwood. Lift, rinse, squeeze, starch and dry.
III. Prepare a sharp hot bath with a little sulphuric acid; add Guinea green, according to shade, and tone by the addition of indigo carmine and turmeric; for very deep shades add also some nigrosine or fast blue-black, dissolved and filtered. Enter as hot as the feathers can be handled, work for one half hour; then raise the temperature slowly to near the boiling point and dye to shade.
The bath for deeper shades being not exhausted can be preserved for further use, refreshed by suitable additions of dyestuffs as required, but caution must be used as regards the subsequent additions of sulphuric acid, that not so much be added as to injure the feathers.
For Russia green, especially the darker shades of it, naturally gray and even black feathers can be used unbleached.
I. For this delicate color, as well as for the lightest shades of blue and pure yellow, absolutely white feathers must be used; scour them carefully and rinse them perfectly clean from soap or soda, and have the dyestuffs well dissolved and the solutions filtered. Prepare a handwarm bath with a little tartaric acid or acetic acid, to which some solution of eosine, rhodamine, azoeosine, safranine, coccine or ponceau 6 R. B. or ponceau R. R. Be particularly cautious in adding the dyestuff solutions gradually in small quantities, even by drops, to avoid over-dyeing, as by partly stripping of a too dark shade, a fine color can never be obtained, and the nature of the material demands that all unnecessary handling be avoided. After dyeing, rinse lightly, pass through starch and dry. The dyes with the ponceaus are faster than those with eosine or safranine.
II. Prepare a bath at hand heat with carthamine (extract of safflower), well dissolved and filtered, which add very gradually in small quantities, taking up the feathers each time before making a fresh addition, until the desired shade is nearly obtained, then add a little tartaric acid to the bath, re-enter the feathers and dye to shade; or dye first to shade upon the safflower bath,and then pass through a fresh, handwarm feeble bath of tartaric acid, which in this case can be used again for other colors, either as a fixing bath or in the composition of the dye bath.
Scour and rinse the feathers well; grays must be bleached as near to white as possible, and these ought only to be dyed dark shades of red. Prepare a bath with twenty per cent., of the weight of feathers, bisulphate of soda, and see, as in all cases, that it is well crystallized and dry. (Never use the article when it looks decayed, forms lumps or is moist). Add four to six per cent. azo red, according to the shade wanted, raise the temperature to 170° F., enter the feathers and work to shade; take out, starch and dry.
I. Scour and rinse the white, respectively bleached gray, feathers and prepare a bath of boiling water with eight per cent., of the weight of feathers, alum, four per cent. tartaric acid, two or three per cent. oxalic acid, and three per cent. alizarine red; let thebath boil for fifteen minutes, then let the temperature go down just below the boiling point. Lay down the feathers in the bath, which keep at near the boiling point for at least one hour before allowing it to go down to hand-heat; then continue for two or three hours longer, agitating the feathers from time to time; lift, rinse, starch and dry.
By using alizarine acid 2 A. bl. bl., a pure red, similar to Turkey red is obtained. Alizarine 1 W. S. gives scarlets. If the feathers are passed, before rinsing, through a strong soap bath, pretty blue tones are produced.
II. For a fuller red, striking towards bordeau, prepare a well concentrated boiling bath in the same manner with three per cent. bichromate of potash, one and one-half to two per cent. tartaric acid, one per cent. oxalic acid, and eight per cent. alizarine red 2 A. bl. bl. When all is dissolved, let the temperature go down below the boiling point, enter the feathers, and proceed as above.
I. For this color naturally white feathers are preferably used, but well bleached grays may also be employed;scour and rinse well. Then fill your pan with boiling water, add a few handfuls of bran, let it well boil up, remove the bran from the bath and rub the feathers in the bath as in washing; then pass them three times through clean, cold water. While the feathers are draining, prepare another fresh bath of lukewarm water, to which add a little chloride of tin and, for one pound of feathers, about two pinches of starch and ninety grammes cochineal; then bring the bath to boil and let it gently boil for eight or ten minutes, shut off the steam or remove the pan from the fire, let it stand for a few minutes. Then lay the feathers down in the bath, taking care that they are well kept down in the liquid, work for twenty minutes diligently, then let them lodge in the bath for six to eight hours. As the combination of cochineal and the chloride is readily oxydized and changed to violet by the oxygen of the air, it is advisable to dye in a tinned pan with cover to shut out the air.
