MODERN DYESTUFFS
The whole art and practice of dyeing was completely revolutionized
once and forever, by the discovery in 1856 of the artificial dyestuff
named mauveine, or, more commonly, mauve, a name, by the way, derived
from the French name of the violet-colored mallow flower.
The discovery was made accidentally, by a young chemical student,
William Henry Perkin, while experimenting in a very crude and simple
way, with a view to forming artificial quinine from a curious oily
body known as aniline. This aniline was originally prepared by
distilling indigo in a dry retort, and it had received its name from
the native Javanese word “anil,” meaning indigo. While thus prepared
it was, of course, very expensive. But about this time methods were
invented for obtaining this same compound in practically unlimited
quantities from coal tar—that heavy, foul-smelling refuse of gas
works—which, up to that time, had been not only useless but actually
a source of annoyance and expense to the gas companies.
Perkin conceived the idea that, by partially burning or oxidizing
it, this aniline might be changed into quinine. He made the
experiment and there resulted a black molasses-like mass, very far
removed from the white crystals he was hoping for. But by testing
this with various chemicals, he found that hot alcohol dissolved
part of it, and turned it into a violet liquid which had the power
to dye silk and wool the same bright color. Finding that the color
was fairly fast to light, and that it could be produced without too
much expense, he took out a patent and, with the aid of his father
and brother, set up near Manchester, England, the first factory for
artificial dyestuffs.
His discoveries were at once published, and chemists all over the
world began to manufacture and experiment with the new dyestuffs.
Great factories were started all over Europe. From this beginning the
manufacture of coal-tar dyestuffs, and more recently all their allied
compounds, has become one of the most important and most profitable
of all chemical industries.
The dyes first discovered, the so-called “Basic dyes,” were of great
brilliancy and strength; but they were not of any particular beauty
when used individually. Compared with the vegetable colors which
preceded them, and especially the same shades we are accustomed
to see in nature, these dyes were hard, coarse, crude, and very
inartistic. This could be remedied, however, by mixing two or three
of them together, such mixture tending to soften the different colors
and blend all into pleasant and delicate shades.
A more serious difficulty was the fact that those early dyestuffs
were usually quite fugitive to light or, at any rate, far less fast
than the best of the vegetable dyes that preceded them. Besides, they
did not fade true. In other words, a piece of cloth might to-day be
a bright red, and after a few days of exposure to the sunlight, the
exposed portions might turn a yellow, a white, or even some dark
color; and, in any case, the change would entirely spoil the original
color scheme.
By 1868, however, the artificial manufacture of alizarine, first by
two German chemists, and then by Perkin himself, served to open up
another whole class of new dyestuffs, which, when submitted to the
proper tests, proved to be exceedingly fast both to light and to
washing. In consequence, within a few years after this discovery, the
commercial use of madder was everywhere abandoned. Chemists could now
produce on cotton, linen, wool, and silk, practically the whole range
of colors, brilliant and dull, hard and soft, light and dark, not
only of a beauty, but of a fastness to light and to washing, never
before surpassed, if indeed equalled.
[Illustration: AT THE AGE OF 14]
[Illustration: AT THE AGE OF 22]
[Illustration:
AT THE TIME OF THE COAL-TAR COLOR JUBILEE—50 YEARS AFTER HIS
DISCOVERY OF MAUVEINE
SIR W. H. PERKIN]
Since that time, not a year has gone by without scores of new
dyestuffs being put on the market by some of the great color houses.
Of late years special efforts have been made to simplify dyeing
processes, and at the same time to insure the fastness as well as
the beauty of the colors. At the present time it is possible for the
veriest amateur, with practically no previous knowledge of chemistry
or of dyeing, and with only intelligence enough to follow some simple
directions, to get, in one bath, with very little expenditure of
time, an immense variety of shades that are exceedingly fast to light
and to washing. A very few years ago this result could not possibly
have been obtained, except by some expert dyer, and then only after
long and tedious, as well as difficult, processes.
We are all familiar with the constant complaint that it is now
impossible to get goods dyed or printed in good, fast colors. For
instance, take the brilliant scarlet calico commonly known as Turkey
red. In the days of our grandfathers a piece of cloth dyed Turkey
red would stand rain and sun, washing and scouring, and the _fibre_
would wear out before the _color_ would fade. But nowadays, if you
buy Turkey red cloth for the purpose of covering cushions for a
piazza-lounge, you will be fortunate if the color does not begin to
change after three or four days in the open air.
The reason is simple. In the old days the _only_ way to get that
particular shade was by dyeing the cloth with ground-up madder root,
through a series of operations lasting the best part of two months.
Now any capable dyer would be able to dye cotton that exact shade
with any of, say, twenty different colors, most of which would not
require more than one or two hours to dye. Out of these twenty
dyestuffs, four or five, rather more expensive than the rest, would
give just as fast, just as brilliant, and just as strong color as the
good old madder color. But the rest, which are distinctly cheaper and
easier to apply, would furnish goods which would _look_ exactly the
same to the average purchaser, but which might not _last_ any time at
all.
