Part 2

A patented product, that in feather dyeing is capable of taking the place of all other reds. It is the only dyestuff that satisfactorily takes the place of extract of safflower, producing, with the aid of a proportion of oxalic acid, the most beautiful shades of scarlet and cardinal. It is perfectly fast to light, dissolves readily in boiling water, and comes to us in the form of a dull red powder. Its adulterations, if it contains any, have never interfered with its success; in fact, to the feather dyer it contains virtues too manifold and valuable to enumerate.

DYEING RECIPES.

WHITE.

BLEACHING, OR WHAT IS COMMONLY CALLED CLEANING.

After stringing your feathers and marking your tickets, prepare luke warm soap-water and wash thoroughly between the hands to remove all dirt and grease. Rub the soap on the feathers, rinse thoroughly in luke warm water two or three times for the purpose of removing all particles of soap, which is very important; just as much so as removing the dirt. For one to one hundred feathers you can use a common porcelain wash bowl. Prepare bath by using one gallon of clear cold water, add to that a small handful of starch, powdered or lump starch will answer. Enter feathers, rubbing them thoroughly between the hands to expand the flues and get them in condition to receive the color, so as to insure an even shade; after which add about one-half teaspoonful of oxalic acid and a drop of diluted violet, just enough to give your bath a pale lavender tint. Enter feathers, and let remain in bath about one minute, keeping them under the surface and agitating by rubbing them between the hands; after which squeeze feathers out of bath and dry. The quickest method for a few feathers is to have a small quantity of clean, powdered starch, and rub them around in it. The starch will immediately absorb all moisture, and you have but to beat it out of the flues, as it dries either on a clean board or between the hands. It is but the work of a few seconds. This method of drying insures an unsoiled color, as the feathers are dry a few seconds after leaving the bath.

Great care should be used to bring your violet diluted thoroughly, so that no particles may enter the bath and spot your goods. In diluting your violet use boiling water, and shake well in bottle, and let it stand for a time, when all sediment will settle at the bottom, and will not again mix with your color.

It is very important to use only the amount of oxalic acid mentioned in recipe, as a greater quantity would destroy your color by turning the violet a dirty blueish green, and much less than the quantity mentioned would have a tendency to cast a lavender tint on your goods. Should you, by mistake or carelessness, spoil your white, proceed to rinse off all the starch in cold water first; then in luke warm water to remove all the acid from feathers, and then use soap and hot water, and wash well, and rinse. Mix a fresh white bath as directed in the recipe, and proceed this time with more care.

BLEACHING LIGHT COLORS WHITE.

Old faded light colors, such as blue, pink, ecru, corn, drab, etc., that you are desirous of bleaching white, can be accomplished in the following way. Wash feathers thoroughly in warm water, using soap. Add a small pinch of soda, after which rinse in about three warm waters to insure the removal of every particle of soap. Dilute in clean bowl or basin one-quarter ounce of permanganate of potash in one gallon of boiling water. The water must be as hot as steam or fire can make it. Enter feathers, and let remain in bath about one minute, a few seconds more or less will do no harm, nor will it make any material difference in the result; continually agitating in bath with clean stick, after which you will notice that the feathers have assumed a light, full brown color. Take out of the bath, but do not rinse them; let the loose color drain off for a few seconds, meantime empty bath and rinse your bowl thoroughly; then dilute half an ounce of oxalic acid or sulphurous acid in one gallon of boiling water. The water must be absolutely clean. Enter feathers, and let remain in until all the color has entirely disappeared, gently agitating while in bath. After the bath has become transparent and the feathers white, which will take about two minutes, empty out about two-thirds of the bath, and add cold water to reduce to hand heat; then add a small handful of starch and a drop of diluted violet, and enter your feathers, and let them remain in about one minute, squeeze out and dry in starch. Blue you will generally find the hardest of all light colors to remove for white, the soda and permanganate seeming apparently to decompose the color. The moment it enters the oxalic bath, it generally, to a more or less extent, develops the color again. Such being the case, after rinsing in luke warm water to remove acid, return to a weak soda bath for a minute, and then rinse and return to permanganate bath, rather weaker than the first one; in other words, repeat the first operation all through, only in weaker solutions.

This process can be used successfully in bleaching all light colors white. In bleaching natural blacks, however, it would not be practicable. A recipe for bleaching natural black will be found in another portion of the book.

LIGHT PINK.

