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VEGETABLE DYES
Being a Book of Recipes and Other
Information Useful to the Dyer
by
ETHEL M. MAIRET
Faber and Faber Ltd
24 Russell Square
London
First published in Mcmxvi
by the Ditchling Press
Reprinted, for the sixth time April Mcmxxxviii
and published by Faber and Faber Limited
24 Russell Square, London
Printed at the Ditchling Press, Ditchling
All rights reserved
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. Wool, Silk, Cotton and Linen 1
II. Mordants 6
III. British Dye Plants 11
IV. The Lichen Dyes 16
V. Blue 24
VI. Red 31
VII. Yellow 35
VIII. Brown and Black 40
IX. Green 43
X. The Dyeing of Cotton 46
XI. The Dyeing of Silk 56
Glossary 60
Bibliography 63
Index 65
CHAPTER I
WOOL SILK COTTON AND LINEN
WOOLS are of various kinds:--
_Highland, Welsh and Irish_ wools are from small sheep, not far
removed from the wild state, with irregular short stapled fleeces.
_Forest or Mountain sheep_ (Herdwick, Exmoor, Cheviot, Blackfaced,
Limestone) have better wool, especially the Cheviot, which is very
thick and good for milling.
_Ancient Upland_, such as South Down, are smaller sheep than the last
named, but the wool is softer and finer.
_Long Woolled sheep_, (Lincolns, Leicester) with long staple wool
(record length, 36".) and fleeces weighing up to 12 lbs. The Leicester
fleece is softer, finer and better than Lincoln.
To the end of the 18th century _Spanish wool_ was the finest and best
wool in the world. Spanish sheep have since been introduced into
various countries, such as Saxony, Australia, Cape Colony, New
Zealand; and some of the best wools now come from the Colonies.
_Alpaca, Vicuna and Llama_ wools are from different species of
American goats.
_Mohair_ from the Angora goat of Asia Minor.
_Kashmir Wool_ from the Thibetan goat.
_Camel_ hair, the soft under wool of the camel, which is shed
annually.
The colour of wool varies from white to a very dark brown black, with
all shades of fawn, grey and brown in between. The natural colours are
not absolutely fast to light but tend to bleach slightly with the sun.
The principal fleeces are:
_Lambs_, 3 to 6 months growth, the finest, softest and most elastic
wool.
_Hogs and Tegs_: the first shearing of sheep that have not been shorn
as lambs.
_Wethers_: all clips succeeding the first shearing.
Wool comes into the market in the following condition. 1. _In the
grease_, not having been washed and containing all the impurities. 2.
_Washed_, with some of the grease removed and fairly clean. 3.
_Scoured_, thoroughly cleaned and all grease removed.
Wool can be dyed either in the fleece, in the yarn, or in the woven
cloth. Raw wool always contains a certain amount of natural grease.
This should not be washed out until it is ready for dyeing, as the
grease keeps the moth out to a considerable extent. Hand spun wool is
generally spun in the oil to facilitate spinning. All grease and oil
must be scoured out before dyeing is begun, and this must be done very
thoroughly or the wool will not take the colour.
WATER
A constant supply of clean soft water is an absolute necessity for the
dyer. Rain water should be collected as much as possible, as this is
the best water to use. The dye house should be by a river or stream,
so that the dyer can wash with a continuous supply. Spring and well
water is, as a rule, hard, and should be avoided. In washing, as well
as in dyeing, hard water is injurious for wool. It ruins the
brilliancy of the colour, and prevents the dyeing of some colours.
Temporary hardness can be overcome by boiling the water (20 to 30
minutes) before using. An old method of purifying water, which is
still used by some silk and wool scourers, is to boil the water with a
little soap, skimming off the surface as it boils. In many cases it is
sufficient to add a little acetic acid to the water.
TO WASH WOOL
In a bath containing 10 gallons of warm water add 4 fluid ounces of
ammonia fort, .880, 1 lb. soda, and 2 oz. soft soap, (potash soap).
Stir well until all is dissolved. Dip the wool in and leave for 2
minutes, then squeeze gently and wash in warm water until quite clear.