Naturally, the average manufacturer carefully instructs his dyer to
furnish him with the “cheap and nasty” goods, not only because it
costs less money, but also, unfortunately, because he reasons that
“it will be good for business.” The manufacturer has the greatest
sympathy with the inclination of the fastidious housewife to throw
away anything that looks faded, and to buy in its place something
new and fresh. Curtains or portières that hold their original shade
indefinitely, he has little or no patience with. A calico dress that
keeps its color so that it can be worn for a second summer, is an
abomination not to be endured. And in every case, when complaint is
made, it is always said to be the fault of the chemist who produced
and put on the market such “horrid, fugitive dyes.”
As a matter of fact, it is simply a case of picking and choosing.
There have been discovered, so far, several thousand different
coal-tar dyestuffs of all sorts and kinds. Out of these, probably
one hundred, or less, can be considered really fast to both light
and washing. The remaining ones, most of which never were considered
valuable enough to put on the market, vary in degrees of fastness,
the poorest being simply stains which will “bleed” indefinitely with
moderate washing, and which will turn almost any color after exposure
for a few hours to sun and weather.
In the following pages, considerable pains will be taken to emphasize
the names and properties of the very best and fastest dyestuffs in
the different classes,[1] so that the results of work done with them
can be depended upon.
[1] In some classes there are no absolutely fast dyestuffs.
Perhaps the most interesting thing, in connection with the whole
subject of the artificial dyestuffs, is the enormous influence that
they have had upon the life of the whole human race. This influence
was but slightly appreciated, even by the chemists themselves,
until a few years ago. The awakening dates from the time of the
fiftieth anniversary of the discovery of mauveine, when from one end
of the world to the other, honors were showered upon Sir William
Henry Perkin, then grown old and nearing the end of his useful and
prosperous life. It was then announced, and was for the first time
generally recognized as true, that no one of the great discoveries
of the nineteenth century—the steam locomotive, the steamship, the
telephone, the telegraph, the gas light, the electric light, and the
rest—had been more important to the world at large than the discovery
of the first coal-tar dye. And probably never in the history of
the world have such enormous results been produced from a single
discovery, during the lifetime of the discoverer himself.
THE ARTIFICIAL DYESTUFFS
The artificial dyestuffs form such a large body of complicated
chemical compounds, that at first glance it would seem hopeless for
any one who is not a trained chemist, to attempt to get any clear
or definite ideas about them. This, indeed, would be the case if any
attempt were made to study them chemically, i.e., with reference to
their composition, or their method of manufacture; but when it comes
to the application of them to the various textile fabrics and other
materials, for which dyes are valuable, we soon find that the problem
is not so very difficult after all.
To be sure there are many hundreds of different dyes on the market
now, great numbers of which are known under three or four different
trade names, according to the trade-mark of each particular
manufacturer. But besides the great manufacturers, and their
accredited agents, there are numerous retail agencies all over the
country, large and small, which make a business of distributing dyes
made by the great concerns. Some of these are very energetic, and
have pushed the sale of artificial dyestuffs in ten- and fifteen-cent
packages, until in almost every village, large enough to boast of a
decent country store, these dyes can be obtained.
It is common to hear these dyes sneered at and abused. They are
frequently referred to, especially by those of “artistic tastes,”
as harsh and crude in color, fugitive to light and washing, and, in
short, generally inferior and worthless products. This is not the
case. They are, in some cases, individual dyestuffs, and in other
cases, mixtures, generally belonging to the class of colors next to
be described, the Salt dyes; and very good, if not indeed the very
best specimens of that class. These Salt dyes, until the last few
years, were far from fast, either to light or washing; but the more
recent members of the class are much more satisfactory, and these
colors, too, are found in the fifteen-cent packages.
Nor, too, can objection be fairly taken to the shades as being crude
and harsh. That is all a matter of taste and skill on the part of the
dyer. There is no better practice in dyeing than to take the very
hardest, clearest, most brilliant red, blue, and yellow colors that
can be found at the corner grocery and, following the directions on
the packages, proceed to dye yarn or cheesecloth with them, at first
using the individual dyes, and afterwards modifying the shade of one
dye with traces of each of the other two. The softness and richness
of the tones that can be thus obtained will satisfy the most critical.
The real objection to these widely distributed popular dyes is a
very different one. They are not sold under their own names, and
therefore it is almost impossible to identify them. To be sure, from
the accompanying directions it is possible for a trained dyer to
recognize at once the class to which the dyestuff belongs. But it is
impossible for him, excepting after a long, tedious and often very
troublesome analysis, to tell just what member or members of that
particular class is contained in any given package. For this reason
the dyer who has to depend on them for an important piece of work is
in much the same position as a doctor would be who had to treat a
difficult case with patent medicines compounded after secret formulæ.
In the following chapters, a discussion of each class of dyestuffs,
and an explanation of their application and general properties will
be followed by lists of three or four of the very best colors, sold
by the New York agents of six of the largest and most reliable color
manufacturers.
