ON DYEING COTTON AND SILK.
_To dye skein cotton yellow—On dyeing and re-dyeing cotton furniture
yellow—To dye cotton skein a duck's wing green and olive—Of browns,
maroons, coffee colours, &c.—Observations on silk—On ungumming and
boiling silk—Whitening—Sulphuring—On aluming silk—Skein silk for
yellow—Preparation of annatto, for aurora, orange, moidore, gold colour,
and chamois—To dye silk aurora or orange—To dye moidore—Process for
orange—To dye silk poppy or coquelicot—A cheaper poppy with annatto and
Brazil wood—On dyeing silk a fine crimson—Composition for dyeing silk
scarlet or crimson, with cochineal—Another process for crimson—Crimson by
Brazil wood—Of fine violet—Observations on crimson and scarlet upon
silk—On dyeing silk green—On olives—On dyeing silk grey—Nut-Grey—Black
greys—Iron greys—On dyeing silk of a Prussian blue colour—Chromate of
lead for yellow on silk or cotton—Conclusion._
We have in several preceding chapters treated of both _cotton_ and
_silk_; we shall here treat of certain processes and colours relative to
both these substances, which are most conveniently arranged in this
chapter.
The simpler processes for _cotton_ will be found in the _second_ chapter,
the more complex in the _fifth_; the simpler processes for _silk_ are
given in the _third_ chapter, the more complex in the _fifth_; the
remaining processes for both in the present chapter, will conclude the
work.
_To dye skein cotton_ YELLOW.
The same operations as those in the first common red dye are to be used
here; to one pound of cotton four ounces of roche alum, and from one to
four pounds of weld.
When dyed the cotton is to be worked in hot, but not boiling, liquor,
consisting of four ounces of sulphate of copper to every pound of cotton;
it is then to be boiled for three hours in a solution containing four
ounces of soap to every pound of cotton.
When a dark or _jonquil colour_ is wanted, no alum is used; of weld take
two pounds and a half, very little verdigris, or a little alum in its
stead, but nothing else. For brightening, however, boiling in a solution
of soap is in all cases necessary.
_On dyeing and re-dyeing cotton furniture_ YELLOW.
If the furniture, such as rough or finished cotton or cambric, intended
for yellow linings for bed or window curtains, be in a perfectly bleached
state, which is now generally the case, according to the number of the
pieces, so must the size of the copper be to boil the weld in for the
yellow dye. A small copper holding four or five pails would do for three
pieces of twenty eight yards each. The weld may be purchased by the half
bundle, the bundle, or the load. Half a bundle would be enough for the
above quantity of cotton, if a moderate yellow is wanted. The weld must
be increased or decreased according as the pattern approaches a straw, a
canary, a lemon, or towards a gold colour or orange.
The weld must be boiled about twenty minutes, the liquor then strained
off into a proper tub, and the weld boiled again. While the boilings are
going on, three tubs, being wine pipes cut in two, must be got ready and
made particularly clean, being also previously seasoned for the work. One
is to receive the boiled weld with some cold water to regulate it to the
heat which the hand will bear; the other is for water, and as much alum
liquor as will colour it and make it taste strong; and the third is to
contain clear water to wash the furniture off.
Whatever yellow is in _fashion_ (or indeed any fashionable colour,) has
commonly a _fashionable name_. But if the dyer can, by his experience,
proportion his drugs to the weakest, and from that to the strongest
shade, let the name be what it may, after he has a set of patterns of his
own dyeing, he will see, upon the first sight of any colour, how to set
about it.
In the present instance let the pattern be a moderately pale colour of
yellow; then put all the first boiling of the weld in the first tub, and
cool down as above directed. Two or three persons should then work the
pieces quick from end to end by the selvages, that they may be even, two
may do this; one of whom must be an expeditious hand to work them and
keep them even. When they have been edged over six or seven times, they
are to be folded out upon a board laid over the tub, and wrung as dry as
possible by two persons. When they are all out, they are passed in the
same manner through the tub of alum, and, after six or seven turns, they
are to be taken out of the alum liquor, wrung as before, and then washed
off.
By this time the second weld liquor will be boiled; some of the first
must be thrown away, and the second weld liquor added in its place. The
goods are then passed through as before, and wrung out; the alum liquor
being strengthened, they are passed through it, wrung out as before, and
then washed off: the water in the wash tub having been changed.
In some instances verdigris is used instead of alum; and in other cases
it is used in addition to the alum. For some shades old fustic is used
instead of weld, and sulphate of copper instead of verdigris.
The alum solution, and the sulphate of copper, and the verdigris, or
acetate of copper should be always ready. It is necessary to have a tub
for each, in size proportioned to the work to be done; but larger for the
alum than for the other two.
Sulphate of iron is also used in some dark greys, browns, slates, and in
all blacks; this will require a tub as large or larger than that for alum.
When the yellows are dyed and wrung as dry as possible, they should be
taken into a close room or stove to dry, particularly in _London_,
because of the smoke, especially in winter. A German, or other stove,
should be placed in the room, the size of which, as well as the number of
the stoves, must be regulated by the quantity of the work. When the goods
are dry they must be sent to the callenderers, if directed to be
callendered; but the general and better way is to stiffen them with
starch after they are dyed, and before they are dry; and when dry they
should be sent to the glazers, instead of the callenderers, except when
both branches are carried on by the same person.
When furniture, originally yellow, has become faded, it may be re-dyed
thus: In this case it should be dyed rather of a fuller shade than the
original. A large flat tub, such as described above, is to be filled
three parts full of water, to which sufficient sulphuric acid must be
added to make it taste strongly sour. After being well stirred, the
pieces are to be put in, and worked in this sour liquor; and the yellow
dye in consequence is stripped off. If the acid liquor be not strong
enough more acid must be added, with the precaution of well mixing it
with the water, and the goods must be passed through the liquor again: by
these means the yellow is discharged. They are then to be taken out on a
board upon the tub and wrung by two persons; then to be washed off and
wrung, washed and wrung again, when they are fit to be dyed.
