Alexander Paul

“ The old maxim, that "seeing is believing," applies perhaps nowhere more than in dyeing. All those who have availed themselves of the opportunity to see the method of dyeing ostrich feathers practically executed before their eyes by the author, as described in the foregoing pages, are satisfied of and willingly testify to its superiority over any of the methods heretofore known, practiced and often acquired at the cost of much money, time and trouble, and which, in many cases, when put to the practical test, failed to give the desired results. ”

“ A couple of hours in the morning devoted to feather dyeing, and a good practical man can turn out fifty dollars worth at a cost of only his two hours labor, and perhaps fifty cents worth of color. Feathers can be dried in an ordinary hot room or, if warm weather, out in the open air. The dry room where large quantities of feathers are dried should never be too warm, as the feathers are apt to dry up quicker than the boys can beat the starch out of them; and, as a consequence, the flues or fibres are not expanded as they should be, and the feathers are much harder to curl. ”

“ If mixed with cold water, a great increase of temperature takes place. It rapidly destroys organic bodies, depriving them of their oxygen and hydrogen, and leaving the carbon behind, as a blackish mass. If any particle of organic matter falls into a carboy of acid, it is decomposed, and imparts a dark color to the liquid. It takes up water from the air rapidly, if left uncorked, and thus dilutes itself. Its use in feather dyeing is principally to extract colors that are too dark. ”

“ Should your sample that you have to match be a little [21] on the yellowish order, a drop of diluted Bismarck brown added to bath will bring the desired shade; or if a very brilliant shade or rose pink, a drop of diluted violet added to the bath and increase temperature; a little judgment is always necessary; as, for example, should you require a dark shade, you would naturally let your goods remain longer in the bath than the time specified in recipe, or add a little more color, and if a very pale pink is wanted, less time and color should be used. ”

“ Shading from dark to light colors is the result of submerging one portion of the feather in the bath and withholding the balance. Great care and not a little skill is needed to produce a satisfactory result. There are various ways of handling the goods, covering up the portions to remain the light shade or holding them out with the hands. Spotted or speckled feathers are produced by first dyeing the light shade that you desire to be spotted, and then wrapping around a round stick with cord, according to the size you desire to have the spots, you will regulate the weight of cord used. ”

“ The washing and rinsing is not absolutely necessary, in fact, it can not much improve what is already a clean, glossy black. Washing, however, if productive of a change at all, must be beneficial. Then proceed to mix a small handful of starch in a small quantity of cold water; pass feathers through and dry. While your feathers are in the bichromate of potash bath, they must be kept moving in bath constantly and well under the surface. There is nothing to be added to make a [56] successful result, except it be to caution you to adhere as strictly as possible to the recipe. ”

“ There are numerous orange anilines in the market that are used successfully in dyeing shades of orange, but it is almost necessary to have a different shade of aniline for every shade of color made. Should your sample to be matched be rather dull, use no oxalic acid in bath, as the oxalic acid is used in developing and brightening the shade. To remove the color, should it be too dark, the first method is to wash well in soap water, rinse and pass through a solution of oxalic acid in warm water, about half an ounce to the gallon. ”

“ The natural colors of the ostrich feathers are white, black and gray, or rather a dark drab. They are, therefore, sorted according to their natural color, to be bleached white, or dyed in light colors, or to be used for dark shades. Practical men in the general dyeing business, and in garment dyeing or re-dyeing, hold that it is unnecessary to bleach, respectively strip, the material for dyeing dark colors, and garment dyers strip their material only to a certain extent, so as to leave upon it a bottom of color which they can advantageously use for their new dye. ”

“ If they are old colors to be redyed a black, it is not necessary to wash them nor to bleach them for the purpose of removing any of the color, as the black bath will overcome all the other colors; as, for example, a navy blue, a bottle green, garnet, etc., can be all entered at the same time, and put through precisely the same process, and they will all be the same shade of black when they are dried.
Prepare bath by diluting a quarter pound of turmeric in a gallon of boiling water and bring to a boil ”

“ The dyer will often find logwood, that, although purchased under the name of a most excellent brand, will be far inferior to what he has been using, in which case it is well to look for an adulteration of some sort, which it is not at all easy to detect, only when it does not produce the desired result. ”

“ A patented product, that in feather dyeing is capable of taking the place of all other reds. It is the only dyestuff that satisfactorily takes the place of extract of safflower, producing, with the aid of a proportion of oxalic acid, the most beautiful shades of scarlet and cardinal. It is perfectly fast to light, dissolves readily in boiling water, and comes to us in the form of a dull red powder. ”