Then pass through three lukewarm waters, the last of which contains a little chloride of tin and about a pinch of cream of tartar.
II. Prepare a hot bath with twenty per cent. (of the weight of feathers) bisulphate of soda, well crystallized and dry, and four to six per cent. azo red, according toshade. Enter the feathers at 170° F., dye to sample in fifteen or twenty minutes, lift, starch and dry.
According to the brand of azo red which is used, either scarlet or ponceau is obtained. By mixing the various brands of azo red, a very fine ponceau is produced. If a very blue tone is desired, add to the bath some solution of coccinine (azo red blue touch).
I. Scour and rinse the white, respectively bleached feathers well. Prepare a nearly boiling bath, acidulated with sulphuric acid, to which simply add ponceau R. R. extra. Enter the feathers, operate at boiling heat one-half hour, then lay down the feathers and let them lodge until level; lift, rinse, starch and dry.
II. Prepare a sharp handwarm bath with one per cent. tartaric acid (of the weight of feathers), or with one per cent. Glauber salt and one-fourth per cent. sulphuric acid, to which add the filtered solutions of ponceau R. B., ponceau 6 R. B., and eosine S. extra B. Enter the feathers and agitate for twenty to thirty minutes, or until the desired shade is obtained; lift, rinse, starch and dry.
III. Lay down the feathers for four hours in a cold bath in which some chloride of tin has been dissolved; then dye for one-half hour in a hand warm bath of cochineal, lift and dry.
IV. Prepare a bath with one and one-half per cent., of the weight of feathers, saccharic acid, one-quarter per cent. tin salt, and six to seven per cent. cochineal, bring the bath to boil for one minute; then chill. Enter the scoured and rinsed feathers at hand heat, dye for three-quarters of an hour, take up and expose them for two hours to the air, rinse, starch and dry.
Scour and rinse the feathers well. Prepare a boiling hot bath slightly acidulated with sulphuric acid, to which add a liberal quantity of ponceau 6 R. B., a few drops solution of aniline blue, and some yellow dyestuff, such as turmeric, fast yellow, or quinoline yellow, and bring the bath to boil for a few minutes. Then chill to sharp hand-heat, enter the feathers and work until level, and sample; if still too light, add some more of all these dyestuffs. As the bath shows from the beginning the color it will produce, it can be corrected before entering the feathers.
I. Scour and rinse the feathers well clean, grays ought to be bleached. Prepare the dyebath as for ponceau (I.), or use an old ponceau bath, and add to it some aniline cerise (cherry red) and very little extract of indigo, or solution of fast blue-black. Enter feathers as hot as possible to handle, work for fifteen to twenty minutes while raising the temperature to boiling heat; then stop heating, lay down the feathers, and let them lodge until level; lift, rinse and dry.
II. Prepare a boiling hot, not boiling, bath of anotto, according to shade, enter the feathers, work them well through, then lay them down in the bath for twelve hours. Take them up, rinse, pass through a moderately strong alum bath, rinse again, and dye at 170°F., with either decoction of red wood (brazil, camwood, etc.,) or fuchsine; lift and dry.
For very deep shades naturally gray feathers may be used unbleached with proper consideration of the tone of the bottom color. Have the feathers well cleaned and rinsed, and add to a bath of two gallons of water, one and one-quarter pounds cudbear and five ounces turmeric.Bring the bath to boil, boil for five or ten minutes, let cool down to 100° F., enter the feathers and dye to shade. Lift, starch and dry.
Or, utilize a used ruby bath (following) and add to it five ounces turmeric.
For a good color the feathers must be white, naturally or bleached; scour and rinse them well. Add to two gallons of water one and one-half pounds good cudbear, stir well, enter the feathers and work them, while slowly heating, as long as the hands can stand it. Then lay them down until colored to shade, lift, rinse well, starch and dry.
