Ethel Mairet

“ Fustic, weld, and most of the yellow dyes, give a greeny yellow with alum, but an old gold colour with chrome; and fawns of various shades with other mordants.
Silk and wool require very much the same preparation except that in the case of silk, high temperatures should be avoided. Wool is generally boiled in a weak solution of whatever mordant is used. With silk, as a rule, it is better to use a cold solution, or a solution at a temperature below boiling point. Cotton and linen are more difficult to dye than wool or silk. ”

“ Catechu is another excellent cotton dye used for various shades of brown, grey and black. A cold indigo vat is used for blue, Indigo Extract is not used. Yellows can be got with weld, flavin, turmeric (for which cotton has a strong attraction) , and fustic. Great care is to be taken in dyeing yellow as it is not very fast to light. Greens may be got by dyeing in the indigo vat and then with a yellow recipe, purples from logwood with tin mordant, but purples and greens are unsatisfactory, and not suitable to the vegetable dyer. ”

“ The only Lichen dyes that are known generally among dyers are Orchil and Cudbear, and these are preparations of lichens, not the lichens themselves. They are still used in some quantity and are prepared rather elaborately. But a great many of the ordinary lichens yield very good and permanent dyes. The Parmelia saxatilis and Parmelia omphalodes, are largely used in the Highlands and West Ireland, for dyeing brown of all shades. No mordant is needed, and the colours produced are the fastest known. ”

“ The wool can be dyed blue for green in three different ways:—1st in the Indigo vat, 2nd with Indigo Extract with Alum mordant, 3rd with logwood with Chrome mordant. For a good bright green, dye the wool a rather light blue, then wash and dry; Mordant with alum, green it with a good yellow dye, such as weld or fustic, varying the proportion of each according to the shade of green required. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Before mordanting with alum, the cotton is often prepared with tannic acid.
Iron. Iron is usually employed as a "saddening" agent, i.e. the cotton after dyeing is steeped in a cold solution of the mordant. A further use is in dyeing black, when the cotton, after being prepared with tannin, is steeped in a cold solution of Iron. This process by itself gives a dark colour before any dye is used.
Tin. Tin is rarely used alone as a mordant for cotton but brightens the colour in combination with other mordants.
Chrome. Chrome is used for browns and other colours with Catechu. ”

“ The gradual raising of the temperature of the dye bath is essential in order to develop the full colouring power of madder; long boiling should be avoided, as it dulls the colour. If the water is deficient in lime, brighter shades are got by adding a little ground chalk to the dye bath, 1 to 2 per cent. ”

“ Great care is needed in the using of copperas, as, unless it is thoroughly dissolved and mixed with the water before the wool is entered, it is apt to stain the wool. It also hardens wool if used in excess or if boiled too long. ”

“ Chrome. Enter cotton in cutch bath, boil 20 minutes, wring out, boil 10 minutes in chrome bath. Add 6 oz. fustic or 1 oz. flavin to cutch bath, re-enter cotton. Repeat above until the required depth of colour is reached, finish in cutch bath to obtain deepest shade, which may be darkened by adding 1 drachm or so copper sulphate. A greyish drab may be got by adding ferrous sulphate. All shades of brown may be obtained by decreasing or increasing the amount of cutch or by adding a little logwood or fustic, in which latter case the cotton should have been previously mordanted. ”

“ Put 16 gallons of water in the vat at a temperature of 65-70°F. In order to counteract the effects of the atmospheric oxygen contained in the water of the vat, additions of zinc dust and lime are made some hours before the stock solution is added. A pinch of zinc dust and an ounce of lime, previously slaked, should be added and the vat stirred. Stirring must always be done gently and smoothly, every effort being made not to take air into the vat. At the same time it must be stirred up from the bottom so that the sediment is mixed with the liquor above it. ”

“ Chrome, for certain browns such as catechu.
The principal Alum mordant is Acetate of Alumine, prepared as follows: Let 3 lbs. Alum and 3 ozs. chalk be dissolved in 1 gallon of warm water in an earthenware pan, add the chalk slowly to the Alum. Add 2 lbs. white acetate of lead, stir occasionally during 24 to 36 hours. Let it remain 12 hours at rest. Decant and preserve the clear liquor, being careful not to stir up the sediment. Pour 2 gallons of water on the sediment, and stir occasionally for 12 hours. ”

“ 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 [Pg 3] 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°F. and all the washing water should be of about the same temperature. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Dissolve copperas in [Pg 49] hot water. Slake lime. Fill earthenware jar with about 5 gallons cold water and add the Indigo, copperas and slaked lime in that order. Stir well, cover and let stand till next day or until vat is in proper condition; it should be clear brownish yellow with possible blue scum. There will be some sediment. The dyeing process is as in (1) .
(3) RED
(For 1 lb. cotton.) The Turkey Red process is long and difficult. (1) Boil yarn 6 to 8 hours in a solution of carbonate of soda, 1-1/2 oz., wash well and dry. (2) Prepare a solution of 2 fluid ozs. Turkey Red oil, 2 ozs. ”

“ Morris, William. "Of Dyeing as an Art." (Essays by Members of Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, 1903.)
Morris, William. "The Lesser Arts of Life." (from Architecture, Industry and Wealth. 1902.)
Napier, James. A Manual of Dyeing Recipes. 1855. ”

“ U. scruposa. Rock Urceolaria. Grows on rocks in hilly districts in England.
Usnea barbata. Bearded Usnea. Pennsylvania and South America. On old trees. Stated to dye yarn orange.
U. florida. Flowering Usnea. Pale greenish yellow or reddish brown.
U. plicata. Plaited Usnea. On trees.
SHADES OF BROWN
Alectoria jubata. ”

“ The following gives the relative proportions of the various substances containing tannin:—1 lb. tannic acid equals 4 lbs. sumach, 18 lbs. myrobalans, 14 lbs. divi-divi, 11 lbs. oak galls. [Pg 48]
Examples from various recipes:
For 10 lbs. cotton use 12 ozs. tannic acid.
" 50 " " " 10 lbs. sumach.
" 40 " " " 10 lbs. "
" 20 " " " 2 lbs. yellow (or black) catechu.
" 20 " " " 3 lbs. catechu with 3 ozs. blue vitriol.
Some recipes soak the cotton 24 hours, others 48.
RECIPES FOR DYEING (1) INDIGO VAT
Take 3 oz. well ground indigo, mix into a paste with hot water. Slake 3 oz. ”