B L E A C H I N Q. 
BLEACH'ING, / The art of rendering the various 
kinds of thread, cloths, iilks, See, white, by depriving 
them of the colour they ufually poffds in their original 
Bate. We lliall fir ft deferibe the ufnal or old procelles, 
and then proceed to the improvements which modern 
chemiftry has recently made in this art. 
The Method of Bleaching Silk .—The (ilk, being raw', is put 
into a bag of thin linen, and thrown into a veftel of boil¬ 
ing river water, in w hich has been dilTolved good Genoa 
or Toulon foap. After the (ilk has boiled two or three 
hours in that water, the bag being frequently turned, it 
is taken out to beat, and is then walked in cold Water. 
When it has been thus thoroughly walked and beaten, 
they wring it (lightly, and put it for the fecond rime into 
the boiling veftel, filled with cold waiter, mixed with foap 
and a little indigo; which gives it that blueiih call com¬ 
monly obferved in white ftlk, When the (ilk is taken out 
of this fecond water, they wring it hard with a wooden 
peg, to prefs out all the water and foap; after which they 
(hake it to untwift it, and feparate the threads. They 
then fufpend it in a kind of ftove, conftruded for that 
purpofe, w here they burn fulphur ; the vapour of which 
gives the laft degree of whitenefs to the ftlk. 
Bleaching Woollen Stuff's. —There are three ways of doing 
this. The firft is w ith water and foap ; the l'econd with 
the vapour of fulphur; and the third with chalk, indigo, 
and the vapour of fulphur. Firft, with foap and water .— 
After the (tuffs are taken out of the fullers’ mill, they are 
put into (oap and water, a little warm, in which they are 
again worked by the ftrength of the arms over a wooden 
bench : this finifties giving them the whitening, which 
the fullers’ mill had only begun. When they have been 
Sufficiently worked by the hands, they are walked in clear 
water, and put to dry. This method of bleaching wool¬ 
len ftuffs, is called the natural method. Second, with 
fulphur. — 7 'hey begin with walking and cleaning the ftuft's 
thoroughly in river water ; then they put them to dry 
upon poles or perches. When they are half dry, they 
ftretch them out in a very clofe ftove, in which they burn 
fulphur ; the vapour of which, diffufing itfelf, adheres 
by degrees to the whole fluff', and gives it a fine whiten¬ 
ing. This is commonly called bleaching by the floW’er, 
or bleaching of Paris, becaufe they ufed this method in 
that city more than any where elle. Third, with chalk, 
indigo , and fulphur. —When the (luff's have been well 
walked in clear water, they throw them into a bucket of 
cold water, containing chalk and a little indigo, wherein 
the (luff's are well ffirred and agitated : then they take 
them out, and walk them again in clear water; after 
which they hang them on poles : when they are half dry, 
they put them into a ftove to receive the vapour of ful¬ 
phur, which finifties their perfedl whitening. This bleach¬ 
ing, which is not the bell, though very agreeable to the 
eye, is called bleaching of Beauvais ; becaufe the inhabi¬ 
tants of that city were the firft who pradifed this method 
of bleaching woollen (luffs. It mull be obferved, that, 
when woollen ftuffs have once imbibed the vapour of ful¬ 
phur, it is a difficult matter to make them take a good 
colour in dying, unlefs it be a black or blue. 
Manner of Bleaching fine Linen Cloths, zoiUi the Method of 
preparing them, as praBifed in Picardy .— After the linens 
are taken from the loom, they are put to foak in clear 
water for a whole day : when they have been well walked 
and cleaned, they are taken out, and thrown in a bucking 
tub filled with cold lye, made of wood allies and water, 
which has been ufed in former procelfes. When they 
are taken out of that lye, they are waffled a^ain in clear 
water, and fpread in a meadow, where they are occafionally 
watered with clear water out of finall canals, made for that 
purpofe in the grounds. They water them with fcoops, 
or hollow and narrow wooden peels, with a long handle. 
