It is not necessary to wash your feathers, except they are very dirty
and greasy. As a rule all old colors, excepting greens, navy blues or
blacks, can be used for this color without bleaching. Prepare bath by
boiling about one pound of logwood to a gallon of water or more
about fifteen minutes; strain off liquor from wood; add about two
tablespoonfuls of extract of archil, and bring again to a boil. Enter
your feathers and let them remain in bath about four or five minutes,
after which take feathers from bath, rinse twice in clean cold water,
and dilute a small handful of starch in a little clear cold water;
pass feathers through and dry in the usual way. Should your color be
found too dark for sample to be matched, dilute a couple of drops of
sulphuric acid in your starch bath, and pass feathers through for a
few seconds; first, however, adding a little hot water to increase
temperature.
If found lighter than the desired shade, rinse your feathers thoroughly
in cold water and dilute half an ounce of bichromate of potash in about
one gallon of boiling water; pass your feathers through for a few
seconds, rinse thoroughly and dry. Great care is necessary in passing
feathers through this chrome bath, as the color will oxidize very
rapidly.
If your sample to match be more on the brown shade, a very little
archil, not more than one-half the prescribed quantity must be used;
and if more on the purple or plum, add more archil than the quantity
specified.
In preparing bath, when you have added the archil, be careful in
bringing it to boiling temperature that you do not allow it to boil
any time, as that would have a tendency to dull your color. By keeping
this bath clean it can be used several times, in fact, it improves
with age; and, if kept in a crock, so that it will not come in contact
with any metallic substance, and when needed just brought to boiling
temperature; and if needed, a teaspoonful of archil added to it will
produce very beautiful shades of garnet.
This bath can be used to make your plum colors; and if you have an old
bath of logwood on hand it is not necessary to boil a fresh one, simply
add the archil, and bring to a boil.