The Dyer's Guide / Being a compendium of the art of dyeing linen, cotton, silk, wool, muslin, dresses, furniture, &c. &c.; with the method of scouring wool, bleaching cotton, &c., and directions for ungumming silk, and for whitening and sulphuring silk and wool; and also an introductory epitome of the leading facts in chemistry, as connected with the art of dyeing

Process for ORANGE.

After dyeing aurora with annatto, it is necessary to redden the annatto ground with vinegar, alum or lemon juice.

For the brightest oranges, and up to scarlets and poppy, &c. silk should have an annatto ground three or four shades under that of aurora. There is no occasion for alum when the silk has been grounded and washed off. If for orange a liquor which has been used for poppy will be sufficiently strong to finish it, or for light cherry, rose, &c. For flesh, the lightest of these colours is so delicate that a little of the soap water used for boiling should be added to the liquor, to prevent the silk from taking the colour too quickly or unevenly.

Liquors having safflower or weld in their composition, require to be immediately worked, as by keeping they lose their colour, that is, the safflower and its compounds, and are entirely spoiled. They are also always used cold, as the safflower cannot bear heat.

The safflower preparation has been before described in Chapter II. where the process of cotton pink is performed by its solution.

To dye silk POPPY, called by the French COQUELICOT.

When the silk has received the annatto ground three shades less than for aurora, the safflower preparation must be ready, and turned by the solution of tartar as before described; the silk must also be well washed from the annatto ground; that the alkali used with the annatto may not counteract the tartar of the safflower, a bath of which must be prepared as strong as possible, through which the silk must be worked six or seven times: for a full poppy it is necessary to pass the silk through four or five such liquors. Poppy is the deepest colour which can be done with the safflower. It has been before observed, that the liquors from the poppy, if used directly, will serve for orange, cherry, flesh, &c.

Archil, as described for crimson, with cochineal for wools as before described, is to be used on some occasions. In other cases some patterns have no ground of annatto.

A cheaper POPPY with annatto and Brazil wood.

The silk is to be grounded with annatto as before; when well washed off it must be alumed and washed off again; then passed through the decoction of Brazil wood, washed off again, again passed through a fresh decoction of Brazil wood; and every time that goods are passed through the dye, as has been before stated, they must be worked from end to end of the skeins, from five to seven times, to have them even, and to give them a full opportunity of combining with the colouring materials of the dye.

These repetitions must of course be in number proportionate to the slightness or intensity of the colour wanted. With the Brazil decoction it is necessary to mix well a little soap liquor, about five quarts to thirty pounds of silk. This keeps the alum used to receive the Brazil decoction not only from producing a stiffness, but, on the contrary, preserves the silk soft and pliant.

The above poppy serves for a ground for brown red colours, by the addition of logwood. A decoction of logwood, Brazil wood, and old fustic, as has been before observed, should always be kept ready boiled.

On dyeing silk a FINE CRIMSON.

Silk intended for the crimson of cochineal should have only twenty pounds of soap to one hundred pounds of silk, and no azure, because the natural yellow of the silk which remains is favourable to the intended colour.

The silk is to be strongly alumed and left in the alum from seven to eight hours, then washed and twice beetled at the river. Remember how the alum is to be worked, as to the manual part.

While this is doing, a liquor is to be thus got ready: take of blue and white galls from one to two ounces to each pound of silk, let them be well powdered and sifted; of fine cochineal, also well powdered and sifted, from two to three ounces, for every pound of silk; put these articles into pure soft water, and in a boiler made of grain-tin, (and not in what is commonly called tin, which is iron covered with tin, and which would utterly spoil the dye.) Neither would copper or brass suit as well as grain-tin. This has been observed before, (page 84.) in the article on dyeing wool scarlet. It ought, nevertheless, to be stated, that such tin boilers are difficult to be made of a certain size, and being liable, besides, to be melted without great care. Many dyers therefore, still use copper boilers. When the cochineal and galls have boiled you add to the liquor for every pound of cochineal, about one ounce of solution of tin, which is called composition, and is made in the following manner:

Composition for dyeing silk SCARLET or CRIMSON with cochineal.

Take one pound of nitric acid, two ounces of muriate of ammonia, six ounces of fine tin, prepared as mentioned under dyeing wool scarlet, water twelve ounces.

The muriate of ammonia, the prepared tin, and the water, are put into a stone jar, to which the nitric acid, is added, and the whole left to dissolve.

This composition contains much more tin and sal-ammoniac than is used for the scarlet of cochineal upon wool; it is, however, absolutely necessary.