It is still to be remembered that any faded or worn out colour, or that
goods more or less decayed, seldom become so bright as the colour which a
new piece of goods receives from the same dye.
Some cloths for re-dyeing require the application of oxymuriate or
chloride of lime to discharge their colours, particularly when madder or
galls, &c. form the constituent parts of the dye. In this case if a
_bleacher_ be near it might be best to let him perform the process with
the oxymuriate of lime; not only from the pernicious nature, but also
from the expense of it, which, unless the business be upon a large scale,
will not pay the dyer for his trouble.
However, if the dyer thinks proper to perform this operation, then the
oxymuriate of lime or bleacher's ashes, &c. may be obtained at the dry
salters and dissolved in a cask, and the clear liquor used in proportion
to the quantity of goods, the colour of which is intended to be
discharged, which, when done, should be washed off in two waters at least
before they are dyed.
_To dye cotton skein a_ DUCK'S WING GREEN _and_ OLIVE.
This is performed by a blue ground, next galling, dipping in the black
vat, then in the weld dye, then in verdigris, remembering to wash off
previously to performing each process.
_Olive_ is to be performed with weld or old fustic, verdigris, and Brazil
wood.
_Of_ BROWNS, MAROONS, COFFEE-COLOURS, _&c._
It would answer little purpose to enlarge this treatise with a detail of
all the possible methods of producing the various shades of these several
colours, the whole consisting in the use of galls, verdigris, sulphate of
copper, weld, and madder.
By welding a stuff previously maddered for _red_ you may produce a _gold_
colour; and by dipping the same red in a blue vat you obtain a _plum_
colour.
_Observations on_ SILK.
Silk, as it is obtained from the cocoons of the worm, is generally of an
orange or yellow colour, more or less dark; in the South of France it is
generally very dark: its natural shade is unfavourable to almost all
other colours. It is also imbued with a kind of varnish or gum, which
makes it stiff and hard; this stiffness is improper in the fabrication of
most silk stuff, it is therefore _ungummed_, as it is called, by the
following processes.
_On ungumming and boiling silk._
_Observe_, that throughout the following processes for silk _white_ soap
is directed to be used; and, generally speaking, we believe it will be
found the best, more especially for the more delicate operations. Yet
_Mr. M'Kernan_, in his process for ungumming silk, directs yellow soap
and soft soap in equal parts, and of the same weight as the silk to be
used: he adds, however, that different sorts of silk require more or less
soap; the best rule he finds, nevertheless, is _the same weight of soap
as of silk_: and he says also, that yellow soap and soft soap of the best
quality he finds the best for this purpose.
The silk is divided into hanks, each hank is tied with a string, several
of these are tied together (a handful of them) by putting a piece of
string through each separate skein, and tying the piece of string in a
long tie to slip easily when they are wanted to be untied.
A liquor is prepared of thirty pounds of _white_ soap to a hundred pounds
of silk; the soap is cut into small pieces and boiled in water, when it
is dissolved the fire is damped.
While the liquor is preparing the skeins of silk are put on rods; as soon
as the soap liquor becomes a little below boiling heat (for it should not
boil, as boiling would tangle the silk) the silk is to be put into it in
an oblong copper, being nearly full; it is to remain in the liquor till
its gummy matter has left it, which will be seen by its whiteness and
flexibility. It is then turned end for end on the rods, that the part
above the liquor may undergo the same operation. As soon as this is
accomplished the silk is taken out of the copper, the hanks which were
first turned being soonest done.
The hanks are now to be taken from the rods to the peg, disentangled, and
nine or ten of them put on one cord, this cord passing through the string
that tied each hank. When the whole is corded it is put into pockets of
coarse strong white linen fifteen inches wide and five feet long, closed
at each end and on one side; when the silk is put in, the pocket is sewed
all along the other side with packthread, and fastened with a knot; four
pockets will hold the whole hundred pounds.
The pockets being thus ready another liquor is prepared like the first.
When ready, and the boiling checked with cold water, the pockets are put
in and boiled well for a quarter of an hour, checking with cold water in
order to prevent its boiling over; it is necessary also to turn the bags
about often with a pole, or rather let two persons have a pole each for
this purpose. This operation is called boiling.
In addition to the processes of boiling with soap, as above directed,
_Mr. M'Kernan_ recommends that the silk should be winched through a
copper of water at the heat of 160°, having two pounds of soda (barilla)
dissolved in it, then winch or wash in water, and wring and dry.
In the boiling of silks for common colours twenty pounds of soap will do
for a hundred weight of silk; but, as in this case, the silk is not
ungummed, it should boil for three hours and a half, adding water to
supply the evaporation.
The silks intended for the greatest degree of white, either to remain
white, or for the fabrication of white stuff, are boiled twice in soap
and water; those that are to be dyed of different colours are boiled but
once, and with a smaller quantity of soap, because the little remaining
redness is by no means prejudicial to many colours. Different quantities
of soap are, however, necessary for different colours.
Silk designed for blue, iron grey, brimstone, or any other colour
requiring a very white ground, should be done according to the preceding
process, and have thirty pounds of soap.
When the silk is boiled it is taken out of the copper by two men with
poles, and placed in a clean barrow; they are then taken to a long
shallow trough, from which the water may run away, the pockets are
opened, and the silks examined; such as have yellow or lemon colour spots
remaining are boiled again for some time, till the spots are removed.
After unpocketing, the whole is dressed on the pegs.
Silk loses from twenty-five to twenty-eight per cent. of its weight in
ungumming and whitening. The bags of silk should never be suffered to lie
long together before they are emptied after being boiled, as their doing
so would make the silk hard.
_White_ silk, as before observed, is distinguished into five principal
shades, namely, _China white_, _India white_, _thread_ or _milk white_,
_silver white_, and _azure white_.