White feathers are generally used for this color, but all light colors can be made a beautiful shade of pink by first bleaching with permanganate of potash. After washing and rinsing thoroughly in luke warm water, soap to remove all loose dirt and grease, or bleaching, if required. Prepare bath as follows: Take one gallon of luke warm water, more or less, according to the quantity of feathers you have to dye add a small handful of starch. Enter your feathers and rub around between the hands thoroughly to open the flues so as to insure an even shade; add a couple of drops of diluted safranine to bath. Enter feathers, and let them remain in the bath about one minute, or until feathers look about two shades darker than sample; gently stirring them around in bath meanwhile, and keeping them under the surface. Remove from bath, squeeze and dry in the usual way, rubbing them in dry powdered starch, and beat them out on a clean board or between the hands to remove all particles which might adhere. Should your sample that you have to match be a little on the yellowish order, a drop of diluted Bismarck brown added to bath will bring the desired shade; or if a very brilliant shade or rose pink, a drop of diluted violet added to the bath and increase temperature; a little judgment is always necessary; as, for example, should you require a dark shade, you would naturally let your goods remain longer in the bath than the time specified in recipe, or add a little more color, and if a very pale pink is wanted, less time and color should be used. Should you, at any time, find your color, after being dried, a couple of shades darker than your sample, rinse goods in luke warm water, and enter feathers, pass through for a minute, and dry.

LIGHT BLUE.

All other faded out light colors can be made into a delicate shade of sky blue by first bleaching with permanganate of potash process for the purpose of removing colors. White feathers that are only dirty and greasy must be thoroughly washed and rinsed in luke warm water, after which prepare bath as follows: For one gallon of luke warm water, more or less, according to the amount of feathers to be dyed, add a small handful of clean starch; enter your feather and rub them around in bath for a second between the hands to open the flues, to admit color evenly; add about one teaspoonful of oxalic acid, enter feathers and let remain in bath a few seconds longer; then remove feathers from bath, and add a couple of drops of concentrated cotton blue diluted; re-enter feathers and let them remain in about half a minute; increase temperature of your bath a few degrees by adding some hot water; take feathers out of bath and add thereto a drop of diluted indigo blue; re-enter, and keep them well under the surface of bath to give them an even color, and allow to remain in about thirty seconds longer. Take them out of bath, squeeze out and dry, either in powdered starch or by beating on a clean board or table. Under no circumstances allow feathers to hang wet and motionless on line during process of drying without beating the starch out. The result of so doing would cause the feathers to look thin, shriveled, and injure the color and quality of goods. The same care should be observed not alone in this, but in all colors.

In light blues your bath should look about two shades darker than the sample to be matched. Where a darker shade is required, more color can be added; and, through carelessness or negligence, should you allow your color to become too dark, rinse off your feathers in cold water first to remove the starch, and then in luke warm water a couple of times to draw off all acid, and pass feathers a few seconds through a bath of luke warm water with a small pinch of soda in it, which will have the effect of drawing off all surplus color; after which rinse in luke warm water, and mix a fresh bath of luke warm water and starch and one-half a teaspoonful of oxalic acid; enter your feathers and carefully add color until you have obtained the desired shade.

ECRU.

All old colors, excepting dark brown, bottle green, navy blue, black, garnet, etc., can be dyed a good shade of ecru. Begin an old color by passing them through a solution of hot water, about one ounce of soda to a gallon of water, for about 30 seconds; after which take them out and rinse by passing them through clean boiling water, which will draw off more color than it would seem possible the feathers could contain. If all the old color, or enough of it, be not removed, put feathers through the permanganate of potash process. For dirty white feathers simply wash them thoroughly with soap and hot water, and rinse well; then prepare your bath as follows: One gallon of hand warm water, add a small handful of starch, and enter feathers, rubbing them around thoroughly, and getting the starch rubbed into the flues; then add to bath a small quantity of copperas, about the size of a bean, and re-enter your feathers and let remain in bath about one minute or less; after which add a few drops of logwood liquor and about a teaspoonful of diluted aniline brown, first removing feathers from bath; enter feathers and let remain in bath about one minute, being careful to keep them moving in bath. If found a little too brown to match your sample, a small pinch of turmeric added to bath will reduce the shade. If they are found a little too yellow for sample, a drop of diluted violet will answer.

If the dyer, through his own carelessness, should allow his color to get too dark, proceed to extract color as follows: dilute in about one gallon of luke warm water one-half teaspoonful of oxalic acid. Enter feathers, first rinsing off starch in cold water; let them remain in about half a minute, and rinse off about three times in hot water to remove acid. The acid will turn the feathers a bright yellow, and after rinsing off well the yellow color will have entirely disappeared, and the feathers a light shade of dust. Prepare a fresh bath as per recipe, and, using more care, enter feathers and pass through until you have acquired the desired shade.

In the first bath, should a very dark shade be required, add a little more logwood and copperas than directed in the recipe, and if a very light color, a little less.

CREAM COLOR.

