Dyeing

“ For dyeing delicate colours, the water, which ought to be chosen for such purpose the purest and best, should {43} be heated with bran in a bag, when much of the contents of the water inimical to dyeing will rise to the top in the form of a scum, and should be taken off just before the water boils. Instead of bran, a little alum will answer the same purpose when it is not inimical to the colour intended to be dyed. ”

“ Nearly all the colors used in dyeing being of vegetable origin, it is necessary to apply some substances to the fabrics to be dyed which shall fix the colors in the grain. Of these (called “mordants”) the chief are acetate of alumina, acetate of iron, and chloride of tin (substances well known to chemists) , which have the property of making the coloring matter insoluble, so that it cannot be washed out.
There are various ways of dyeing. If the fabric has to be dyed all one color, it is dipped in the mordant, dried, and afterwards boiled in a solution of the dye-stuff. ”

“ No one will dispute that the all-over dyeing of a fabric, and the decoration of a textile with a dyed pattern, are basic problems. The recent war brought home the vital place that dyes hold in the life of the people. ”

“ Dyeing.—Occasionally, when colored articles of silk, wool, or cotton have been cleaned, their color requires to be made deeper; at other times, it maybe desirable to change the color altogether, when that already in the stuff must be discharged, and the article dyed anew.
Articles of any color may be dyed black, and black may easily be re-dyed. Blues can be made green or black; green may be made brown, and brown, green; and any color on re-dyeing, will take a darker tint than at first. ”

“ A slow dyeing is generally more level and successful in every way. In cases where the fiber absorbs the color greedily the dyer sometimes puts other ingredients called “assistants” into the bath to retard this absorption.
[Pg 41] Frequently the craftsman does shaded dyeing, such as a scarf with deep blue ends grading to a light blue center. The following directions will accomplish this: Hold the scarf in the middle with one hand, dip the ends into the dye-bath and work them thoroughly with the other hand. Then lower the scarf into the bath very gradually without interrupting the working. ”

“ When dyeing wool with acid colours which are all absorbed from the dye-liquor, or the bath is exhausted, it is a good plan to run the pieces several more ends so as to ensure thorough fixation of the dye on the cloth. ”

“ Nothing but practice will qualify you for this and all pattern dyeing: the way, and the only good way to obtain practice, is to work with all possible regularity. In the dyeing of fancy cloths in the clothing districts of Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, and other fine cloth manufactories, the manufacturers who dye their own cloths, as well as dyers of the greatest eminence, always number, measure, weigh, and time all the component parts of their various processes of dyeing. ”

“ Since all parts of the fabric must have equal opportunity to be dyed, in order that a level dyeing be obtained, it is absolutely necessary that the goods be worked as long as they remain in the dye-bath. ”

“ Here we must take special steps to get the dye well into the fiber and secure the results obtained from the large dye-bath in all-over dyeing.
The fabric must be prepared for pattern dyeing in the same manner as for all-over dyeing. It is just as essential that it be clean, free of sizing, with its fibers soft and absorbent. Attention has been called to the pains taken by the Orientals in the preparation of their fabrics for decoration. We must not jeopardize our success by omitting to boil out new raw material and to clean old material. ”

“ EXPERIMENTAL DYEING AND COMPARATIVE DYE TESTING.
Every dyer ought to be able to make experiments in the mordanting and dyeing of textile fibres for the purpose of ascertaining the best methods of applying mordants or dye-stuffs, the best methods of obtaining any desired shade, and for the purpose of making comparative tests of dyes or mordanting materials with the object of determining their strength and value. ”

“ It may be added that the leading firms carrying school art supplies offer dyes in suitable form especially adapted for the problems in pattern dyeing.
Perhaps a few suggestions to the less experienced of our readers will prove helpful. All of the good dyes manufactured today are in a very pure form. The use of one dye alone often gives results that are crude without any subtle beauty. It is frequently necessary to apply the principle well known to all workers in color, that colors are softened and beautified by small admixtures of their compliments ”

“ The dyeing is sometimes done by brushing on a table, grain-side upwards, but more usually the skins are folded closely down the back, flesh-side inwards, so as to protect it as much as possible from the influence of the colour, and then passed through the dye-bath, which is now generally of aniline colours. ”

“ It corresponds to the excess color in dyeing, which we take pains to remove by rinsing. The very purpose of the steaming, or other “setting” process, is to incorporate the dye into the fiber. This is never perfectly accomplished. There is always some excess adherent color to be removed.
OLD JAPANESE STENCILS
How often we meet the following experience: A [Pg 136] craft worker in decorating a fabric applies color until the eye is pleased, takes little or no pains to incorporate the color into the fiber, and ignores altogether the fact that some of the color is only adherent. ”

“ All greys, from the darkest to the lightest, are composed of black in varying proportions. They are of great use in dyeing, not only for their own colours, but {97} also when applied to other colours, which operation is called saddening or darkening. ”

“ This is an economical proceeding in many cases, especially in working with many of the old tannin materials, like sumac, divi-divi, myrobalans, and the modern direct dyes, which during the dyeing operations are not completely extracted out of the bath, or in other words the dye-bath is not exhausted of colouring matter, and therefore it can be used again for another lot of goods simply by adding fresh material to make up for that absorbed by the first lot. ”

“ The art of modern dyeing very greatly consists in the proper use of what are called mordants, that is, substances which, although they do not of themselves produce colour, so act upon the dyes as to cause them to give an intenser hue to the fabric, and also serve to make the colour permanent. The modern dyers have obtained several dye drugs unknown to the ancients, such as cochineal, quercitron, Brazil and logwood, arnotts, and indigo, which was only known to the Romans as a paint ”