The three first are prepared and boiled as has already been shewn. Silver
and azure white in the preparation or ungumming thus: take fine powdered
indigo, put it into water boiling hot, when settled the liquor is called
_azure_.
_To azure the silk_ it is taken from the ungumming copper after it is
dressed and put into a trough of water; after it is worked, drained, and
again dressed, it is ready for the
_Whitening_.
Put into a copper with thirty pails of water half a pound of soap; when
it boils, and the soap dissolved, add for _China white_ a little
_prepared annatto_, (of which hereafter.) The silk, being on rods, is now
to be put into the copper and kept turning end for end without
intermission till the shade is uniform. For _India white_ a little azure
is added, to give the blue shade: for _thread white_ and others a little
azure is also to be added.
_Observe_, the liquor should be very hot, but not boiling; the turnings
five times repeated, by which the shade is made even. When finished it is
taken out, wrung, Spread on poles to dry, and that part of it required
for _sulphuring_ must be put upon rods or slight poles.
_Sulphuring._
The hanks, being upon poles seven or eight feet from the ground, in an
appropriate room, one pound and a half or two pounds of roll brimstone
will sulphur a hundred weight of silk.
Put the brimstone, coarsely powdered, into an earthen pipkin with a
little charcoal or small coal at bottom. Light one of the bits with a
candle, which will kindle all the rest.
The room should be close, the chimney, if any, being closed up; the
sulphur should burn under the silk all night. The next morning the
windows should be opened to let out the smoke and admit the air, which,
in summer, will be sufficient to dry the silk; but in winter, as soon as
the sulphurous fumes are dissipated, the windows must be shut and a fire
kindled in the stove or stoves to dry the silk.
_Observe_, if the room for sulphuring does not admit of openings
sufficient for the dissipation of the sulphuric fumes, the work-people
will be in danger of suffocation.
When the sulphur is consumed it leaves a black crust which will light the
future sulphur like spirit of wine.
If, in dressing, the silk sticks together, it is not sufficiently dry.
Silk, which has been sulphured, has a rustling, which, for some things,
is esteemed; but this would not do for silk to be watered. If silk, which
has been sulphured is to be dyed, it must, for many colours, be
unsulphured.
Silks for lace, gauze, &c. are neither boiled nor ungummed; silks which
are naturally the whitest are the best for those articles. It is
sufficient to dip the silks in warm water, and wring them; then sulphur
them, afterwards azure them, again wring them, sulphur them a second
time, or soak them in soap and water, those for whitening hot enough to
bear the hand, adding azure, if necessary, and turning and re-turning the
silk in this liquor.
The fine silk of _Nankin_ requires no whitening.
_On aluming silk._
We have treated of this before at the commencement of the third chapter,
but a few more observations may be useful.
The silk being first well washed and beetled, and the hanks tied loose so
that every thread may take alike, should be turned and re-turned in the
alum liquor and worked, cooled in it, at intervals, from morning till
night, afterwards taken out, beetled, and rinsed.
The above proportion of alum will do for a hundred and fifty pounds of
silk, before you need replenish it; when this is necessary add
twenty-five pounds more of alum, as at first directed in Chapter III.,
and so continue to replenish it till it gets a bad smell. When this is
the case you may dip for browns, maroons, &c.; and afterwards throw the
liquor away; the trough is then to be rinsed for a fresh liquor.
Remember always to alum _cold_ or you will spoil the lustre of the silk.
_Skein silk for_ YELLOW.
This is to be boiled with about twenty pounds of soap for every hundred
pounds of silk. When boiled it is to be washed and alumed, and again
washed, dressed, and put on the rod, seven or eight ounces to a rod, and
then dipped and re-turned in the yellow liquor, in the proportion of two
pounds of weld to one pound of silk.
The liquor is not to be hotter than the hand can bear while the silk is
in it. The silk, when in the vessel for dyeing, should cause the liquor
to float within two inches of the edge. The silk must be taken out and
the liquor strengthened, if the pattern is to be very full; when full
enough, one pound of pearl-ash for every twenty pounds of silk must be
dissolved in some warm water; about a quarter of this liquor is put into
the dye bath: take the silk out while you put in the liquor, stir the
mixture well. Put in the silk and work it, turning and re-turning it as
at first. After seven or eight re-turns, one of the hanks is to be taken
out, wrung, and tried at the peg, and, if sufficiently full and bright,
all is well; if not enough so, some more pearl-ash liquor must be added,
and the silk worked as before, till the shade required is obtained.
For _jonquil_ it may be necessary to add some annatto when you put in the
pearl-ash.
To make the light shades, such as _canary_ or _lemon_, perfectly white,
they must be boiled with thirty pounds of soap to a hundred of silk; and
if these be not _azured_ to be dyed, they must have a little of the blue
vat, and a little of the weld liquor in water, (the whole mixture being
as hot, but no hotter than the hand will bear,) and the silk ready on
rods, must be quickly worked through and out. For deeper lemons the same
process must be used as for the fuller yellows; only less weld, and
twenty pounds of soap will do for a hundred pounds of silk in whitening
it.
The blue of the vat is only used for such articles as are to have a green
cast, and that extremely light; the aluming also should be in a weaker
alum liquor: for light lemons it should be prepared in a separate liquor.
_Preparation of annatto for_ AURORA, ORANGE, MOIDORE, GOLD COLOUR _and_
CHAMOIS.
You must have a colander proportioned to the size of the copper in which
you boil the annatto. To every pound of annatto put from twelve ounces to
one pound of pearl-ashes, which last dissolve in water, and add the
solution, by degrees, to the solution of annatto as it boils and
dissolves, for which purpose the annatto must be suspended in the
colander over the copper by a flat stick about six inches broad, run
through a flat handle on each side of the colander, by which means the
colander is kept sunk in the water with the annatto in it, till it is all
dissolved, except some little foreign matters. The holes in the colander
should be moderately small.