There are numerous methods of producing this most beautiful, yet simple, shade. Any yellow substance in conjunction with oxalic acid can be used with more or less fair success. A great many dyers use a few drops of diluted logwood, developed with the aid of oxalic acid. The color this produces is very satisfactory when finished, but no sooner is it exposed to strong light than the color becomes a dirty drab shade, caused by the acid leaving the feathers, the logwood becoming oxidized.

The best and most permanent shade of cream color is obtained in the following manner: Thoroughly wash and rinse your feathers to remove every particle of dirt, for it is as necessary to have the feathers clean as if they were for a white, and if they are very dirty or old faded out colors, put them through the permanganate of potash process, and then remove all color. Prepare bath of one gallon of luke warm water and a small handful of starch; enter feathers and rub around in bath between the hands; meantime dilute in about one pint of boiling water a small five-cent package of essence of coffee (commonly called chicory), and boil for a few minutes; then add a few drops of the liquid to the bath, and add thereto a teaspoonful of oxalic acid. Re-enter feathers and let remain in bath about one minute, constantly moving them around; after which squeeze them out and dry, either in starch or on a clean board.

The result will be a rich and permanent cream. Should a pink or brownish tint be required to match sample, a drop of Bismarck brown added to bath will produce the desired result; or if wanted a little more yellow, a few grains of turmeric added to the bath will answer.

SILVER GRAY.

A very delicate color, requiring feathers almost a pure white to make a clear shade. After thoroughly washing and rinsing, or bleaching if required, with permanganate of potash, prepare a bath of one gallon of luke warm water, and add a small handful of starch. Enter feathers and manipulate between the hands; then add to bath a small piece of copperas, about the size of a pea, and a few drops of diluted logwood liquor; re-enter feathers and let remain in bath until in appearances they are two or three shades darker than sample; then add to bath a couple of drops of diluted violet, first removing feathers from bath; let them remain in a few seconds longer, and squeeze out and dry in the usual way. The violet gives your feathers the brilliant shade that is so desirable in silver grays.

Be careful in drying them not to use starch that has been previously used in drying feathers that have been dyed in acid baths, as it would be liable to spot your color. Should you, through carelessness or otherwise, allow your color to get darker than shade desired, rinse feathers off a couple of times in cold water to remove starch; then dilute half a teaspoonful of oxalic acid in a gallon of hot water, and pass feathers through it for a few seconds, and then rinse off twice in boiling water. After which prepare a bath same as per recipe, using more care, and pass feathers through until you have obtained the desired shade.

BISMARCK BROWN.

Wash and rinse your feathers, after which prepare a bath of one gallon of boiling water and about one ounce of turmeric and half an ounce of copperas; enter your feathers and let them remain in bath about two minutes, more or less, after which take out and rinse twice in cold water. Meantime have boiling a bath of half a pound of logwood to a gallon of water, and enter feathers at boiling temperature, letting them remain in about ten seconds or longer. Should a darker shade be desired, take out and rinse in cold water, after which dilute a half teaspoonful of aniline brown in a gallon of boiling water. Reduce temperature a little with cold water. Enter feathers and let them remain in about three minutes; then cool off a small portion of the bath, and add a small handful of starch, pass feathers through and dry.

If a lighter shade is wanted, add a drop of sulphuric acid to the starch bath and pass feathers through. If the sample to match be more on the yellow order, about twice the amount of turmeric in the first bath; and if desired more on the red, use no turmeric, only copperas, in the first bath. If a darker shade is wanted, let them remain a longer time than that specified in the logwood bath. Any light color can be used to make a Bismarck brown; but if very dark colors are used, it is well to draw off some of the color, doing it in the usual way.

SEAL BROWN.

For seal brown it is not necessary to wash your feathers, nor to bleach off any color. Any old colors, excepting black, can be made a good shade of seal brown. Begin in bath by diluting about two ounces of turmeric in a gallon of boiling water (more or less matters not). Enter your feathers and keep them well under the surface of the bath about two or three minutes; after which take out and rinse in cold water twice. In the meantime boiling a bath of logwood about one pound to a gallon of water. If boiled on fire about fifteen minutes is necessary, and if boiled with steam a half hour is required. Enter feathers in logwood and let remain in about three minutes, keeping them well under the surface of bath, after which take out and rinse; if in cold water about twice, then dilute a half an ounce of bichromate of potash in a gallon of boiling water, and see that bichromate is thoroughly dissolved. Enter feathers and let them remain in about ten seconds, a longer time if a very dark shade is wanted; then take them out and rinse thoroughly in cold water; after which add to your logwood bath about one tablespoonful of extract of archil; bring bath to a boil and enter your feathers; cover up bath and let them remain in about four minutes; a little more or less time, in this bath is of no material difference in color, only to make the shade heavier or lighter. Take your feathers out of bath and rinse in cold water; mix a small handful of starch in about a quart of cold water, and pass feathers through and dry in the usual way.