“ All natural color will have entirely disappeared. Whatever portion of the amount of feathers you have just bleached are for whites, before drying them up, prepare a bath as per recipe for white, pass through and dry in the usual way. This process of bleaching is used only when it is desirable to make light colors from gray or natural black feathers, but feathers for navy blue, seal brown, bottle green, etc., will not be improved by bleaching. The shade of color can be evened off in the bath. ”

“ The only known chemical agent affecting such a bleach to nearly white is peroxyd of hydrogen or oxygenated water. For bleaching ostrich feathers a bath is prepared of peroxyd of hydrogen to which so much liquid ammonia is added as to give the bath a sharp pungent odor. The feathers, which must be previously cleaned as above mentioned, and well rinsed, are entered and left immersed in the bath until they have assumed a nearly white cream color, whereupon the feathers are taken up and thoroughly rinsed or laid down in running water until every trace of ammonia has disappeared. ”

“ Never allow the feathers to become dry in the course of operations. If it is necessary to interrupt work, or to put feathers to one side for further treatment, dry them properly by first passing them through a bath of raw starch, in order to have the flues at all times as well opened as possible.
In no case let the temperature of a bath, in which feathers are treated, rise to actual boiling, although for some dyestuffs a temperature near the boiling point is required to make them dye up, to become level or to fix them. ”

“ Logwood is to-day one of our most important dyewoods, as indeed it enters in feather dyeing into all of the dark or staple colors, such as black, navy blue, brown, green, garnet, etc. To extract the substance requires considerable boiling, especially if used in the form of chips; if it is used ground, which is by far preferable to chips in feather dyeing, it requires much less boiling to extract the substance. ”

“ When alum alone is used without any other addition as mordant, sulphuric acid may be added, but only in the proportion of one tenth or, at the most, up to one fifth of the weight of alum, and careful rinsing in several warm and cold waters is the more indispensably required the more acid has been employed.
All solutions of dyestuffs, as well as of chemicals, ought to be carefully filtered, and decoctions of woods, etc., strained before adding them to the bath; never add dyestuffs, drugs or chemicals in substance to any bath, in order to prevent solid particles from settling upon the feathers. ”

“ To use starch that had previously been used to dry light colors that contained acid, would most likely result in spotting your color, as the application of acid to any portion of the delicate color would turn it a greenish blue. If your color be found too dark for sample, you can either wash in a solution of soap water, or else pass feathers through a bath of a teaspoonful of oxalic acid to a gallon of luke warm water, after which rinse off well and put through fresh bath as per recipe. ”

“ A full grown ostrich will weigh about three hundred pounds, and stands about seven to eight feet in height. In the breeding season they will travel in broods of from three to five in number, one of which is invariably a male. The hens lay their eggs in a pit scraped out with their feet, the sand forming a ridge around it. When they have accumulated a dozen eggs or so the male begins to brood, always taking his place on them at night, surrounded by the hens, while by day they will relieve one another. ”

“ The process of selecting the different grades or qualities follow, and it is necessary for the person performing this work to be familiar with the application of dyestuffs to feathers, to insure the dyer less trouble; as the different qualities all put in the bath together, and going through exactly the same process will come out different shades of color, will cause the dyer a great deal of trouble and labor getting them all an even color. When a batch of feathers are intended for white it will not be necessary to dry them first ”

“ Should you find your color a shade too dark, mix a luke warm starch bath, and pass feathers through, keeping them under about half a minute, and dry as usual. Be careful that your picric acid is thoroughly dissolved, as otherwise it will be likely to spot your feathers, if the particles come in contact with the flues, and the spots are very hard to remove, as it would be necessary to put them through a bleaching process. ”

“ The drying of feathers is quite an important operation, and if not understood, can result in ruining a great many by drying them improperly, allowing the starch to dry up on the flues without beating it out, and by breaking the quills. The dry room is only used when the weather is too inclement to dry in the open air, or when you have not got outside accommodations. The yard or roof is far preferable to the dry room, and especially so for white and black feathers. ”

“ The utensils required for feather dyeing are of a very simple character, few and inexpensive. For small establishments an ordinary stove, a common wash-boiler, to have constantly hot water on hand, an ordinary wash tub, a white china wash-basin for dyeing, a clean board for starching and a few bottles, together with a small tin pan or kettle and funnel, for making solutions and decoctions and filtering them, is all that is necessary besides the work table. ”

“ If very hard or heavy, or when the color is very dull, blackish, greenish or brownish, the quality is below the standard. It is, however, of very little consequence in ostrich feather dyeing, and its impurities would scarcely at any time be noticeable. It should, however, dilute thoroughly in boiling water, and if there remain a sediment of any proportion, the indigo is impure. Sulphuric acid is generally used to develop the color. ”