Dissolved in this manner the annatto, if kept clean, will keep as long as
you please.
_To dye silk_ AURORA _or_ ORANGE.
These require but twenty pounds of soap for boiling white. To dye
_aurora_ the silk must be prepared the same as for yellow.
Annatto _prepared_ (as directed in the last article) and settled, is then
put into a copper of hot water, in quantity according to the shade
required; having mixed it well, the liquor being as hot as the hand will
bear, put the silk into it; when one hank is tried, as in the yellow, if
it be not full enough, the liquor must be strengthened till the colour is
brought to the shade required. When finished the whole must be washed
twice and beetled. The _aurora_ serves as a ground for _moidore_.
_To dye_ MOIDORE.
As fustic and logwood are to form part of this dye upon the annatto
ground, the silk must be alumed, then washed from the alum, in order that
the superflux of the alum may not render the dye uneven. A fresh liquor
is then prepared, rather hot, to which must be added a little of the
decoction of logwood, and of the decoction of young fustic. The silk is
re-turned in this liquor, but if apparently too red, you may put in a
very little of solution of sulphate of iron, which will make it
sufficiently yellow.
When the silk is dyed with the gum, in the raw state, the annatto must be
used nearly cold, or the elasticity of the silk will be destroyed.
_Process for_ ORANGE.
After dyeing aurora with annatto, it is necessary to redden the annatto
ground with vinegar, alum or lemon juice.
For the brightest oranges, and up to scarlets and poppy, &c. silk should
have an annatto ground three or four shades under that of aurora. There
is no occasion for alum when the silk has been grounded and washed off.
If for _orange_ a liquor which has been used for poppy will be
sufficiently strong to finish it, or for light cherry, rose, &c. For
_flesh_, the lightest of these colours is so delicate that a little of
the soap water used for boiling should be added to the liquor, to prevent
the silk from taking the colour too quickly or unevenly.
Liquors having safflower or weld in their composition, require to be
immediately worked, as by keeping they lose their colour, that is, the
safflower and its compounds, and are entirely spoiled. They are also
always used _cold_, as the safflower cannot bear heat.
The _safflower_ preparation has been before described in Chapter II.
where the process of _cotton pink_ is performed by its solution.
_To dye silk_ POPPY, called by the French _coquelicot_.
When the silk has received the annatto ground three shades less than for
aurora, the safflower preparation must be ready, and turned by the
solution of tartar as before described; the silk must also be well washed
from the annatto ground; that the alkali used with the annatto may not
counteract the tartar of the safflower, a bath of which must be prepared
as strong as possible, through which the silk must be worked six or seven
times: for a full poppy it is necessary to pass the silk through four or
five such liquors. Poppy is the deepest colour which can be done with the
safflower. It has been before observed, that the liquors from the poppy,
if used directly, will serve for orange, cherry, flesh, &c.
Archil, as described for crimson, with cochineal for wools as before
described, is to be used on some occasions. In other cases some patterns
have no ground of annatto.
_A cheaper_ POPPY _with annatto and Brazil wood._
The silk is to be grounded with annatto as before; when well washed off
it must be alumed and washed off again; then passed through the decoction
of Brazil wood, washed off again, again passed through a fresh decoction
of Brazil wood; and every time that goods are passed through the dye, as
has been before stated, they must be worked from end to end of the
skeins, from five to seven times, to have them even, and to give them a
full opportunity of combining with the colouring materials of the dye.
These repetitions must of course be in number proportionate to the
slightness or intensity of the colour wanted. With the Brazil decoction
it is necessary to mix well a little soap liquor, about five quarts to
thirty pounds of silk. This keeps the alum used to receive the Brazil
decoction not only from producing a stiffness, but, on the contrary,
preserves the silk soft and pliant.
The above poppy serves for a ground for _brown red_ colours, by the
addition of logwood. A decoction of logwood, Brazil wood, and old fustic,
as has been before observed, should always be kept ready boiled.
_On dyeing silk a_ FINE CRIMSON.
Silk intended for the crimson of cochineal should have only twenty pounds
of soap to one hundred pounds of silk, and no azure, because the natural
yellow of the silk which remains is favourable to the intended colour.
The silk is to be strongly alumed and left in the alum from seven to
eight hours, then washed and twice beetled at the river. _Remember_ how
the alum is to be worked, as to the manual part.
While this is doing, a liquor is to be thus got ready: take of blue and
white galls from one to two ounces to each pound of silk, let them be
well powdered and sifted; of fine cochineal, also well powdered and
sifted, from two to three ounces, for every pound of silk; put these
articles into pure soft water, and in a _boiler made of grain-tin_, (and
not in what is commonly called tin, which is iron covered with tin, and
which would utterly spoil the dye.) Neither would copper or brass suit as
well as grain-tin. This has been observed before, (page 84.) in the
article _on dyeing wool scarlet_. It ought, nevertheless, to be stated,
that such tin boilers are difficult to be made of a certain size, and
being liable, besides, to be melted without great care. Many dyers
therefore, still use _copper_ boilers. When the cochineal and galls have
boiled you add to the liquor for every pound of cochineal, about one
ounce of solution of tin, which is called _composition_, and is made in
the following manner:
_Composition for dyeing silk_ SCARLET _or_ CRIMSON _with cochineal_.
Take one pound of nitric acid, two ounces of muriate of ammonia, six
ounces of fine tin, prepared as mentioned under _dyeing wool scarlet_,
water twelve ounces.
The muriate of ammonia, the prepared tin, and the water, are put into a
stone jar, to which the nitric acid, is added, and the whole left to
dissolve.
This composition contains much more tin and sal-ammoniac than is used for
the scarlet of cochineal upon wool; it is, however, absolutely necessary.
