THEORY AND PRACTICE OF COLOR DYEING
Directly the student has mastered the instruction contained in the
three previous chapters, and can use the dyeing apparatus and the
unmixed dyestuffs so as to get reasonably fast colors on cotton and
linen goods, it is time to attack the more difficult subject of
dyeing to shade. This art is not an easy one, by any means, and only
a few fundamental principles can be learned from a book. To make any
real progress in it, constant and continuous practice is necessary;
even then, unless the student is naturally gifted with an eye capable
of readily detecting any changes of color, and has trained it to
distinguish and identify the causes of such changes, little success
in the matching of colors can be hoped for.
This does not mean, however, that unless a dyer can match shades
perfectly, he cannot turn out very interesting and, indeed, beautiful
results. But it does mean that he will find it difficult, if not
impossible, to reproduce such results, and will be frequently
handicapped in trying to utilize his dyeing skill and knowledge
commercially.
The beginner thinks—not unnaturally perhaps—that in order to get
any considerable variety of shades it is necessary to have on hand a
large and varied assortment of dyestuffs; and it is consequently a
surprise to find that skilled workers keep in stock chiefly a good
supply of blue, yellow, and red only. Black is convenient and useful,
but not essential, excepting for special purposes. By mixing these
three “primary” colors it is possible to get every conceivable shade
needed. And another point, which will be emphasized below and which
is also likely to be a surprise, is that practically every pretty and
agreeable shade, no matter how delicate, is composed of all three of
these primary colors. Blue and yellow produce green, blue and red
produce violet, and yellow and red produce orange, while the addition
of the third or “complementary” color to any of these combinations of
two makes _grey_, when all three colors are perfectly balanced, and
when one color or another predominates, it is greyed and softened by
the presence of small quantities of the other two.
Experiments with Single Colors
The way to study color dyeing is, first of all, to get a clear idea
of the effect of different strengths of each of these three primary
colors in producing both light and dark shades of a single color.
This can be easily accomplished with the red, blue, and yellow of
the Salt dyes described in the last chapter. Dissolve each color
separately and keep them in separate dye-pots so that you can readily
dye pieces of cheesecloth or other cheap, easy-dyeing materials
any light, medium, or dark shade, to serve as a basis for future
comparisons.
[Illustration: DIAGRAM OF PRIMARY COLORS
Two color shades—Red + Blue = Violet
Red + Yellow = Orange
Yellow + Blue = Green
Complementary colors—Red + Blue + Yellow = Grey
Red + Green = }
Blue + Orange = } Grey
Yellow + Violet = }]
_Even Dyeing._—First wet the cloth or yarn thoroughly by soaking
in hot water, then rinse well and wring it dry—if necessary, using
a wringer. The dyestuff should already be carefully dissolved in a
little boiling water. Pour some of this solution (not too much, for
the shades should all be pretty light) into the dye-pot half full of
lukewarm water. Then quickly and wholly immerse the wet material,
stirring and working about with the dye-sticks, and let the whole
heat steadily until it boils. After a few minutes’ boiling take out
the material and rinse in cold water until it stops bleeding. When
this is carefully done, good, even, and smooth shades will result.
_Shaded Effects._—Of more real interest, although an abomination
to most professional dyers, are the shaded effects. Instead of
trying to get even, smooth colors, the cloth is intentionally dyed
unevenly to get effects of light and shade in the color, otherwise
impossible. This does not mean that a skein or piece of cloth badly
dyed or discolored by some accident or carelessness should be
proudly exhibited as a piece of really artistic dyeing, as is done
occasionally, by some workers, with painful results. It is only when
the work is done carefully and thoughtfully that shaded or so-called
“rainbow” effects may be obtained upon skeins, basket materials, and
cloth, which are distinctly interesting and beautiful, though very
different from the regular work of the professional dyers.