Workers wishing to obtain these dyes in comparatively large
quantities, say one pound and upwards, can get them by writing
directly to the addresses in the following table:
_Badische_— The Badische Anilin & Soda Fabrik,
128 Duane St.,
N. Y. City.
_Cassella_— The Cassella Co.,
184 Front St.,
N. Y. City.
_Elberfeld_—The Farbenfabriken of Elberfeld Co.,
117 Hudson St.,
N. Y. City.
_Kalle_— Kalle & Co.,
530 Canal St.,
N. Y. City.
_Klipstein_—A. Klipstein & Co.,
Agent for Society of Chemical Industry of Basle,
654 Greenwich St.,
N. Y. City.
_Metz_— Farbwerke-Hoechst Co., formerly H. A. Metz & Co.,
Agent for the Meister Lucius & Bruning Co.,
122 Hudson St.,
N. Y. City.
N. B. Further information concerning dyestuffs, apparatus, textiles,
chemicals, etc., connected with this work may be obtained on writing
to the author at 7 West 43rd St., New York.
THE NAMING OF MODERN DYESTUFFS
It is important to remember that, in order to identify a color
by name, it is necessary to know three things: first, the trade
name; second, the shade, or distinguishing, letter; and third, the
manufacturer or agent. The trade name sometimes bears a reference
to the class, properties, or color of the dye, as “fast acid blue”;
or to its chemical composition, as “methylene blue,” or “diamine
red”; but in most cases it is simply an arbitrary name, given by the
original discoverer when the patents were issued, or assigned later
by the manufacturer or his local agents.
The letter or letters, following the name, refer generally to the
shade, as for instance, B for blue, R for red, Y or G for yellow
(German _gelb_), and so on. Thus “methyl violet” is sold in brands
running all the way from 6 B to 6 R—that is, from full purple shades
that are very close to blue, to bright violet shades, very close to
red. Sometimes, however, the letter refers to the composition of
the dye or its class, as “fuchsine S” (German _sauer_) often called
acid fuchsine or acid magenta; or “alizarine blue, D,” when the D
indicates a “direct” cotton color. And sometimes the letter F is used
to indicate fastness to light, in which case “F F” would signify a
brand of very unusual fastness, for that particular class of colors
at any rate.
But not infrequently the letter is merely a mark applied for purposes
of identification, whose significance cannot easily be learned by
those not in the business of color selling, even when it is not a
secret closely guarded by the particular firm supplying the dyestuff.
For this reason, the name of the manufacturer or agent should
_always_ be added to the color name and letter, if it is important
to get a particular color in any case. The best of the older dyes
are manufactured by all of the larger firms, of substantially the
same strength and shades, although often not under the same names.
The later colors, whose patents have not expired, are of course the
individual property of the different manufacturers, and can be,
and are, marketed by them under any name they like to give them.
Accordingly it frequently happens that two different firms may sell,
under the same name, two entirely different colors; it would be
impossible to tell which dyestuff was intended unless the firm name
were attached.
But with these three essentials correctly given—name, brand, and
maker—a color can be identified and obtained true in composition and
shade, even after the lapse of many years.
CLASSIFICATION OF THE COAL-TAR COLORS AVAILABLE FOR CRAFTSMEN.
_Class Name._
| _Materials on which to be used._
| | _How applied._
| | | _How developed._
| | | | _How finished._
| | | |
I. Direct Cotton or Salt Colors:
| Cotton, linen, and artificial silk. Rarely wool and silk.
| | In boiling water, with addition of salt.
| | | | By rinsing in water.
| | | |
II. Sulphur Colors:
| Cotton and linen. Rarely silk.
| | In hot or lukewarm water, with addition of soda, sodium
| | sulphide, salt, and Turkey red oil.
| | | By exposure to air after wringing.
| | | | By washing in a hot soap bath, and rinsing.
| | | |
III. Indigo or Vat Colors:
| Cotton and linen. Rarely silk. Also as stencil pastes on cotton
| and linen.
| | In hot or warm water, with addition of caustic soda and
| | sodium hydrosulphite.
| | | By exposure to air after wringing. Some colors must be
| | | developed by boiling in a soap bath.
| | | | By washing in a hot soap bath, and rinsing.
| | | | Stencilled work, by steaming and washing in hot
| | | | soap bath.
| | | |
IV. Basic Colors:
| Raffia, straw, rattan, and basketry in general. Artificial silk.
| Leather. Rarely wool and silk. Also as stencil pastes on cotton,
| linen, and silk.
| | In hot or warm water, with addition of a little acetic acid
| | (vinegar).
| | | | Raffia, etc., finished by rinsing in water.
| | | | Leather by rubbing with wax when dry. Stencilled
| | | | work, by steaming and passing through a weak bath
| | | | of Tartar Emetic.
| | | |
V. Acid Colors:
| Wool, silk, and feathers. Sometimes leather. Rarely rattan and
| basketry.
| | In hot or cold water with addition (for wool) of sulphuric
| | acid and Glauber’s salt. For silk add soap and acid. For
| | leather add a little acetic acid. For feathers add oxalic
| | acid or formic acid.
| | | | Wool needs very careful rinsing in water, to
| | | | remove every trace of acid. Silk finished by
| | | | a cold soap bath, followed by a weak bath of
| | | | acetic acid. Leather finished with wax. Feathers
| | | | finished with starch.
| | | |