An ounce of this composition, for every pound of silk, is to be added to the galls and cochineal when boiling. The boiler is then cooled down a little, the fire-door thrown open, the silk put in and worked from five to seven times, when the silk will have become pretty even as far as it is dyed. The copper is now again to be brought to boil; it should continue boiling, and the silk kept turning, for two hours; the fire is then taken from under the copper, and the silk is immersed entirely and left all night, or for seven or eight hours at least; it thus takes a full half shade. In the morning it is washed, twice beetled, wrung as usual, and hung up to dry.

The least tincture of sulphate of iron in the water saddens the crimsons, takes off their yellow, and gives the violet cast; but if too much of the yellow is carried off, it may be restored by fustic. Nothing but sulphate of iron will sadden grain scarlets, logwood being quite useless for this purpose; sulphate of iron darkens greatly with galls. Macquer.

Another process for CRIMSON.

When the silk is boiling in the soap-liquor, add one ounce of annatto, for every pound of silk, working it through the colander as directed, (page 136.) but without the composition or tartar: in some shades, however, both composition and tartar are admitted. The solution applied to cochineal with worsted has a considerable effect, changing it from a crimson, its natural colour, to a very bright fire colour; but it produces only a crimson when applied to silk; it gives, however, this colour a very beautiful tint; for, uniting with the tartar, it increases the effect without impoverishing the colour, and saving the annatto ground. Macquer.

Crimson by Brazil wood.

The silk should be first alumed, and then passed through a strong decoction of Brazil wood, half a pail to a pound of silk, which is to be worked, and put through an additional and strengthened dye of Brazil wood, and then washed off: if in hard water this will generally crimson the Brazil wood sufficiently; but if in soft water a little pearl-ash must be added; about one pound of the clear solution of pearl-ash, or rather the clear solution of a pound of pearl-ash, as one pound of water will not, we believe, dissolve a pound of pearl-ash: this is enough for forty pounds of silk.

The decoction of Brazil wood is prepared thus: one hundred and fifty pounds of Brazil wood chips are put into a copper which holds about sixty buckets of water; the copper is then filled with water and boiled for three hours, the waste by evaporation being occasionally supplied. The fire is now damped, the clear liquor drawn off, the copper filled again, and again boiled for three hours more. This process is repeated four times in all, when the dye of the wood will be fully extracted.

Logwood and old fustic are treated in the same manner, but only two boilings are required for these.

In regard to crimson generally, see forward, observations on dyeing silk crimson and scarlet, and also some observations on the dyeing of wool scarlet, page 85.

Of fine VIOLET.

For this colour the common boiling is enough, the silk is alumed the same as for fine scarlet, washed and twice beetled. Thus prepared, two ounces of cochineal are given to it, with the same precaution as usual, but no composition nor tartar. Being worked moderately warm, in working it must be expeditiously turned; after a quarter of an hour the liquor should be brought to boil, when the turning need not be so expeditious, but it should, nevertheless, be continued for two hours. After being washed the silk is dipped in the vat, more or less strong, according to the shade required.

Washing and drying are done in the same manner as for blues and greens, and in general for all colours dipped in the vat, namely, a small quantity at a time, in order that the silk may be kept open to the air, and that the greening of the vat may pass correctly and equally to blue. For some shades archil forms a part of this dye. For other violets on silk see Chapter III.

Observations on CRIMSON and SCARLET upon silk.

Crimson upon silk is produced at Norwich, London, and many other places, by using a much larger quantity of cochineal than that which is directed by Macquer: for in some cases, as much as a guinea a pound, has, it is said, been paid for dyeing silk crimson at Norwich. Archil has been used, likewise, in crimson, and the time of boiling is not so long. In some shades a little of the composition and tartar may be admitted, but in a small degree. It should be stated, however, that scarlet upon silk, is often done by annatto and safflower.

Observe, that although we have given the preceding processes for crimson and scarlet, yet many others might be mentioned. What has been said in regard to dyeing scarlet on woollen, (page 85.) should also be carefully attended to, particularly relative to the conversion of scarlet into crimson by alum, soap, and the alkalies. And though we have given directions for the preparation of a nitro-muriate of tin, yet pure

Muriate of tin

is now very often used for dyeing silk red. Mr. M'Kernan, gives us the following process for preparing it:

Take of fine muriatic acid, of the specific gravity of 1.120, two quarts; add by degrees, one ounce at a time, of feathered tin, for twenty-four hours. Put the vessel in a sand heat and bring it gently to boil, observing to add more tin as that in the acid becomes dissolved. There should be some tin left undissolved when the liquor is cold, thus indicating that the acid is perfectly neutralized by the tin. Bottle for use.