Many methods of obtaining unique results in this work will occur to
the student, after some practical experience. Perhaps the best way
to begin is to take a piece of cheesecloth, cut in the form of a
scarf—say two yards or so in length—and hemmed on both ends, if it
is to be kept for exhibition or future use. Before it is wet, tie
it in a rather tight knot in the middle, or, if the scarf is long
enough, two knots about six or eight inches from each end. For this
first piece tie a very simple knot by merely folding the scarf over
on itself and pulling the goods tight. Then wet the cloth thoroughly
and dye quickly in the boiling dye-liquor; rinse off, and untie
the knots. The open part of the cloth will be found dyed the full
strength, and where there were knots there will be shaded places
varying from the full color down to white.
Another method is to take the wetted scarf in the middle and
gradually lower the ends into the hot dye-liquor, stopping just
before the middle reaches the dye. If carefully done this will give
regularly shaded effects running from white or very light at the
centre, to heavy, full shades at the ends. Of course, if preferred,
the ends can be kept out of the dye-liquor and the middle portions
immersed. This will give a scarf that is dark in the centre and light
at each end—which is not so good a color arrangement, ordinarily, as
the light centre and dark ends.
The same can be done with a square piece of cloth, well wetted: this
will shade in an interesting manner, if held in the middle and dipped
slowly and gradually. Further developments of this work, known as
“Tied and Dyed Work,” are described in a following chapter.
Experiments with the Secondary Colors
After the above methods have been fairly mastered, the student
should make some experiments in which two of the primary colors are
mixed together, or better, superimposed one on the other to show the
“secondary” shades produced by these combinations. This can be done
by mixing the colors two by two, until three baths of green, violet,
and orange respectively are formed as before. Then try dyeing first
for even colors and later for the shaded effects.
The most interesting experiments in this line are made by the
so-called “double shading” method. Here the same baths of straight
primary colors—red and blue and yellow—should be used as in the
earlier experiments; but the goods are first dyed in one bath, and
then after-dyed or “topped” in a second color.
A scarf of cheesecloth is good for a first attempt. This, well wet,
is held at one end and very slowly lowered into the hot bath, until
all but about six inches of the entire length is immersed in the dye.
This much is left free from color. Try a blue dye color for this
series of shades, fading evenly and smoothly from the deepest full
blue at one end to a pure white at the other.
After rinsing with water till the bleeding is over, reverse the
scarf, holding it by the opposite end, and lower it slowly and
gradually into a bath of, let us say, yellow, keeping about six
inches out of the dye as before. This will produce a scarf shaded
from clear blue at one end to clear yellow at the other end and
showing the whole range of green shades produced by mixing these two
colors, along its length.
Similar tests made with red and blue, and then with red and yellow,
will emphasize to the student’s mind the fact that green is formed
from blue and yellow; violet from red and blue; and orange from red
and yellow; and that each combination gives an infinite variety of
intermediate shades, according to the comparative strength of the
individual dyes.
Matching Colors
The next step is to dye some pieces evenly with green, violet, and
orange, made by two of the primary colors, and then to try matching
these with fresh, newly-mixed baths of the same dyes. It will be
found here that success depends upon going slowly; and upon beginning
with light shades and building the color up to the desired strength
carefully, by means of successive dippings. Note that the color of
cloth when wet is much darker than when dry. Some dyers hold the
wet cloth to the bright sky and look through it, to get an idea of
what the finished color will be like; but positively certain and
satisfactory results are arrived at only by wetting the sample to be
matched or drying the piece that is being dyed, so that both sample
and piece are equally wet or dry, while their color is being compared.
The real difficulty of color dyeing is not met with until the student
tries to obtain shades embodying all three of the primary colors.
A very few experiments will quickly show that with most modern
dyestuffs it is hard to get soft, pleasant tones with the use of
only two colors. Natural colors, as we find them in the sky, water,
meadow, and woodlands, are never pure; they are invariably mixed.