I. Salmon or "flesh" may be dyed upon bleached naturally gray feathers, in which case the creamy tint of the feathers must be taken into consideration and can be utilized for certain broken tones of the color. Have the feathers well washed in soap or soda, and rinsed perfectly clean. For dyeing prepare a bath as for rose, preferably with ponceau B. R., or utilize an old bath forrose, according to its strength and the shade to be produced, and add in either case a suitable, small quantity of filtered decoction of turmeric. Proceed as stated for dyeing rose, with the difference only, that the acid may be added to the dyebath at once, if the bath is made fresh. Particularly fine shades are obtained with rhodamine and turmeric, in a bath slightly acidulated with acetic acid, upon bleached grays.
II. Prepare a bath as for rose, with some solution of eosine, a little quinoline yellow, according to tone, and a little acetic acid, just enough to give the bath a slightly sour taste. Enter the well cleaned, or bleached feathers after rinsing, at hand heat and agitate them until the bath is well exhausted, or a level color, according to sample, obtained, rinse lightly, starch and dry.
After scouring and rinsing, prepare a bath with one and one-half ounces alum per gallon of water, at 75-80° F., and lay the feathers down in it over night. On the next morning rinse them in cold water; then dye them at hand-heat to nearly boiling heat in a strained decoction of Brazil wood (or camwood, hypernic, etc.) until the required shade is obtained, and rinse in warm waterto which some tartar has been added; starch and dry.
For this color naturally gray feathers may be used if a deep shade is to be dyed; for light shades they ought to be bleached. Scour and rinse the feathers well; then prepare a bath with five per cent., of the weight of feathers, bisulphate of soda, to which add azo orange, acid violet and extract of archil. Dissolve the dyestuffs, each separately in water, filter, add the clear solutions gradually in small quantities until the shade is nearly reached, then, in order to correct, by drops, until the exact depth and tone are obtained. Enter the feathers and dye to shade at 170° F. Instead of acid violet indigo carmine may be used; in this case, however, as the dyestuff runs up slowly and difficultly, work at 170° F., for twenty to thirty minutes, then raise the temperature slowly to near the boiling point and continue at that temperature, without actual boiling, until the required color is obtained. Then rinse, squeeze, starch and dry.
Bronze is also produced like drab, that is, with azo orange, acid violet and fuchsine S., but with greaterquantities of dyestuff. Bronze is also obtained with the recipe for any dark brown, by making the yellow in it predominant; particularly good bronzes are in this manner obtained from dark chestnut brown.
I. Clean the feathers by laying them down for six hours, or over night, in a weak warm solution of soda crystals (1° B.) to which add so much ammonia as to give it a faint odor; take up when completely ungreased and rinse well in lukewarm and cold waters. Prepare the dyebath with five per cent., of the weight of feathers, bisulphate of soda, to which add filtered solutions of indigo carmine, archil and fast yellow as required for the sample. As the indigo carmine is slow to dye up and requires boiling heat or a temperature near it, dye first the feathers blue with indigo carmine, then let the bath cool down to 170° F., and add the solutions of archil and fast yellow in small successive quantities, so as to be able to give the accurate tone.
Instead of extract of archil, fast red or bordeaux may be employed.
To avoid any possible injury to the feathers by the high temperature necessary for indigo carmine to runup, in its stead a solution of alkaline blue or of acid Victoria blue. Take up and dry the feathers without rinsing.
II. Scour well and rinse the feathers, and prepare a bath with three per cent. alum (of the weight of feathers), to which add azo orange and some indigo carmine; enter at 170° F., dye for fifteen or twenty minutes, then raise the temperature slowly to near the boiling point and dye to shade. Lift and dry.
By beginning with small quantities of the dyestuffs and successively increasing them and varying their proportions, a series of fine shades from light old gold to the deepest olive, near black can be produced.