After lying a certain time on the ground, they pals them 
through a frefii lye, poured on hot: this lye isof different 
•ftrength, according to the quality of the linens. Being 
taken out of this fecond lye, they are walked in clear 
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water, and laid again in the meadow; all which fcveral 
operations are repeated until the linen lias acquired-the 
deliied degree of whitenefs. They are afterwards put 
into a weak lye, to reflore the foftnefs which the prece¬ 
ding ftrong lyes had deprived them of; and afterwards 
they walh them in clear water. They next rub them with 
black foap, which finifties whitening tlie felvages, which 
would never become perfedtly white without the help of 
foap. Then they walk them well, to take off’ all the 
foap, and put them to foak in four cows milk, the cream 
being firft taken off. This perfects their bleaching, gives 
them all their foftnefs, and makes them call a little nap. 
Being taken out of the. milk, they are walhed again in 
clear water, for the laft time. When they have under¬ 
gone all thefe operations, they give them the firft blue ; 
that is' to fay, they dip them into water in which a little 
(larch has been diff'olved, together with fmalt, or Dutch 
lapis, of which the fatted and paled is the bed, for the 
linens mud not have too blue a call. The linens being 
thus bleached, after the manner we have related, the 
bleachers or whiteners deliver them into the hands of the 
merchants to whom they belong, who caufe them to be 
properly made up. Thefe preparations differ according to 
the qualities of the linens: for there are Come which ought 
to preferve all their ftrength ; and others wliofe ftrength 
mull be diminifhed, in order to render them clearer. 
Lawns or cambrics are prepared with (larch and pale 
blue, or fmalt, diluted with clear water. They add fome 
other drugs, the quantity and quality of which.depend on 
the workmen’s knowledge and capacity. Being thus pre¬ 
pared, they are faftened with ropes to poles fixed in tiie 
ground at fome diffarice from each other. When they are 
three quarters or half dry, they take them from the 
poles, and beat them on marble blocks, with very fniooth 
wooden mallets, which is done to beat down the grain, and 
give them a more beautiful appearance. After this, they 
told them into fmall fquares, and prefs them. When they 
come out of the prefs, the dealers in Fiance put their 
numbers upon them, which are written or (lamped upon 
fmall pieces of parchment, and tied to the felvage of the 
piece with filk of different colours, according to the mer¬ 
chant’s fancy, who calls that lilk his livery ; each mer¬ 
chant having his particular colour, which he never changes. 
After this, they wrap up the pieces very neatly in brown 
paper of Rouen, well beat, tied with fmall packthread, 
which they commonly get from Holland. The linens are 
then in a proper condition to be fold, packed up, and lent 
to the places where they are difpoled of. 
All the clear linens of Picardy, fiich as plain, ffriped, 
or fpotted, lawns, are prepared in the fame manner as 
thofe above mentioned ; except that thefe are beaten, but 
thofe of Picardy are not. It muff be obferved, that, the 
fairer the weather is, the eafier are the linens bleached. 
In fair weather, they may be bleached in a month’s time ; 
but, in foul weather, fix weeks, or more, are hardly fuf- 
ficient to complete the operation. It muff alfo be ob¬ 
ferved, that all the linens, of whatfoever kind they be, 
which are bleached in Holland, Flanders, and Picardy, are 
dipped in cows milk after the cream is taken off; it being 
certain, that it is this liquor which gives them that deli¬ 
cate whitenefs, fo much admired in the linens which come 
from thole different countries. It is cullomary with ti e 
merchants who fend their linens to the bleaching grounds 
of Flanders and Picardy, to mark them at each end with 
one or more letters of their names, (which marks are 
made with thread of Epinay, worked with the needle) ; 
and to fallen, at the places where thefe marks are put, 
fome fmall twills, made alfo of the fame thread of Epi- 
nay ; which twills have ^ certain number of knots, at 
fome diftance from each other ; each knot having its par¬ 
ticular value, according as every merchant thinks proper. 
The marks are put, in order to know to whom each piece 
belongs ; and the twills, to remember the prices. 
Method of Bleaching common Linens, as praBfed in Anjou „ 
-—Immediately after the pieces are taken from the loom, 