On dyeing silk GREEN.

This colour is composed of blue and yellow. It is with difficulty produced on silk, because the blue vat is liable to spot and give a party colour, an inconvenience to which green is more liable than blue, and more perceptible. The boiling of silk for greens is the same as for common colours.

The silk being alumed as usual rather strongly, is washed off and divided on the sticks into small hanks of about four or five ounces, that it may be equally and easily managed in the working, from the yellow to green, in the blueing from the blue vat.

Weld is then boiled as stated in the article concerning yellow; when boiled, a liquor of it is prepared strong enough to give a lemon ground; the silk is then turned with all the expedition, care, and caution possible, that it may be even. When it appears full enough, some of the threads are to be separated and dipped in the vat, to determine this. If not full enough, more of the weld liquor must be added to the dye bath, and the silk returned and tried again, and so on; when the colour is right, the silk is washed off and beetled. It is then wrung and formed into hanks, and dipped skein by skein in the blue vat, the same as the blue and the purple should be; it must be wrung with equal care and dispatch.

This green is a kind of sea-green, of which there are upwards of twenty shades. The lighter shades, when taken out of the vat, are not washed but the silk must be worked in the hands by clapping it between them, and then be carefully opened and aired. A few threads are then washed, or rinsed; if the colour be right the whole is washed.

For the dark shades, when the weld is exhausted a little logwood is added to the liquor; in some cases, old fustic, in some annatto.

For very dark-wing or bottle-green shades, a little sulphate of iron is required.

OLIVES.

Proceed in aluming, &c. the same as for other colours; the weld liquor being stronger, some logwood must be added. When the weld and logwood are exhausted a very small quantity of each must be added, which green the liquor, when the silk being passed through, a greenish olive is produced.

A reddish olive requires fustic, instead of logwood and pearl-ash, both of these being omitted.

Fustic gives a colour commonly called drab-olive upon cloth, because generally made to match with olive, this is commonly redder than the preceding.

On dyeing silk GREY.

All the greys, namely, nut-greys, thorn-greys, black and iron-greys, and others of the same hue, black-grey excepted, are produced without aluming. The silk being washed from the soap and drained on the peg, a liquor is made of fustic, archil, logwood and sulphate of iron: fustic gives the ground, archil the red, logwood darkens, and the sulphate of iron softens all these colours, turns them grey, and, at the same time, serves instead of alum as a mordant.

As there is an infinite variety of greys, without any positive names, produced by the same methods, it would be endless to enter into details, which would prolong this treatise to little purpose.

For reddish-grey the archil should predominate; for those more grey, the logwood; and for those rather greenish, the fustic.

Care should be taken not to use the logwood too much, as with the sulphate of iron it darkens more than most drugs: therefore the black vat, made either with alder-bark, or the other preparation mentioned in dyeing cotton, is preferable to the sulphate of iron.

NUT-GREY.

The fustic decoction, archil, and a little logwood are put into water moderately hot, the silk is then returned, and when the liquor is exhausted, the silk is taken out, and to soften the colour the solution of sulphate of iron, or the black vat, is used. The silk is then returned once more, and if the colour does not appear sufficiently even, some red spots still remaining, it may be concluded that it requires a little more sulphate of iron.

Observe that, as sulphate of iron is the general base of all greys, if this be deficient in quantity, the colour is apt to change in dyeing, and to become rough and uneven.

To know whether the colour be sufficiently softened, it should be examined, and if it wet easily, after having been wrung on the peg, it wants sulphate of iron. On the contrary, if it wets with a little difficulty, the colour is sufficiently softened.

Too much sulphate of iron stiffens the silk considerably, making it harsh, and even depriving it of a part of its lustre; to remedy this it must be extra washed and wrung at the peg; this process carries off the sulphate of iron.

BLACK-GREYS.

These are alumed and welded as for yellow, and, when the liquor is exhausted, part of it is thrown away, and some logwood is added; when the logwood is exhausted, sulphate of iron is added, sufficient to blacken the colour, the silk is then washed, wrung, and finished in the usual way.

IRON-GREY.

For iron-grey it is necessary to boil the same as for blues: this colour is much more beautiful when laid on a very white ground.

By having the drugs made into decoctions before-hand, greys either in woollen, silk, or cotton, may be dyed at a heat not much above what the hand will bear; and in a rotation of shades from light to dark, and varied, blue, red, yellow, brown, &c. with ease and with pleasure; so may, likewise, many stone-drabs, and other light brown drabs, as the mixture of yellow, fawn, and black, produces nut-browns, &c.

