DYEING. 



245 



each caldron for supporting the stuffs which have been 

 immersed in them, in order that during the act of 

 draining, the liquor may drip back into them without 

 being lost. For manufactured stuffs, a winch or reel is 

 used, the ends of which are placed on two iron forks, 

 which may be put at pleasure into holes made in 

 the curb which supports the sides of the copper. Many 

 dyes for silk, where a boiling heat is not necessary, are 

 prepared in long copper or wooden vessels, called 

 troughs or backs. 



239. As most of the colours used for silk are extreme- 

 ly delicate, they require to be quickly dried, that they 

 may not be affected by the air during the process. It 

 is therefore necessary to dry them in a chamber heated 

 by a gtove. The silk is stretched on a moveable pole, 

 called a shaker, which is hung up, and kept in conti- 

 nual motion to accelerate the drying. 



240. It would serve no good purpose to enter into a 

 minute detail of every thing necessary in the construc- 

 tion of a dyehouse ; and, indeed, more knowledge may 

 be gained in a few minutes by inspection, than can be 

 conveyed by the most laboured description ; besides, 

 dyehouses require to be constructed differently, accord- 

 ing to the operations for which they are intended. We 

 shall therefore confine ourselves to a brief description 

 of the manipulations which are most common, having 

 in view rather the information of the general reader, 

 than the instruction of the practical dyer. 



241. The manipulations in dyeing are neither diffi- 

 cult nor complicated. Their object is to dissolve the 

 colouring particles ; to apply them in a state of solu- 

 tion to the stuff, by the intervention of mordants, when 

 necessary ; to cause the action of the air to concur in 

 fixing them, and giving them brightness ; and, finally, 

 to remove such as have not fixed in the stuff. 



242. When whole pieces of stuff, and even many of 

 these, are to be dyed at once, the winch, noticed above, 

 should be u.'ed ; one end of the stuff being laid above 

 it, the winch is turned round pretty briskly, until the 

 whole has passed through the bath ; after which it is 

 turned the contrary way, so that the part of the stuff 

 first immersed, is list in the second immersion. By this 

 means, the colouring particles are applied as equally as 

 possible to the stuff. If wool is to be dyed in the 

 fleece, a kind of broad kdder, with the rounds very 

 close, called a scraw, or scray, is placed over the cop- 

 per, on which the wool is to be put, in order to be 

 drained and aired, or removed when the bath requires 

 to be changed. If the wool is in skains, rods are pass- 

 ed through them, (and the operation is the same for 

 silk or thread,) and the hanks of silk, and the skains of 

 thread or wool, are turned upon the skain sticks in the 

 liquor. 



24-3. After silk or thread has been dyed, it is wrung 

 out, in order to separate the superabundant colouring 

 particles. This operation is performed more effectually 

 than it could be done by the hand, by introducing 

 through the hank, at one end, a pin, which is in a fixed 

 position, while the other end is put over the hook of a 

 jack ; it is then forcibly turned round by means of a 

 winch connected with it This operation is repeated 

 several times successively, for the purpose of drying 

 expeditiously, and retaining the lustre of the silk or 

 thread. 



244. When the same stuff is repeatedly passed through 

 the same bath, each operation is called a dip ; and when 

 one colour is communicated with the intention of giving 

 a different one, in order to produce a compound co- 

 lour, the first operation is called giving a ground. 



245. The water employed in preparing the baths Processes 

 should be as pure as possible. In every process, the f Dyeing. 



exact temperature suited to each operation should be ( ,~~"" 

 , . 1 empera- 



carefully attended to ; and, in order that the stuff may ture <,f t h c 



be fully and equally saturated with the dye in every baths. 

 part, it is necessary to employ precautions, of which 

 few dyers are sufficiently aware, who have not acquired 

 considerable experience in the exercise of their art 



Having made these preliminary remarks, we shall 

 now proceed to give a detailed view of the various pro- 

 cesses which are employed for dyeing particular co- 

 lours, observing the arrangement we proposed to adopt 

 under the head of colouring matters. 



CHAP. II. 



Processes for Dyeing Red. 



24<j. The colouring matters principally used in dye- R e <J colour- 

 ing red, and its various shades, are cochineal, kermes, ing mat- 

 lac, madder, carthamus, archil, safflower, chay-root, * crs - 

 Brazil-wood, sappanwood, camwood, barwood, red 

 saunders, logwood, c. each of which we have already 

 described. The shades of red given by these substances 

 are various, and depend partly upon the nature of the 

 colouring matter, and partly upon that of the mordant, 

 with which it is employed. 



I. Processes for Dyeing Wool Red. 



247. Of all the red colours communicated to wool by Scarlet. 

 the process of dyeing, the finest and most splendid is 

 scarlet. This beautiful colour is of different shades ; 

 sometimes it is required to be of a deeper and more 

 perfect red, at other times to incline more or less to 



the colour of fire. It is difficult to obtain a particular 

 shade, from the precise proportion of ingredients pre- 

 scribed ; because the quantity of colouring matter con- 

 tained in different kinds of cochineal varies, and still 

 more, because the solutions of tin differ so much from 

 one another. 



248. Dyeing scarlet is usually performed at two ope- Boiling, 

 rations : the first is called the boiling ; the second, the 

 finish or reddening. For the boiling intended for dye- 

 ing 100 Ibs. of cloth, 6 Ibs. of pure tartar are thrown 



into the water when a little more than warm. The 

 bath is briskly stirred, and when it has become a little 

 warmer, half a pound of powdered cochineal is added, 

 and well mixed. A moment after, 5 Ibs. of very clear 

 solution of tin are poured in and carefully mixed. As 

 soon as the bath begins to boil, the cloth is put in and 

 moved briskly for two or three turns, after which it 

 is moved more slowly. The boiling having continued 

 for two hours, it is taken out, aired, and carried to the 

 river to be well washed. 



249. To prepare the second bath, which is the red- Reddening. 

 dening, the boiler is to be emptied. When the bath is 



ready to boil, 5| Ibs. of cochineal, powdered and sifted, 

 are put in. These being carefully mixed, when, after 

 having ceased stirring, a crust, which forms on the sur- 

 face, opens of itself in several places, 1 3 Ibs. or 1 4 Ibs. 

 of solution of tin are poured in. If, after that, the 

 bath rises above the brim of the boiler, it must be cool- 

 ed by the addition of cold water. When the solution 

 is well mixed, the cloth is to be put into the bath, ta- 

 king care to turn it quickly the first two or three turns. 

 In this bath it is boiled for an hour, pushing it down 

 with a stick when the boiling raises it up. It is then 