If your color be darker than the shade you desire, add a drop or two of sulphuric acid to starch bath, and pass your feathers through for a few seconds. If found to be lighter than the shade you desire, rinse off the starch from your feathers in cold water; then dilute a quarter of an ounce of bichromate of potash in a gallon of boiling water, and pass your feathers through; after which rinse, starch and dry.

Another excellent method for quick seal brown is as follows: dilute two ounces of turmeric and half an ounce of copperas in one gallon of boiling water, and let them remain in about two minutes; take out and rinse, then enter in a strong bath of logwood at boiling, and keep under surface about three minutes; after which rinse; then mix a bath of a quarter to a half teaspoonful of aniline brown in a gallon of boiling water. Enter your feathers and let them remain in bath about three minutes; take out, rinse, starch and dry. If required darker, re-enter into logwood bath for a few seconds. If wanted lighter, add a drop or two of sulphuric acid in your starch bath, squeeze out and dry in the usual way.

NAVY BLUE.

All light colored feathers can be used for navy blue without first either washing or bleaching out any of the color. But if your feathers be very dirty or greasy, especially the latter, wash them well in warm soap water and rinse. Prepare bath by diluting about one teaspoonful of concentrated cotton blue in one gallon of boiling water; add about a teaspoonful of oxalic acid. Stir around well to thoroughly dissolve aniline; then enter your feathers, and raise temperature of your bath to boiling. Let feathers remain in about three minutes; a minute more will not do any harm, only have a tendency to make your color a little richer; after which take feathers out of bath and rinse thoroughly in cold water for the purpose of removing all loose particles of color and the acid; having boiling meantime a bath of logwood of medium strength; enter feathers, letting them remain therein about one-half a minute; take out and rinse in cold water; dilute about half an ounce of bichromate of potash in a gallon of boiling water; enter feathers, let them remain in about half a minute, and stir them around well in bath; after which take them out and rinse in cold water and starch and dry. Should you desire a darker shade, rinse off starch, and return to logwood bath for a few seconds, rinse off and repeat bichromate of potash bath; then rinse, starch and dry. In this way, by repeating the logwood and bichromate of potash, you can darken your color down almost to a black.

Should you get your color darker than your sample to be matched, rinse off starch in clear cold water, and dilute a teaspoonful of oxalic acid in a gallon of hot water almost boiling and enter feathers, passing them through about a half minute; after which take out and pass through a basin of boiling water a few seconds. This will draw off the surplus of logwood and chrome, and then mix a starch bath luke warm; add thereto a half teaspoonful of oxalic acid for the purpose of bringing up the blue. This process will reduce your color three or four shades; then pass feathers and dry. This process of dyeing navy blue produces a rich, even shade that is perfectly fast to light and alkali, and with the smallest degree of judgment by the dyer it is impossible to have a failure.

CARDINAL.

Years ago the most successful shades of cardinal were produced by taking about equal parts of turmeric and oxalic acid and diluting in boiling water, entering feathers in same for a while; then adding thereto about half a cupful of extract of safflower and about the same amount of extract of archil, letting them remain in until the bath was cold. Not a bad recipe, but very expensive.

Prepare your feathers by washing and rinsing thoroughly, after which take about one gallon of boiling water, and add to it about one teaspoonful of oxalic acid, and enter feathers for a few seconds. Take out and add to bath a teaspoonful of rocceline powder, thoroughly dissolved, and re-enter feathers; raise temperature of bath to boiling, either with steam or fire, and let feathers remain in about four minutes. If quite a dark shade of cardinal be required, add to bath about a tablespoonful of extract of archil and let remain in a little longer, or a few drops of diluted violet in bath will answer instead. Then empty out all but a small quantity of your bath and cool off with cold water, and add a small handful of starch. Pass feathers through, squeeze out and dry. The result is a most beautiful shade of cardinal. This color is perfectly fast to light. If your shade to match should happen to be slightly on the yellowish order, a few drops of diluted aniline brown added to bath with rocceline will produce the yellowish tint. It is hardly possible to spoil this color, except by the extravagant use of one of the ingredients.

CRUSHED STRAWBERRY.

Prepare feathers by washing and rinsing thoroughly in luke warm water; or if old, dark, faded out colors, pass them through bleaching process of permanganate of potash; afterwards being careful to rinse all the acid out before entering bath. Prepare bath by diluting a small handful of starch in about a gallon of luke warm water, enter feathers and manipulate thoroughly between the hands for a few seconds; take out, and add to bath a few drops of diluted safranine; re-enter feathers and let remain in bath about one minute, or until they have assumed a dark shade of pink; then add to bath a few drops of diluted aniline brown and a small pinch of copperas, and enter feathers, letting them remain a minute longer. Take feathers out, and dry in the usual way.