_Or_ to 10 gallons of water add 6 oz. ammonia and 3 oz. soft soap. The
water should never be above 140 deg.F. and all the washing water should
be of about the same temperature.
Fleece may be washed in the same way, but great care should be taken
not to felt the wool--the less squeezing the better.
There are four principal methods of dyeing wool.
1st.--The wool is boiled first with the mordant and then in a fresh
bath with the dye.
2nd.--The wool is boiled first with the dye, and when it has absorbed
as much of the colour as possible the mordant is added to the same
bath, thus fixing the colour.
A separate bath can be used for each of these processes, in which case
each bath can be replenished and used again for a fresh lot of wool.
3rd.--The wool is boiled with the mordant and dye in the same bath
together. The colour, as a rule, is not so fast and good as with a
separate bath, though with some dyes a brighter colour is obtained.
4th.--The wool is mordanted, then dyed, then mordanted again. This
method is adopted to ensure an extremely fast colour. The mordant
should be used rather sparingly.
SILK
There are two kinds of silk (1) _raw silk_ (reeled silk, thrown silk,
drawn silk), and (2) _waste silk_ or spun silk.
Raw silk is that directly taken from the cocoons. Waste silk is the
silk from cocoons that are damaged in some way so that they cannot be
reeled off direct. It is, therefore, carded and spun, like wool or
cotton.
Silk in the raw state is covered with a silk gum which must be boiled
off before dyeing is begun. It is tied up in canvas bags and boiled up
in a strong solution of soap for three or four hours until all the gum
is boiled off. If it is a yellow gum, the silk is wrought first in a
solution of soft soap at a temperature just below boiling point for
about an hour, then put into bags and boiled. After boiling, the soap
is well washed out.
Generally speaking, the affinity of silk for dyes is similar but
weaker in character to that of wool. The general method for dyeing is
the same as for wool, except, in most cases, lower temperatures are
used in the mordanting. In some cases, soaking in a cold concentrated
solution of the mordant is sufficient. The dyeing of some colours is
also at low temperature.
COTTON
Cotton is the down surrounding the seeds in pods of certain shrubs and
trees growing in tropical and semi-tropical countries. First
introduced into Europe by the Saracens, it was manufactured into cloth
in Spain in the early 13th century. Cotton cloth was first made in
England in the early 17th century.
The colour of cotton varies from deep yellow to white. The fibre
differs in length, the long stapled being the most valued. It is
difficult to dye and requires a special preparation.
A few of the natural dye stuffs are capable of dyeing cotton direct,
without a mordant, such as Turmeric, Barberry bark, safflower,
annatto. For other dyes cotton has a special attraction, such as
catechu.
LINEN
Linen is flax, derived from the decomposed stalks of a plant of the
genus Linum.
It grows chiefly in Russia, Belgium, France, Holland and Ireland. The
plants after being gathered are subjected to a process called
"retting" which separates the fibre from the decaying part of the
plant. In Ireland and Russia this is usually done in stagnant water,
producing a dark coloured flax. In Belgium, Holland, and France,
retting is carried out in running water, and the resulting flax is a
lighter colour. Linen is more difficult to dye than cotton, probably
on account of the hard nature of the fibre. The same processes are
used for dyeing linen as for cotton.
_To Bleach Linen_--(For 13 to 15 yards linen). Boil 1/2 lb. soap and
1/2 lb. soda in a gallon of water. Put it in a copper and fill up with
water, leaving room for the linen to be put in. Put in the linen and
bring to the boil. Boil for 2 hours, keeping it under the water and
covered. Stir occasionally. Then spread out on the grass for 3 days,
watering it when it gets dry. Repeat this boiling and grassing 3
weeks. The linen is then pure white.
_To bleach linen a cream colour_--Boil 1/2 lb. soap and 1/2 lb. soda
in a gallon of water. Fill copper up with water and put in linen. Boil
for 2 hours. Repeat this once a day for 4 days. The linen should not
be wrung out but kept in the water till ready to be put into the fresh
bath.