And our eyes are so accustomed to them that shades dyed with simple
or pure colors look hard, cold, and inharmonious. Mixtures of two
colors are better and softer than single colors, but still rather
hard. But when the secondary shade resulting from the combination of
two primary colors is mixed with even a small quantity of the third
primary color, the result is invariably a soft and pleasing tone.
The above statements presuppose that it is possible, in practice, to
obtain good dyestuffs in each class, which are absolutely pure, clean
shades of blue, yellow, and red without any admixture whatever. As a
matter of fact, while the artificial dyestuffs are much more pure,
and hence much more hard and brilliant than the best natural colors,
they still in many, if not indeed, in most cases, when carefully
studied, show shades that are mixed and not pure. It is very rare to
find a blue that does not incline a little to the yellow (a Blue G as
it would probably be labelled) or else contain a trace of violet or
red (Blue R, or RR). The reds are almost invariably either scarlets,
containing a trace of yellow, or crimsons containing blue. And the
yellows, also, are very apt to tend towards orange or occasionally
show a trace of green.
This, of course, complicates the problem for the practical dyer
greatly, and means that instead of being able to cover the whole
range of shades with a red, blue, and yellow, it is frequently, if
not always, necessary to have some mixed colors, giving sharp, clear
shades of violet, green, and orange respectively, to obtain certain
effects.
The following diagram will perhaps make this more clear. In this
the three primary colors have been divided, each into two shades as
indicated by the shade letters, R meaning red, B blue, and G yellow
(German _gelb_) shades of the colors. By combining these colors as
shown in the table, clean, clear shades will be given, whereas other
combinations would be likely to spoil the shades.
[Illustration: DIAGRAM OF MIXED COLORS
Red B + Blue R = Violet
Blue R + Red B = Violet
Yellow R + Red G = Orange
Red B + Orange = Red G
Blue R + Green = Blue G
Yellow R + Green = Yellow G
Red G + Yellow R = Orange
Blue G + Violet = Blue R
Yellow B + Orange = Yellow R
Red G + Violet = Red B
Blue G + Yellow B = Green
Yellow B + Blue G = Green]
Take, for example, a special case, namely to turn a piece of crimson
calico into a full rich scarlet. The crimson color contains a great
deal of red, mixed with a little blue. If the piece were after-dyed,
or “topped,” with yellow, even in small quantities, the result would
probably be “muddy,” the yellow and blue together being in such
strength as to seriously diminish the strength of the red, and make
it more or less brown in shade.
If, however, a reddish shade of orange were used for shading, instead
of yellow, the red of the mixture would be constantly increased,
while the yellow was “killing” the blue, i.e., turning it, with a
little red, into grey; and before long the crimson, or bluish shade
of red, would turn first into a true but softened red, with neither
blue nor yellow predominating, and finally into a scarlet, with
distinct traces of yellow.
In making these Three-color Shades, therefore, the component parts
of each dyestuff used must be studied; and in every case care must
be taken to have the third color, whatever it is, added in such
minute quantities as only to _soften_ and not to spoil the first
shade. A teaspoonful, sometimes even a few drops of a solution of
one strong color, will generally be enough to soften, and take the
edge off, some gallons of dye-liquor containing a hard, clear mixture
of the other two. A cupful, on the other hand, or even two or three
tablespoonfuls might utterly spoil the bath and turn it into “mud,”
as a dyer would say.
It is worth mentioning here that, as a general thing, it is
distinctly more interesting to build up shades by dipping first in
one bath, and then topping with the second and the third color than
it is to mix the different colors to the desired shade first and then
dye the material in the single bath. On a small scale there is the
same difference, although not so marked and less easily noticed, as
that between even dyeing and rainbow dyeing. There is often a loss
in regularity and evenness, but the gain in life and light when one
color shines through another which covers it more than compensates.
This overlaying is not so perceptible in the even dyeing of fine,
thin materials, whether yarn or cloth; but with coarse, heavy yarns
and thick textiles, effects can be obtained by after-dyeing which
cannot be approached when the goods are dyed in one bath.