III. Prepare a boiling bath, in which dissolve one per cent., of the weight of feathers, alum, one per cent. Glauber salt, and add a little sulphuric acid; let cool down to 170° F., add some fast yellow, a little solution of archil and of sulphate of indigo, work for fifteen minutes while raising the temperature to the boiling point, and sadden with blue black, lift, rinse and dry with starch.
IV. Prepare a sharp handwarm bath with a little sulphuric acid, to which add the clear solution of a little quinoline yellow or turmeric, and acid green; enter the feathers and work for fifteen minutes, or until they havetaken a sufficiently nourished yellow-green color; then take them up, add to the bath some solution of fast brown, as required by the sample and dye at 170° F. to shade; rinse, squeeze, starch and dry. The brown dyestuff must be added very carefully in small doses, best by drops, in order to obtain with certainty any of the great varieties of shades, from olive green to olive brown, as required.
Naturally gray feathers may be used unbleached, but only for very deep shades as the bottom color acts dulling upon the dye, and brilliant colors can only be obtained upon a pure white bottom. Scour, respectively bleach well, and rinse clean. Prepare a hot bath to which add some filtered solution of methyl violet, according to tone, that is, more or less blue, enter the feathers and work until cool, then add gradually more dyestuff solution according to shade while raising the temperature to near the boiling point and continue at this temperature until the desired shade is nearly obtained. If too blue, tone with a little solution of fuchsine S. Towards the end of the operation take up the feathers, add some alum to the bath, and when it is dissolved,shut off the steam, re-enter the feathers and work to shade for about ten minutes. Then lift, rinse and dry.
I. These colors being simply medium and light shades of violet, proceed as for the latter color, selecting for heliotrope the bluish brands of methyl violet, and for lilac the red touch mark. The dyebath is acidified with a little tartaric acid, so as to give it a feeble sourish taste and dyeing done at hand-heat until a level color is obtained with very little solution of the dyestuff, and more of it gradually added, while the temperature is raised to nearly boiling, as required for the shade to be produced. Or,
II. Prepare the dyebath simply of cold water acidulated with a little sulphuric acid, add a few drops of the filtered solution of methyl violet (4 B. for heliotrope), and dye to shade without heating. In both cases rinse after dyeing, pass through a bath of raw starch and dye as usual.
I. The lightest shade of this delicate color can be produced upon naturally gray ostrich feathers by simply bleaching them; this color, however, is extremely sensitive, probably because the action of peroxyd of hydrogen continues under the influence of the oxygen of the air. Bleached grays require, therefore, dying as well as naturally white feathers. The feathers being well scoured and rinsed, prepare in a white basin (preferable to the copper pans, because the coloring of the dyebath is easier and more correctly discerned over the white bottom) a bath of pretty hot water, to which add a pinch of tartaric acid, and a little decoction of turmeric or solution of fast aniline yellow or of azo yellow, but only enough to give the water a light tint; work the feathers in it for four to six minutes. Then sample and correct, if necessary, by adding more dyestuff solution. The shade being obtained, pass through cold water, starch and dry us usual.
II. Prepare in a white basin a handwarm bath with three or four drops of sulphuric acid and a few drops of the filtered solutions of picric acid, fast aniline yellow, quinoline yellow, or mandaric yellow extra, but preferably turmeric which dyes up more evenly than theother dyestuffs. Enter the feathers and agitate them for fifteen or twenty minutes; then lay them down in the bath for one-half hour longer to insure a level dye; lift, draw through lukewarm water, starch and dry.
Science teaches that white is the source of light or the product of combination of all other colors, because the light of the sun, which is assumed to be white, when broken up by means of a prism, shows in its image reflected upon a white plain, the three primary, and three secondary colors with the uncounted number of intermediary products of combinations of fractions of the primary colors forming the transition from one to the other, which can be perceived by the eye but not exactly separated from one another, but may quantitatively determined to an approximate degree of accuracy. Black, on the other hand, is described as the absence of all light, and it is denied, therefore, by theory a place among the colors.