An ounce of this composition, for every pound of silk, is to be added to
the galls and cochineal when boiling. The boiler is then cooled down a
little, the fire-door thrown open, the silk put in and worked from five
to seven times, when the silk will have become pretty even as far as it
is dyed. The copper is now again to be brought to boil; it should
continue boiling, and the silk kept turning, for two hours; the fire is
then taken from under the copper, and the silk is immersed entirely and
left all night, or for seven or eight hours at least; it thus takes a
full half shade. In the morning it is washed, twice beetled, wrung as
usual, and hung up to dry.
The least tincture of sulphate of iron in the water saddens the crimsons,
takes off their yellow, and gives the violet cast; but if too much of the
yellow is carried off, it may be restored by fustic. Nothing but sulphate
of iron will sadden grain scarlets, logwood being quite useless for this
purpose; sulphate of iron darkens greatly with galls. _Macquer_.
_Another process for_ CRIMSON.
When the silk is boiling in the soap-liquor, add one ounce of annatto,
for every pound of silk, working it through the colander as directed,
(page 136.) but without the composition or tartar: in some shades,
however, both composition and tartar are admitted. The solution applied
to cochineal with worsted has a considerable effect, changing it from a
crimson, its natural colour, to a very bright fire colour; but it
produces only a crimson when applied to silk; it gives, however, this
colour a very beautiful tint; for, uniting with the tartar, it increases
the effect without impoverishing the colour, and saving the annatto
ground. _Macquer_.
CRIMSON _by Brazil wood_.
The silk should be first alumed, and then passed through a strong
decoction of Brazil wood, half a pail to a pound of silk, which is to be
worked, and put through an additional and strengthened dye of Brazil
wood, and then washed off: if in _hard_ water this will generally crimson
the Brazil wood sufficiently; but if in soft water a little pearl-ash
must be added; about one pound of the clear solution of pearl-ash, or
rather the clear solution of a pound of pearl-ash, as one pound of water
will not, we believe, dissolve a pound of pearl-ash: this is enough for
forty pounds of silk.
_The decoction of Brazil wood_ is prepared thus: one hundred and fifty
pounds of Brazil wood chips are put into a copper which holds about sixty
buckets of water; the copper is then filled with water and boiled for
three hours, the waste by evaporation being occasionally supplied. The
fire is now damped, the clear liquor drawn off, the copper filled again,
and again boiled for three hours more. This process is repeated four
times in all, when the dye of the wood will be fully extracted.
_Logwood_ and _old fustic_ are treated in the same manner, but only two
boilings are required for these.
In regard to crimson generally, see forward, _observations on dyeing silk
crimson and scarlet_, and also some _observations_ on the _dyeing of wool
scarlet_, page 85.
_Of fine_ VIOLET.
For this colour the common boiling is enough, the silk is alumed the same
as for fine scarlet, washed and twice beetled. Thus prepared, two ounces
of cochineal are given to it, with the same precaution as usual, but no
composition nor tartar. Being worked moderately warm, in working it must
be expeditiously turned; after a quarter of an hour the liquor should be
brought to boil, when the turning need not be so expeditious, but it
should, nevertheless, be continued for two hours. After being washed the
silk is dipped in the vat, more or less strong, according to the shade
required.
Washing and drying are done in the same manner as for blues and greens,
and in general for all colours _dipped_ in the vat, namely, a small
quantity at a time, in order that the silk may be kept open to the air,
and that the greening of the vat may pass correctly and equally to blue.
For some shades archil forms a part of this dye. For other _violets on
silk_ see Chapter III.
_Observations on_ CRIMSON _and_ SCARLET _upon silk_.
Crimson upon silk is produced at Norwich, London, and many other places,
by using a much larger quantity of cochineal than that which is directed
by Macquer: for in some cases, as much as a guinea a pound, has, it is
said, been paid for dyeing silk crimson at Norwich. Archil has been used,
likewise, in crimson, and the time of boiling is not so long. In some
shades a little of the composition and tartar may be admitted, but in a
small degree. It should be stated, however, that _scarlet upon silk_, is
often done by annatto and safflower.
_Observe_, that although we have given the preceding processes for
crimson and scarlet, yet many others might be mentioned. What has been
said in regard to _dyeing scarlet on woollen_, (page 85.) should also be
carefully attended to, particularly relative to the conversion of scarlet
into crimson by alum, soap, and the alkalies. And though we have given
directions for the preparation of a _nitro-muriate of tin_, yet pure
_Muriate of tin_
is now very often used for dyeing silk red. MR. M'KERNAN, gives us the
following process for preparing it:
Take of fine muriatic acid, of the specific gravity of 1.120, two quarts;
add by degrees, one ounce at a time, of feathered tin, for twenty-four
hours. Put the vessel in a sand heat and bring it gently to boil,
observing to add more tin as that in the acid becomes dissolved. There
should be some tin left undissolved when the liquor is cold, thus
indicating that the acid is perfectly neutralized by the tin. Bottle for
use.
_On dyeing silk_ GREEN.
This colour is composed of _blue_ and _yellow_. It is with difficulty
produced on silk, because the blue vat is liable to spot and give a party
colour, an inconvenience to which green is more liable than blue, and
more perceptible. The boiling of silk for greens is the same as for
common colours.
The silk being alumed as usual rather strongly, is washed off and divided
on the sticks into small hanks of about four or five ounces, that it may
be equally and easily managed in the working, from the yellow to green,
in the blueing from the blue vat.
Weld is then boiled as stated in the article concerning _yellow_; when
boiled, a liquor of it is prepared strong enough to give a lemon ground;
the silk is then turned with all the expedition, care, and caution
possible, that it may be even. When it appears full enough, some of the
threads are to be separated and dipped in the vat, to determine this. If
not full enough, more of the weld liquor must be added to the dye bath,
and the silk returned and tried again, and so on; when the colour is
right, the silk is washed off and beetled. It is then wrung and formed
into hanks, and dipped skein by skein in the blue vat, the same as the
blue and the purple should be; it must be wrung with equal care and
dispatch.
