Allow a pound of logwood to each pound of goods that are to be dyed.
Soak it over night in soft water, then boil it an hour, and strain the
water in which it is boiled. For each pound of logwood, dissolve an
ounce of blue vitriol in lukewarm water sufficient to wet the goods. Dip
the goods in--when saturated with it, turn the whole into the logwood
dye. If the goods are cotton, set the vessel on the fire, and let the
goods boil ten or fifteen minutes, stirring them constantly to prevent
their spotting. Silk and woollen goods should not be boiled in the
dye-stuff, but it should be kept at a scalding heat for twenty minutes.
Drain the goods without wringing, and hang them in a dry, shady place,
where they will have the air. When dry, set the color by, put them into
scalding hot water, that has salt in it, in the proportion of a tea-cup
full to three gallons of the water. Let the goods remain in it till
cold; then hang them where they will dry; (they should not be wrung.)
Boiling hot suds is the best thing to set the color of black silk--let
it remain in it till cold. Soaking black-dyed goods in sour milk, is
also good to set the color.