Practice asserts the direct contrary of the theory developed by science by way of conclusion. While philosophers assert that they have succeeded in producing white light by the combination of lights of thevarious colors, for which combination, however, they give no formula, no dyer with the greatest patience and with the most subtile proportioning of dyestuffs, giving pure reproductions of the primary colors as seen in the spectrum or image of the broken sunbeam, can ever be able to produce anything of a color approaching white. But every dyer knows how to produce white by bleaching, that is, by the destruction of all color. And this operation is comparatively simple and easy to perform, since the great achievements of modern chemistry have placed into the hand of the dyer the most energetic and effectious color destroying agents. The ostrich feather dyer of to-day is able to convert naturally gray and even black feathers into nearly pure white, which undertaking his father would have called the boast of a deranged mind and an absolute physical impossibility. And with the aid of a complementary color dyed upon the bleached feathers the tint remaining upon them is obliterated, or neutralized, which operation is generally called "white dyeing," although certainly white cannot be "dyed" with a blue or violet dyestuff as little as blue or violet can be produced with a yellow dyestuff.
Black, on the other hand, although the name and rank of a color is denied it by the doctrines of theory is, for the dyer, most essentially a color requiring for itsproduction the contribution of all colors, as can be shown by a simple experiment. If, for instance, within a circle, three equal circles, whose diameters are greater than half the diameter of the surrounding circle, are printed, one blue, one red and one yellow, so that the points of contact with the periphery of the outer circle are equidistant from one another, or form a regular triangle, their segments overlapping one another form four spherical triangles, one violet where red and blue cover one another, one orange where red and yellow come together, one green where yellow and blue are mixed, but the fourth is the centre, where parts of the three differently colored segments cover one another, is black, but toned by the color of the greatest intensity. In fact, black requires for its production more color, and is more difficult to dye than any color of the spectrum. It is not strange, therefore, that many more methods have been proposed and have been tried and adopted to dye black than for the production of any other color. Yet all these blacks are more or less tinted and are nothing more than the deepest shade, which can be produced with the aid of metallic salts, of blue, brown, gray, violet, green and even red. The only black upon ostrich feathers which may be justly called an absolute black is that produced after the method of Mr. Paul, as describedin the front part of this book (page 53-56). It presents, besides, the advantage, that it can be completely done in eighteen minutes, while there are older methods which require not less than three days. Such, of course, will find no room here, but only the most reliable and expeditious, and safest of the older methods will be selected with due regard both to beauty of color and preservation of the precious material.
Naturally white ostrich feathers and bleached grays, like all material taken from the animal realm, retains even after scouring and bleaching a more or less noticeable yellowish tint, which becomes visible after some time even upon such as appear snow-white immediately after scouring. The cause is, probably, that the fat which is contained in feathers, as well as in wool and hair, and a part of which remains after the cleaning process, is oxydized by the action of the air. To perfectly and completely extract this remaining small amount of fat which does not hinder the subsequent dyeing operations, is not advisable; for, it has been observed that in that case, the feathers become brittle, and for this reason, scouring with soap is preferable to scouringwith soda. It has been observed that colored matter taken from the animal body in the course of time loses its brilliancy of color and becomes dull; white feathers turn yellowish, even if perfectly protected against dust. To prevent this alteration, the bleached feathers are "dyed white," or rather blued or tinted; that is, the brilliancy of the white is heightened and the faint yellowish tinge neutralized by the application of a very light, scarcely perceptible tint of a complementary color.
For this purpose, for instance, indigo carmine (greenish white), indigo carmine with a very small addition of ammoniacal cochineal (reddish white), induline or extract of indigo (bluish white), or methyl violet 6 B. (direct white), are employed, and a few drops of acid added to the bath, either sulphuric, acetic or oxalic acid. The acid, however, can be dispensed with, as it scarcely has anything to act upon, and as only a diminutive amount of it is employed, the blued feathers are not rinsed but immediately dried from the blue-bath. The additions of dyestuff to baths must be made so small that they do not affect a coloring of the feathers but only a faint tinting. Rather too little dyestuff may be added, which defect can at all times be corrected by adding a few drops more of the coloring solution, thantoo much. In the latter case it would become necessary to bleach the feathers again and go over the whole process of preparing the raw material for dyeing.