This green is a kind of _sea-green_, of which there are upwards of twenty
shades. The lighter shades, when taken out of the vat, are not washed but
the silk must be worked in the hands by clapping it between them, and
then be carefully opened and aired. A few threads are then washed, or
rinsed; if the colour be right the whole is washed.
For the dark shades, when the weld is exhausted a little logwood is added
to the liquor; in some cases, old fustic, in some annatto.
For _very dark-wing_ or _bottle-green_ shades, a little sulphate of iron
is required.
OLIVES.
Proceed in aluming, &c. the same as for other colours; the weld liquor
being stronger, some logwood must be added. When the weld and logwood are
exhausted a very small quantity of each must be added, which green the
liquor, when the silk being passed through, a _greenish olive_ is
produced.
A _reddish olive_ requires fustic, instead of logwood and pearl-ash, both
of these being omitted.
Fustic gives a colour commonly called _drab-olive_ upon cloth, because
generally made to match with olive, this is commonly redder than the
preceding.
_On dyeing silk_ GREY.
All the _greys_, namely, _nut-greys_, _thorn-greys_, _black_ and
_iron-greys_, and others of the same hue, black-grey excepted, are
produced without aluming. The silk being washed from the soap and drained
on the peg, a liquor is made of fustic, archil, logwood and sulphate of
iron: fustic gives the ground, archil the red, logwood darkens, and the
sulphate of iron softens all these colours, turns them grey, and, at the
same time, serves instead of alum as a mordant.
As there is an infinite variety of greys, without any positive names,
produced by the same methods, it would be endless to enter into details,
which would prolong this treatise to little purpose.
For _reddish-grey_ the archil should predominate; for those more grey,
the logwood; and for those rather greenish, the fustic.
Care should be taken not to use the logwood too much, as with the
sulphate of iron it darkens more than most drugs: therefore the black
vat, made either with alder-bark, or the other preparation mentioned in
dyeing cotton, is preferable to the sulphate of iron.
NUT-GREY.
The fustic decoction, archil, and a little logwood are put into water
moderately hot, the silk is then returned, and when the liquor is
exhausted, the silk is taken out, and to soften the colour the solution
of sulphate of iron, or the black vat, is used. The silk is then returned
once more, and if the colour does not appear sufficiently even, some red
spots still remaining, it may be concluded that it requires a little more
sulphate of iron.
_Observe_ that, as sulphate of iron is the general base of all greys, if
this be deficient in quantity, the colour is apt to change in dyeing, and
to become rough and uneven.
To know whether the colour be sufficiently softened, it should be
examined, and if it wet easily, after having been wrung on the peg, it
wants sulphate of iron. On the contrary, if it wets with a little
difficulty, the colour is sufficiently softened.
Too much sulphate of iron stiffens the silk considerably, making it
harsh, and even depriving it of a part of its lustre; to remedy this it
must be extra washed and wrung at the peg; this process carries off the
sulphate of iron.
BLACK-GREYS.
These are alumed and welded as for yellow, and, when the liquor is
exhausted, part of it is thrown away, and some logwood is added; when the
logwood is exhausted, sulphate of iron is added, sufficient to blacken
the colour, the silk is then washed, wrung, and finished in the usual way.
IRON-GREY.
For iron-grey it is necessary to boil the same as for blues: this colour
is much more beautiful when laid on a very white ground.
By having the drugs made into decoctions before-hand, greys either in
woollen, silk, or cotton, may be dyed at a heat not much above what the
hand will bear; and in a rotation of shades from light to dark, and
varied, blue, red, yellow, brown, &c. with ease and with pleasure; so
may, likewise, many stone-drabs, and other light brown drabs, as the
mixture of yellow, fawn, and black, produces nut-browns, &c.
_On dyeing silk of a_ PRUSSIAN-BLUE COLOUR.
The application of colours derived from the mineral kingdom to dyeing is
one of the most striking modern improvements in our art. MR. RAYMOND
received from the French government in 1801, eight thousand francs, (more
than three hundred pounds sterling,) as a reward for communicating to the
public his process for dyeing silk of a uniform fast and bright
_Prussian-blue colour_ by the application of that well known pigment. His
process is as follows.
He first converts, by a gentle calcination, sulphate of iron into a red
sulphate of iron: this he dissolves in sixteen times its weight of warm
water and filters. The silk, prepared as for indigo dye, is put into the
solution of iron, and left there for a shorter or longer time, according
to the shade of blue that is wanted; it is then taken out and wrung very
dry over a pole placed above the vat. It is then thoroughly cleansed by
being twice beetled, plunging and agitating it each time in running
water. Dissolve in pure water heated to 167°, and put into a deal vat,
one ounce of _ferroprussiate_ of _potash_, for every twelve ounces of
silk to be dyed. When the prussiate is dissolved add one part, or even
rather more, of muriatic acid, stirring the mixture well. When the liquor
has acquired a greenish colour, and about 144° of heat, the silk must be
immediately plunged into it and stirred about for some minutes. The silk
having received the dye in an equal manner, it is taken out of the vat,
well wrung on a pole above the vat, and then taken to the stream to
receive two or three beetlings, and be plunged and agitated in the water,
in order that it may be entirely freed from any portion of the prussiate
of iron not truly combined with it.
Lastly, the silk being well washed in the stream, and thoroughly wrung,
is to be placed loosely on the poles, as in the preceding operations;
after which it must be well agitated in a large vessel three-fourths
filled with cold water, to which must be added, for a hundred pounds of
silk, two pounds of water of ammonia. The blue colour immediately becomes
many shades deeper, of a much richer and brighter tint, and at the same
time is fixed more perfectly in the silks. This change is effected in a
few minutes. The silk must then be wrung by the hand and rinsed in the
running water without beating. After this, it is dried on the poles in
the same manner as other dyed silks. It need not be left on the poles
more than twenty-four hours: but, nevertheless, this colour so far from
fading in the drying, as is the case with many colours, is improved by it.