On dyeing silk of a PRUSSIAN-BLUE COLOUR.

The application of colours derived from the mineral kingdom to dyeing is one of the most striking modern improvements in our art. Mr. Raymond received from the French government in 1801, eight thousand francs, (more than three hundred pounds sterling,) as a reward for communicating to the public his process for dyeing silk of a uniform fast and bright Prussian-blue colour by the application of that well known pigment. His process is as follows.

He first converts, by a gentle calcination, sulphate of iron into a red sulphate of iron: this he dissolves in sixteen times its weight of warm water and filters. The silk, prepared as for indigo dye, is put into the solution of iron, and left there for a shorter or longer time, according to the shade of blue that is wanted; it is then taken out and wrung very dry over a pole placed above the vat. It is then thoroughly cleansed by being twice beetled, plunging and agitating it each time in running water. Dissolve in pure water heated to 167°, and put into a deal vat, one ounce of ferroprussiate of potash, for every twelve ounces of silk to be dyed. When the prussiate is dissolved add one part, or even rather more, of muriatic acid, stirring the mixture well. When the liquor has acquired a greenish colour, and about 144° of heat, the silk must be immediately plunged into it and stirred about for some minutes. The silk having received the dye in an equal manner, it is taken out of the vat, well wrung on a pole above the vat, and then taken to the stream to receive two or three beetlings, and be plunged and agitated in the water, in order that it may be entirely freed from any portion of the prussiate of iron not truly combined with it.

Lastly, the silk being well washed in the stream, and thoroughly wrung, is to be placed loosely on the poles, as in the preceding operations; after which it must be well agitated in a large vessel three-fourths filled with cold water, to which must be added, for a hundred pounds of silk, two pounds of water of ammonia. The blue colour immediately becomes many shades deeper, of a much richer and brighter tint, and at the same time is fixed more perfectly in the silks. This change is effected in a few minutes. The silk must then be wrung by the hand and rinsed in the running water without beating. After this, it is dried on the poles in the same manner as other dyed silks. It need not be left on the poles more than twenty-four hours: but, nevertheless, this colour so far from fading in the drying, as is the case with many colours, is improved by it.

The solution of a little soap added cold to the ammonia bath, improves it, giving also softness to the silk, and rendering it more easy to separate. The soap should be uniformly dissolved.

For the substance of the above process, we are indebted to Dr. Ure's notes on Berthollet, vol. ii. p. 422. The prussiate of potash is now to be obtained as a regular article of trade from the dry-salters in this country.

Woollen cloth takes also the above dye, but it must be left longer than silk in the iron mordant.

Chromate of lead for YELLOW on SILK and COTTON.

Chromate of lead, as a pigment has been for some time in use; M. Lassaigne, in 1820, made public a process for dyeing cloth with this article, which has since become pretty common in this country.

Immerse hanks of scoured silk for a quarter of an hour in a weak solution of acetate of lead at the ordinary temperature; take them out and wash them in a great deal of water: then dip them into a weak solution of chromate of potash. They immediately take a fine yellow colour; at the end of ten minutes the effect is complete. From this colour being decomposed in part by soap and water, it is chiefly applicable to silks. But by applying, however, a mordant of acetate or nitrate of lead, and passing the goods through bichromate of potash, a very beautiful and sufficiently fast yellow is now given to cotton goods in this country.

Conclusion.

We cannot conclude our work without observing, that from the researches continually going on in botany and other branches of natural history, and, more especially, from those in chemistry, there can be no doubt that discoveries, which will materially improve the art of dyeing, must, from time to time, be made. Some of these, not yet generally known, in the hands of a few persons, have already been found useful; but individual interest is, of course, a great enemy to their being made public. Others, although public, are, as yet, of too doubtful a utility to be noticed here.

If we have not given forms for the employment of some articles in use by certain dyers, such as kermes for reds; French Berries, (rhamnus infectorius,) the Canada golden rod (solidago Canadensis,) the Barberry (Berberis vulgaris,) and the French marygold, (Tagetes patula,) for yellows, &c. &c.; it is not to be concluded that such are not good in their kind, and might not be used occasionally with advantage. But as our object has been to give the best methods of dyeing the various colours, it would be impossible to notice many others in a manual of this kind, and in the limits within which we are necessarily confined. To mention those substances recently introduced into dyeing, the utility of which is not confirmed by extensive practice, would be injudicious, and tend to lead the young dyer astray; those, however, who have leisure and inclination, and are, besides, able to run the risk of the failure of new processes, may, and no doubt will, make experiments with them by which our art must be eventually served and improved.

THE END.

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