Chapter 351

mordant. Turmeric, fustic, anatto, &c., will answer the same as weld.

2690. Cloth (Black).

Impregnate the material with the acetate of iron mordant, and then boil in a decoction of madder and logwood.

2691. Cloth (Madder Red).

Boil the cloth in a weak solution of pearlash--an ounce to a gallon of water,--wash, dry, and then steep in a decoction of bruised nutgalls. After drying it is to be steeped twice in dry alum water, then dried, and boiled in a decoction made of three quarters of a pound of madder to every pound of the article. It should then be taken out and dried, and steeped in a second bath in the same manner. When dyed, the articles should be washed in warm soap and water, to remove a dun-coloured matter given out by the madder.

2692. Cloth (Scarlet).

Three quarters of a pint of a tin mordant, made by dissolving three pounds of tin in sixty pounds of hydrochloric acid, is added to every pound of lac dye, and digested for six hours. To dye twenty-five pounds of cloth, a tin boiler of seventy-five gallons capacity should be filled nearly full with water, and a fire kindled under it. When the heat is 150° Fahr., half a handful of bran and two ounces of tin mordant are to be thrown into it. The froth which arises is skimmed off, the liquor is made to boil, and two pounds and three quarters of lac dye, previously mixed with a pound and three quarters of the solvent, and fourteen ounces of the tin solvent, are added.

Immediately afterwards two pounds and three quarters of tartar, and a pound of ground sumach, both tied up in a linen bag, are to be added, and suspended in the bath for five minutes. The fire being withdrawn, five gallons of cold water and two pints and three quarters of tin mordant being poured into the bath, the cloth is immersed in it. The fire is then replaced, and the liquid made to boil rapidly for an hour, when the cloth is removed and washed in pure water.

2693. Cloth (Yellow).

Use No. ii. for calico. Quercitron and weld produce a solid yellow; fustic a very brilliant tint; while turmeric yields a less solid yellow.

2694. Feathers (Black).

Use the same as for cloth.

2695. Feathers (Blue).

Every shade may be given by indigo--or dip in silk dye.

2696. Feathers (Crimson).

Dip in acetate of alumina mordant, then in a boiling-hot decoction of Brazil-wood--and, last of all, pass through a bath of cudbear.

2697. Feathers (Pink, or Rose-colour).

Pink, or rose-colour, is given by safflower and lemon juice.

2698. Feathers (Deep Red).

Proceed as for crimson, omitting the cudbear bath.

[THE FAT MAN KNOWETH NOT WHAT THE LEAN THINK.]

2699. Feathers (Yellow).

Mordant with acetate of alumina, and dip in a bath of turmeric or weld.

2700. Hair (Black).

As the object in view is simply to dye the hair without tingeing the skin, the following will be found the best:--Take equal parts of litharge and lime; mix well, and form into a paste with water, if a black is desired; with milk if brown. Clean the head with a small tooth comb, and then well wash the hair with soda and water to free it from grease; then lay on the paste pretty thick, and cover the head with oilskin or a cabbage-leaf, after which go to bed. Next morning the powder should be carefully brushed away, and the hair oiled.

2701. Leather (Black).

Use No. iv. _black stain_ (see par. 1430), and polish with oil.

2702. Gloves (Nankeen).

Steep saffron in boiling-hot soft water for about twelve hours; sew up the tops of the gloves, to prevent the dye staining the insides, wet them over with a sponge dipped in the liquid. A teacupful of dye will do a pair of gloves.

2703. Gloves (Purple).

Boil four ounces of logwood and two ounces of roche alum in three pints of soft water till half wasted; strain, and let it cool. Sew up the tops, go over the outsides with a brush or sponge twice; then rub off the loose dye with a coarse cloth. Beat up the white of an egg, and rub it over the leather with a sponge. Vinegar will remove the stain from the hands.

2704. Silk (Black).

The same as for cloth, but black dyeing is difficult.

2705. Silk (Blue).