I.Chrome Black.—Black being the most difficult color to produce, as above remarked, the feathers require a specially careful preparatory treatment in order to remove everything that might interfere with the purity, uniformity and brilliancy of the color, or cause less dyed, dull spots and streaks. Naturally gray feathers, however, need not to be bleached or decolorized but only careful treatment and attention. The feathers are for twenty-four hours laid down in a solution of twice their weight of calcined soda, ammonia soda being preferable for this purpose to Lablanc soda (old process soda), then taken up and carefully rinsed clean from the alkaline in warm water, or better, in two warm waters. In the case of particularly valuable feathers it is recommendable, before laying them down in the soda solution, to rub the stains of the feathers off with a piece of carbonate of ammonia or with a large soda crystal. After rinsing, the feathers are entered for one hour, at 170° F., in a bath containing forty percent., of the weight of feathers, chromate of potash, forty per cent. copperas, and twenty per cent. tartar, and several times turned and agitated during the specified period while the entering temperature is maintained. Then the feathers are taken up, and the adhering liquid squeezed out by hand or by rolling them through a clothes wringer with rubber roller. In the meantime a logwood bath of medium concentration is prepared either with a fresh decoction or with extract of logwood and twenty per cent. Marsailles soap dissolved in it. The feathers are entered in this bath at hand-heat, diligently agitated for twenty or thirty minutes and, if necessary, while the temperature is raised to 200° F., laid down in the bath until the correct shade and a level dye are obtained. The feathers are then lifted, squeezed, very thoroughly rinsed in cold water, passed through starch and dried with frequent shaking, respectively beating upon the board or between the hands.
It occurs sometimes, that the stems of the feathers are imperfectly died and present light brown or gray places. This is attributable to insufficient scouring. In this case the defective portions of the stems must be scraped with a sharp penknife and dyed over. This operation, however, is difficult and requires much practice and a light hand, as too much scraping removesthe horny glossy surface of the stem and, when dyed over, the only change effected is, that a dull black mark takes the place of the discolored or brown spot. Often, however, the defect can be remedied by touching the imperfect portions up with a feeble alcoholic solution of shellac, in which some nigrosine is dissolved. With properly scoured feathers this mishap does not occur.
Another trouble, however, which is not unfrequent with blacks, is that the feathers are over-dyed and become brownish black instead of black. But in this case the remedy is as simple as its occurrence is frequent; a quick passage through sulphuric acid diluted with water to 2° B. strips off the excessive dye and produces a good color. Besides, this operation gives the feathers a brilliant lustre. Many dyers, therefore, methodically avail themselves of this effect of sulphuric acid and deliberately over dye their feathers (See IV below) and then apply the sulphuric acid passage for the purpose of imparting the feathers that peculiar lustre. A passage through a solution of sodium chloride, of 2° B. strength, has the same effect as a passage in sulphuric acid 2° B.
For this purpose lay the feathers down in the warm sodium chloride solution, until the black cotton strings with which the feathers have been tied together, as inthe beginning described, begin to turn gray. Then take up the feathers, rinse them very thoroughly in cold water, drain, starch and dry.
Sodium chloride can be prepared in a simple way as follows: rub one-half pound fresh chloride of lime in a porcelain mortar with a little water into a smooth milk, which pour into a bucket, dilute with cold water, and add, under stirring, the solution of one pound Glauber salt; let settle and use the clear liquid. Instead of Glauber salt (sodium sulphate), soda crystals (sodium carbonate) may be used; the latter, however, is a little higher in price and renders the solution strongly alkaline.
II.Iron Black.—Lay down the feathers over night in a warm bath, in which one hundred per cent., of the weight of feathers, soda crystals have been dissolved. On the following day take them up, squeeze them out and lay them down for two hours in a proportionally strong solution of carbonate of ammonia, take them up and rinse well in warm water. Lay down for six hours upon a bath of nitrate of iron 10° B.; take up, rinse, and dye at 170° F. with the decoction of ten per cent. logwood in which five per cent. Marseilles soap has been dissolved. If a dead black is wanted, add some decoction of quercitron or turmeric to the bath. The desireddepth being obtained, lift, rinse, starch and dry. In case the color is over-dyed, strip with sodium chloride (or sulphuric acid) 2° B., as above described, drain, squeeze and dry.
