Vegetable Dyes Part 7

Kermes consists of the dried bodies of a small scale insect, _Coccus ilicis_, found princ.i.p.ally on the ilex oak, in the South of Europe, and still used there.

William Morris speaks of the "Al-kermes or coccus which produces with an ordinary aluminous mordant a central red, true vermilion, and with a good dose of acid a full scarlet, which is the scarlet of the Middle Ages, and was used till about the year 1656, when a Dutch chemist discovered the secret of getting a scarlet from cochineal by the use of tin, and so produced a cheaper, brighter and uglier scarlet."

Kermes is employed exactly like cochineal. It has a pleasant aromatic smell which it gives to the wool when dyed with it.

_COCHINEAL_

The dried red bodies of an insect (_Coccus Cacti_) found in Mexico are named Cochineal.

(1). PURPLE, CRIMSON AND SCARLET

(For 1 lb. wool.) Mordant with b.i.+.c.hromate of Potash (3%). Dye for 1 to 2 hours with 3 oz. to 6 oz. cochineal. With alum mordant (25%) a crimson colour is got. With tin mordant (10%) a scarlet. With iron mordant (6%) a purplish slate or lilac.

(2). SCARLET

Mordant with 6 per cent Stannous Chloride and 4 per cent Cream of Tartar, boiling 1 hour. Dye with 15 to 20 per cent Cochineal, boil for 1 hour.

Enter in both mordant and dye bath, cool, and raise slowly to the boil. To obtain a yellow shade of scarlet, a small quant.i.ty of Flavin, Fustic, or other yellow dye may be added to the dye bath.

(3). SCARLET

(1 lb.) Into the same bath, put 1 oz. tin, 1/8 oz. oxalic acid, 4 oz.

cochineal. Enter silk and boil for 1 hour. With less oxalic acid, a less scarlet colour will be obtained.

(4). CRIMSON

Mordant with 20 per cent alum or with 15 per cent alum and 5 per cent Tartar. Dye in separate bath, after well was.h.i.+ng, with 8 to 15 per cent cochineal. Boil 1 hour. A slight addition of ammonia to the dye bath renders the shade bluer.

(5). ROSE RED

(1 lb.) Mordant with Alum. Dye with 2 oz. Madder, 2-1/2 ozs.

Cochineal, 1/4 oz. Oxalic Acid and 1/2 oz. tin.

(6). PURPLE (for 5 lbs.)

Mordant with 3 ozs. Chrome. Wash. Dye for 2 to 3 hours with 13 ozs.

Cochineal, which has been boiled for 10 minutes before entering wool.

A tablespoonful of vinegar added to the dye bath helps the colour.

Wash thoroughly.

_MADDER_

Madder consists of the ground-up dried roots of a plant _Rubia tinctorum_, cultivated in France, Holland and other parts of Europe, as well as in India. Madder is one of the best and fastest dyes. It is used also in combination with other dyes to produce compound colours.

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.

Madder is difficult to dye as it easily rubs off and the following points should be noted.

(1). The baths should be quite clean. Rusty baths must not be used.

(2). Before dyeing, the wool must be thoroughly washed so as to get rid of all superfluous mordant.

(3). A handful of bran to the pound of wool, helps to brighten the colour.

(4). The wool should be entered into a tepid dye bath and raised to boiling in 1 hour and boiled for 10 minutes or less.

(1) RED

Mordant with 1/4 lb. Alum to the pound of wool. Boil for 1 hour, let cool in mordant, wring out and put away in bag for 3 or 4 days. Wash very thoroughly. Then dye with 5 to 8 ozs. madder according to depth of colour required, and a handful of bran for every pound of wool.

Enter in cool bath and bring slowly to the boil in an hour or more.

Boil for a few minutes.

(2) ROSE RED

Mordant with Alum. Dye with 4 to 4-1/2 ozs. madder to lb. wool and a very small quant.i.ty of logwood (1/2 oz. to 1 oz. to 3 or 4 lbs. of wool).

(3) BROWN

(1 lb.) Mordant with 2-1/2 ozs. Copper Sulphate. Dye with 2 ozs. to 4 ozs. Madder according to depth of colour required. For yellow brown add a small quant.i.ty of fustic (1/4 oz. to the lb.)

(4) RED BROWN

Mordant wool with 3% Chrome (see p. 9), wash well and dye with 5 to 8 ozs. madder, bringing slowly to the boil, and boil for 1 hour.

Various shades of brownish red can be got by a mixture of madder, fustic and logwood with a Chrome mordant in varying proportions such as 28 per cent Madder, 12 per cent Fustic, 1 per cent Logwood for a brownish claret. 5 per cent Madder, 4 per cent Fustic, 1/2 per cent Logwood for tan.

_BRAZIL WOODS_

Various leguminous trees, including lima, sapan and peach wood, dye red with alum and tartar, and a purplish slate colour with b.i.+.c.hromate of potash. Some old dyers use Brazil wood to heighten the red of madder.

_CAMWOOD_, _BARWOOD_, _SANDALWOOD_, _or_ _SANDERSWOOD_, are chiefly used in wool dyeing, with other dye woods (such as Old Fustic, and logwood) for browns. They dye good but fugitive red with b.i.+.c.hromate of potash, or alum.

CHAPTER VII

YELLOW

WELD OLD FUSTIC TURMERIC QUERCITRON DYER'S BROOM HEATHER AND OTHER YELLOW DYES

Weld, _Reseda luteola_, is an annual plant growing in waste places.

The whole plant is used for dyeing except the root. It is the best and fastest of the yellow natural dyes.

The plant is gathered in June and July, it is then carefully dried in the shade and tied up in bundles. When needed for dyeing it is broken into pieces or chopped finely, the roots being discarded, and a decoction is made by boiling it up in water for about 3/4 hour. It gives a bright yellow with alum and tartar as mordant. With chrome it yields an old gold shade; with tin it produces more orange coloured yellows; with copper and iron, olive shades. The quant.i.ty of weld used must be determined by the depth of colour required. Two per cent of stannous chloride added to the mordant gives brilliancy and fastness to the colour. Bright and fast orange yellows are got by mordanting with 8 per cent stannous chloride instead of alum. With 6 per cent copper sulphate and 8 per cent chalk, weld gives a good orange yellow.

Wool mordanted with 4 per cent of ferrous sulphate and 10 per cent tartar and dyed in a separate bath with weld with 8 per cent chalk, takes a good olive yellow. 8 per cent of alum is often used for mordant for weld. A little chalk added to the dye bath makes the colour more intense; common salt makes the colour richer and deeper.