The solution of a little soap added cold to the ammonia bath, improves
it, giving also softness to the silk, and rendering it more easy to
separate. The soap should be uniformly dissolved.
For the substance of the above process, we are indebted to Dr. URE'S
_notes on Berthollet_, vol. ii. p. 422. The _prussiate of potash_ is now
to be obtained as a regular article of trade from the dry-salters in this
country.
_Woollen cloth_ takes also the above dye, but it must be left longer than
silk in the iron mordant.
_Chromate of lead for_ YELLOW _on_ SILK _and_ COTTON.
_Chromate of lead_, as a pigment has been for some time in use; _M.
Lassaigne_, in 1820, made public a process for dyeing cloth with this
article, which has since become pretty common in this country.
Immerse hanks of scoured silk for a quarter of an hour in a weak solution
of _acetate of lead_ at the ordinary temperature; take them out and wash
them in a great deal of water: then dip them into a weak solution of
_chromate of potash_. They immediately take a fine yellow colour; at the
end of ten minutes the effect is complete. From this colour being
decomposed in part by soap and water, it is chiefly applicable to silks.
But by applying, however, a mordant of acetate or nitrate of lead, and
passing the goods through bichromate of potash, a very beautiful and
sufficiently fast yellow is now given to _cotton goods_ in this country.
_Conclusion._
We cannot conclude our work without observing, that from the researches
continually going on in _botany_ and other branches of natural history,
and, more especially, from those in _chemistry_, there can be no doubt
that discoveries, which will materially improve the art of dyeing, must,
from time to time, be made. Some of these, not yet generally known, in
the hands of a few persons, have already been found useful; but
individual interest is, of course, a great enemy to their being made
public. Others, although public, are, as yet, of too doubtful a utility
to be noticed here.
If we have not given forms for the employment of some articles in use by
certain dyers, such as _kermes_ for _reds_; _French Berries, (rhamnus
infectorius,)_ the _Canada golden rod (solidago Canadensis,)_ the
_Barberry (Berberis vulgaris,)_ and the _French marygold, (Tagetes
patula,)_ for _yellows_, &c. &c.; it is not to be concluded that such are
not good in their kind, and might not be used occasionally with
advantage. But as our object has been to give the _best_ methods of
dyeing the various colours, it would be impossible to notice many others
in a manual of this kind, and in the limits within which we are
necessarily confined. To mention those substances recently introduced
into dyeing, the utility of which is not confirmed by extensive practice,
would be injudicious, and tend to lead the young dyer astray; those,
however, who have leisure and inclination, and are, besides, able to run
the risk of the failure of new processes, may, and no doubt will, make
experiments with them by which our art must be eventually served and
improved.
INDEX.
Acetate of alumina, 8, 36
copper, 16
lead, 17
Acid, the acetic, 33
carbonic, 32
Gallic, 10
muriatic, 12
nitric, ib.
nitro-muriatic, 13
pyrolignous, 33
sulphuric, 15
Tartaric, 33
Acids, what, 31
Adjective colours, 27
Adrianople red, 117
Albumen, 24
Alcohol, what, and how obtained, 25
Alkali, volatile, 23, 30
Alkalies, the fixed, 14, 30
Alum, common, 7
roche, ib.
Alumina, ib.
acetate of, 8
American bark, 15
Ammonia, 23
carbonate of, ib.
Animal substances, analysis of, 18
oil, 24
Annatto, preparation of, 136
Aqua fortis, 13
regia, ib.
Archil, 8
Argol, ib.
Aurora, to dye silk, 137
Azotic gas, 29
Bancroft's dyeing, 4
Bancroft's murio-sulphate of tin, 101
Barilla, 15
Bastard saffron, ib.
Berthollet's dyeing, 4
Bile, 10
Black on silk, 106, 107, 108
to dye, on cotton, Rouen process, 108
London process, ib.
Black, to dye, on cotton velvets at Manchester, 110
silk and cotton with a blue ground, 112
another for cotton, 114
on wool, 90, 93
Bleaching, 37
Blood used in dyeing, 119
its constituents, 24
Blue, 111
to dye, on cotton, 47
silk, 64
wool, 73, 80
linen and cotton, 57
chemic, 47
copperas or vitriol, 10
Bran, 9
Brimstone, 15
Brown, to dye wool, 97
cotton, 128
Buff, to dye cotton a fast, 58
wool, 101
Calcination, 28
Calico printers' mordant, 36
Carbon, or charcoal, 28
Carbonic acid, 32
Carbonate of ammonia, 23
potash, 14
soda, 31
Carthamus, 15
Cerulin, 11
Chemic blue, 47
green, 52
Chemical terms, 45
Chemistry, leading facts in, 26
Chlorine, 9, 13
Chloride of lime, 38
Cochineal, 9
Colours, on fast and fugitive, 39
for dyeing, 6
Sir I. Newton's primary, 18
to prove, 41
Composition for dyeing silk scarlet, 141
Combustion, 28
Copper, 10
Copper, acetate of, 10
sulphate of, ib.
Coquelicot, to dye silk, 138
Cotton, on dyeing, 47, 104, 123
to dye chemic or Saxon blue, 47
black, 108, 110, 114
green, 52
a fast green, 56
buff, 58
green with indigo and weld, 56
pink, 60
violet, 115
duck's-wing green or olive, 128
brown, maroon, &c., ib.
red, 116, 117
yellow by chromate of lead, 151
skein, to dye, yellow, 124
furniture, to dye, yellow, ib.
the same to re-dye, 127
Cream of Tartar, 9
Crimson, to dye, by archil on wool, 80
lac dye on wool, ib.
worsted yarn, 81
on silk, 140
Cudbear, 8
Decoction, what, 53
Distilled verdigris, 17
Drugs used in dyeing, 7
Dye-houses, 42
Dyer, the trade of a, 1
Dyers of Adrianople red, 2
black, 3
grain, 1
silk, skein, 3
rag, ib.
woad, 2
woollen, 1
worsted yarn, 3
weed, 17
Fawn, to dye wool, 88
Feathered tin, 83
Fermentation, the vinous, 25
acetous, ib.