III.Logwood Black.—Scour and rinse the feathers well. Prepare a bath with three per cent., of the weight of feathers, carbonate of lime, six per cent. blue stone, and five per cent. tartar. Enter the feathers at 170° F., maintain this temperature for one hour; then let it go down, but leave the feathers in the bath for six hours longer, agitating them frequently during that time. Take them up, drain and squeeze, or centrifugate, and enter a handwarm bath containing some decoction of logwood, to which some decoction of fustic is added. Work for fifteen or twenty minutes, then raise the temperature to nearly boiling heat. Continue adding decoction of logwood, until a nourished black is obtained. This dye being hard to correct by the ordinary means, the additions of logwood decoction must be made with caution towards the end of the operation, in order to prevent over-dyeing. If a brownish touch is desired, add some more decoction of fustic when the black is nearly done. Then lift, rinse, starch and dry as usual under continual agitation, beating and shaking of the feathers. This chrome black is superior to ironblack, because it imparts, to the ostrich feathers, more lustre.
IV. Whatever kind of feathers are to be dyed, white, grays or old blacks, wash them perfectly clean in two or three warm soap baths and remove the soap by rinsing in two or three warm and several cold waters. Colored feathers which are to be redyed blacks must be stripped of their color as much as possible by washing in hot soap to which some ammonia is added, whereupon this must be rinsed in several waters absolutely clear from soap and alkali; it is an erroneous notion to neutralize the last trace of alkali which may remain, by a passage through a feeble acid bath. The feathers thus prepared for dyeing, make a bath of two parts nitrate of iron to one part hot water at 170° F., enter the feathers, work them through a few times, and then lay them down in the bath for twelve hours (over night). Then lift and rinse the feathers in several (three or four) cold waters Prepare a pretty strong decoction of logwood and fustic, for which take two parts of the former to one part of the latter; let the temperature go down to about 208-210° F., when enter the feathers and maintain that temperature for fifteen or twenty minutes. Then shut off the steam or remove the dye-vessel from the fire, as the case may be, and let the featherscool in the bath. When cold take them out, prepare a fresh bath of logwood and fustic like the first, enter the feathers at 208-210° F., after fifteen or twenty minutes add about a teaspoonful of copperas for one gallon of water, and leave the feathers in the bath for six or eight hours longer; then lift and rinse in several cold waters. The feathers are at this stage black with a strong brown touch which is removed by a cleaning bath of Eau de Javelle (sodium chloride). The latter is prepared by rubbing one-quarter pound chloride of lime to a smooth milk with a little cold water (in a porcelain or a marble mortar) and adding this milk to the solution of one-half pound Glauber salt in three parts water. After good stirring the mixture is then allowed to settle, when the clear solution is poured off and put up for use in well stoppered bottles. Of this liquid so much is added to a basin or pan full of warm water that it gives a slippery feel between the fingers, similar to that of a solution of soda.
In this bath the feathers are agitated for six or eight minutes, or until the liquid has assumed a yellowish color. Then the feathers are taken out, rinse in two or three warm waters, passed through raw starch, pressed out between several laps of a clean piece of muslin, and dried either by rubbing them in pulverizedand sifted potato starch or by shaking them before an open fire or gas-flame.
The nitrate of iron bath can be preserved and used for the same purpose for eight or ten days, but the first logwood bath becomes useless and is let out. As above observed (I) sulphuric acid can also be employed for correcting the over-dyed feathers and reducing that brownish color to a pure lustrous black, but a much shorter passage is given: the feathers are entered by single strings, well opened, agitated in the sulphuric acid bath for a few seconds, and immediately rinsed. Where week work is done, it is advisable to have two men employed at this operation, one of whom passes the feathers in the acid bath and hands them over to the other man for rinsing.