“ Some dye wool only or silk, while others confine themselves to certain colors, such as scarlet and blue. The principal profits of the dyer, when unconnected with manufacturing establishments, arise from dyeing garments or stuffs which have been partly worn.
10. The origin of the art of dyeing is involved in great obscurity, as the ancients have not furnished even a fable, which might guide us in our researches. It is evident, however, that the art must have made considerable progress, long before authentic history begins. ”

“ The art of dyeing is very imperfectly understood by those who profess it. A dyer possesses merely an imperfect art when he ought to command a perfect science. I know few, if any, trades so completely scientific, and so abounding with pleasing investigation. But there is not only the absence of this pleasure but absolute loss of money to the dyer in the composition of various dyes. ”

“ After wetting or preparatory treatment, it will be best to proceed immediately to dyeing; if the fibres be left in a heap for too long a time, there is danger that they may become heated, or at least that the moisture may be irregularly distributed by the occurrence of partial drying, causing an uneven fixation of the colour in the first stages of dyeing. The first two conditions of successful dyeing are, therefore, a suitable wetting out and scouring. The dyer, however, must not be less careful to see that the dye-bath is what it ought to be. ”

“ From the above we discover that the art of applying and fixing colours in dyeing depends on the chemical affinity between the cloth and the dyeing principle: and accordingly as this is more or less strong, so is the facility with which the substance is coloured, and on this the deepness of the dye depends: for frequently one kind of cloth will be found to receive no colour at all, whilst another will receive from the same composition a deep tinge. ”

“ If greater fastness is required, and more especially if it is a case of replacing aniline black, Diaminogene diazotised and developed is a good dye-stuff. It is extensively used for dyeing umbrella cloths and linings. ”

“ Although it is possible to dye wool with the basic dyes from a plain bath containing water only, yet the results are not satisfactory, especially when working on a large scale; and for dyeing pale shades especially, the affinity of the dye-stuff for the fibre is so great that the first portions of the goods which are entered into the dye-bath have a great tendency to absorb all the dye-stuff, or the larger proportion of it, so that uneven dyeing is the result, one end of the piece of cloth being darker than the other end. ”

“ The beginner is apt to think that to get a full color requires a concentrated dye-bath. Experience will teach him that, when the dyes are properly chosen for his fabric, a full color is obtained better by a longer treatment in a dilute bath, with additions of dye as mentioned above. In this way nearly if not all of the color put into the bath is absorbed by the cloth. This serves for economy of color, makes observation and control of the process easier, simplifies the problem of rinsing, and improves the quality of the dyeing. It is the only way dyeing to shade can be accomplished. ”

“ Usually there is no objection to wringing. A fabric should never be allowed to hang and drain dry, as the dyeing is liable to become uneven in streaks, especially when the dye used is one given to run or “bleed,” or in any case where the rinsing has not been absolutely thorough. The craftsman in dyeing a small piece [Pg 42] frequently puts it between towels or newspapers to absorb the excess water and then shakes it until dry. ”

“ THIS beautiful and fascinating art of textile decoration, applied to draperies and articles of dress, has been practiced in many countries for centuries. Old pieces have been found in South America, in Peru and Bolivia. In the Philippines and in provinces of India the work may still be seen, the art having been handed down from generations unknown.
The essential process consists in dyeing the cloth in a dye-bath after having wound parts of it more or less tightly with string or cord, which serves as a resist to prevent the color from reaching those parts of the fabric. ”

“ There is no doubt that dyeing was, in the early period of its history, a home industry practised by the women of the household, along with the sister arts of spinning and weaving, for the purpose of embellishing the materials manufactured for clothing. ”

“ Dyeing as a chemical science has not been studied for the last 50 years without producing good results. But there is this great difference between the chemical commercial dyes and the traditional dyes—that with the commercial dyes it is very easy to produce ugly colours, the beautiful colour is rare; but with traditional dyes it is difficult to make an ugly colour, and good colour is the rule. ”

“ They give shades possessing some degree of resistance to light, but which are not very fast to washing and milling, although, in this respect, there are very great differences among them. The acid dyeing blues are fairly numerous, but they dye a great variety of tints, usually fairly fast to washing, milling and light. The mordant blues are pretty numerous and of great value for dyeing wool, as they give shades which are remarkable for their fastness to light, acids and milling, hence they are most extensively used, especially for dyeing fabrics that are subject to very hard wear. ”

“ In order more correctly to understand the theory and practice of dyeing, it is essential that the pupil should become acquainted with the nature of the substances upon which and with which he must necessarily operate. We shall not enter into the theories of light and of colours, as propounded by Sir Isaac Newton, as well as many illustrious chemists, who have already done so much for the art of dyeing, but shall simply refer to such writers as Ure, Bancroft, Berthollet, Brande, &c. ”

“ By adding the dye in portions this difficulty is overcome and more level shades are obtained, but it is met with in all cases of jigger dyeing. It is most common in dyeing (p. 053) wool with basic dyes like Magenta, Auramine, Methyl Violet or Brilliant Green, and with acid dyes like Acid Green, Formyl Violets, Azo Scarlet or Acid Yellow. ”

“ In practice, modifications of this normal process may be introduced, in order to ensure the dyeing of an even colour, i.e. free from such irregularities as cloudiness, streaks, &c., which may be due to the quality of the material or to the special properties of the acid colour employed. Materials of a firm, close texture, also the existence of a strong affinity between fibre and colouring matter, do not generally lend themselves to the dyeing of even colours, or to a satisfactory penetration of the material. Some acid colours dye even colours without any difficulty ”