Fermentation, the putrid, 25
Fibrin, 24
Gall of animals, 10
Galls, ib.
Gallic acid, ib.
Gas, what, 31
Gelatine, 24
Gold colour, to dye wool, 90
Green, to dye the chemic, on cotton, 52
cotton a fast, 56
wool, 89
woollen, ib.
cotton duck's-wing, 128
silk, 145
vitriol, or copperas, 12
Grey, to dye wool, 96
on silk, 147
Hematin, 96
Hydrogen, 29
carburetted, 32
sulphuretted, 33
Indigo, 10
prepared, 75
sulphate of, 11, 51
neutralization of, 52
Indigo, solution of, for penciling muslin, 57
vats, 54, 102
Inflammable air, 29
Iron, 12
acetate, ib.
liquor, 112
muriate, 12
oxide, ib.
sulphate, ib.
Iron-moulds, 34
Jennings's Cyclopædia, 4
Lac dye, 12
Lake, ib.
how used for scarlet, 80
Light, decomposition of, 18
Lime, 23
Linen, to dye, scarlet, 122
blue, 57
Litmus, or lacmus, 8
Lilac, to dye silk, 68
muslin, ib.
Logwood, 96
M'Kernan on dyeing silk, 4
Maroon, to dye wool, 85
cotton, 128
Moidore, to dye silk, 137
Mordant, what, 27
the calico printers', for yellow and red, 36
Muriate of soda, 12
tin, 144
Murio-sulphate of tin, 101
Muriatic acid, 12
gas, 14
Muslin, to dye, lilac, 68
Nitre, 12
Nitric acid, ib.
Nitro-muriatic acid, 13
Nitrogen, 23
gas, 29
Oil of vitriol, 15
Orange, to dye wool, 90
silk, 137
Orpiment, 13
Oxides, what, 14
Oxidation, 28
Oxygen, ib.
Oxymuriatic acid, 13
Oxymuriate of lime, 38
Pastel, 17
vat, 73
Peach, to dye wool, 101
Pearl-ash, 14
Phenicin, 11
Pink, to dye cotton, 60
Poppy, to dye silk, 138
Potash, 14
Potassium, 29
Prickly pear, 9
Proximate constituents of animals, 23
vegetables, 21
Purple, to dye silk, 67
wool, 88
Pyrolignous acid, 33
Quercitron bark, 15
Realgar, 13
Red, to dye cotton, 116
Red, to dye cotton, Adrianople or Turkey, 117
Safflower, 15
Salt, common, 12
Saddening, what, 111
Scarlet, to dye, with lac dye, 80
silk, 141
wool, 82
on linen, 122
Silk, on dyeing, 62, 105, 123
ungumming and boiling, 129
whitening, 132
aluming, 63, 134
to dye blue, 64, 67
violet, royal purple, &c., 67
lilac, 68
another process for the same, ib.
violet and purple, ib.
another process for the same, 69
another process for the same, ib.
purple, ib.
aurora, orange, and moidore gold colour and chamois, 136
black, 105, 106, 107, 112
orange or aurora, 137
moidore, ib.
orange, 138
poppy or coquelicot, ib.
a cheap poppy, 139
a fine crimson or scarlet, 140
another process for the same, 142
a fine violet, 143
green, 145
olive, 146
grey, 147
with Prussian blue, 149
yellow, by chromate of lead, 151
Silk skein, to dye, yellow, 135
Soap, 31
Soda, 15
Sodium, 30
Spirit of salts, 12
wine, 25
Spirit of hartshorn, 24
Substantive colours, 27
Sulphate of alum and potash, 7
copper, 10
indigo, 51
to neutralize, 52
iron, 12
Sulphur, 15, 32
Sulphuret of arsenic, 13
Sulphuric acid, 15
Sumach, 16
Tannin, 10
Tar-iron liquor, 114
Tartar, 8
Tin, 16
muriate of, 144
murio-sulphate of, 101
nitro-muriate of, 83
Turkey red, 117
Turmeric, 16
Ultimate constituents of animals, 23
vegetables, 21
Ure's Berthollet, 4
Chemical Dictionary, 4
Utensils, on the, used in dyeing, 43
Vat, the blue indigo, for silk, 64
another for the same, 67
cold indigo, for cotton, 54
blue, for linen and cotton, 57
indigo, for worsted and serge, 102
Vegetable substances, analysis of, 18
Verdigris, common, 16
distilled, ib.
Violet, to dye cotton, 115
a fine, on silk, 143
Water proper for dyeing, 42
Weld, 17, 41
to dye cotton green with, and indigo, 56
wool green with, and woad, 89
White, the numerous shades of, in silk, 132
Whitening silk, process for, ib.
Woad, 17
vat, rules to judge of, 75
how to work, 77
errors in, how to remove, 76
on the putrefaction of the, 78
Wool, on scouring and dyeing, 70
the action of tartar and alum on, 72
to dye, orange, gold colour, &c., 90
black, 90, 93, 94
blue, by the woad vat, 73
blue, several methods, 80, 89
scarlet and crimson, 80, 81, 82
maroon, 85
yellow, 87, 99
brown and fawn colour, 88
purple, ib.
green, 89
black, 90
another process, 93
greys, 96
brown, fawn, and many other colours, 97
Wool, to dye, buff, 101
peach, ib.
Woollen, a chemic vat for green, 89
blue, ib.
Worsted yarn, to dye, a crimson, 81
and serge, indigo vat for, 102
Yellow from Quercitron bark, 98
chromate of lead, 151
weld, 87, 125
on, wool, 87
cotton, 124, 151
silk, 135, 151
THE END.
Printed by R. GILBERT, St. John's-Square, London.