_Matching Shades._—Some people, I believe, go so far as to say that,
in order to be really expert at true shade matching when using the
three colors in dyeing, a dyer must have begun to learn the art in
the person of his grandfather, ninety or a hundred years ago, and
kept in practise ever since.
It certainly is true that heredity and early training both have
a great deal to do with skill in this art, and a good color dyer
will show an almost uncanny instinct, as he instantly picks out
differences in shade which an untrained eye would never notice, and
without any hesitation prescribes the exact remedy for the defect.
Still there are plenty of good, even first-class dyers, nowadays, who
have learned their art quite late in life, with the aid of a good eye
and intelligent perseverance.
The chief rule to remember is this: Red, blue, and yellow, when
mixed in equal strength, make a neutral grey or black. Accordingly
any one color will form grey or, as we may say, will _neutralize_,
or be _complementary_ to a mixture of the other two. Thus red will
form grey with green; blue with orange, and yellow with violet.
Accordingly if there is too much red in the dye-bath, it can be
killed by the addition of a little green; and vice versa. The same
is true with the other complementary colors. If this simple rule be
kept clearly in mind, most of the problems of matching colors and of
getting pleasant and harmonious shades can be worked out easily. It
is chiefly a matter of practice, and perseverance.
The student is strongly advised to attack this study in three ways:
First, mix the three primary colors together in one bath, to form
definite shades—grey, brown, olive green, steel blue, etc.; then
dye the cloth in the bath to see how the colors look when on the
materials and dried.
Second, to dye a piece of cloth one mixed shade and by topping with
other colors, to alter that shade to match some shade previously
selected. For instance, dye a piece a good shade of reddish or copper
brown, and then try to “kill” the red in it without materially
deepening the shade, i.e., change it from a copper brown to a greyish
or dirt brown of about the same depth of color.
Very pretty and instructive experiments can be made along this line
of building up soft grey shades, by dyeing the cloth successively
in weak baths of the three primary colors. As fast as one color
predominates, it can be killed by dipping into successive baths of
the other two.
Attractive scarfs and table covers can be made with a little care,
by knotting the material and dyeing light rainbow shades of the
three colors, one after the other, changing the knots or tied
portions after each bath. Properly done, this will produce remarkably
interesting, opalescent effects, each color being toned and softened
by the other two, although predominating in different parts of the
material.
When, in the operation of rainbow dyeing, strongly contrasting colors
have been used with unhappy results (such as the red, yellow, and
blue tri-color effects that some students will produce) try the
effects of toning, or “covering,” as it is often called, with some
soft, neutral color which combines in itself all the contrasting
tones, or else with a color that is complementary to the most
obnoxious one, softening that one and strengthening the weaker
shades. Grey, of course, can be used for this; but in general, a soft
shade of brown will be found very valuable for taking the edge off
of too violent contrasts. The permanganate brown (Manganese bronze),
described in the first chapter, can be used with advantage for this
purpose.
It is not difficult for a skilful dyer to match any desired shade by
using three complementary colors, red, blue, and yellow, provided, of
course, that these are pure and unmixed. It often happens, however,
that after matching carefully a soft mixed shade by daylight, the
colors appear entirely different when viewed by artificial light,
and especially by ordinary gaslight. Daylight, as we are accustomed
to it, is comparatively evenly balanced in color, is in fact a white
light. But artificial light as a rule is distinctly colored, and
it is difficult, though now not impossible, to find a light that so
closely resembles daylight that colors can be matched at night.
If the light, for instance, has a bluish tinge, like some kinds of
electric light, it will kill the corresponding orange in a shade,
while yellow light, such as commonly results from the use of oil,
candles, or gas (less marked when incandescent mantles are used),
dulls and even blackens lavender, violet, and purple shades, while
having little or no effect upon yellow, orange, and green.
It is therefore advisable when matching shades that are to be used at
night not to use three-color shades wherever that is possible, but to
get the desired soft effects by covering directly with grey (i.e.,
light shades of black) on top of a single or two-color shade.