RECIPES FOR DYEING GREEN
(1) GREEN WITH QUERCITRON FOR WOOL
Dye the wool blue in the indigo vat, wash well. For 100 parts of wool put 3 of chalk and 10 or 12 of alum. Boil wool in this 1 hour. Then to same bath add 10 to 12 parts quercitron and continue boiling for 15 minutes, then add 1 part of chalk, this addition is repeated at intervals of 6 to 8 minutes till a fine green is brought out.
(2) WITH INDIGO EXTRACT AND WELD FOR WOOL
Mordant 1 lb. wool with 4 ozs. alum and 1/2 oz. cream of tartar. Dye blue with sufficiency of indigo extract, wash and dry. Prepare a dye bath with weld which has been previously chopped up and boiled. Enter wool and boil for half an hour or more.
(3) GREEN FOR WOOL
Mordant with alum and cream of tartar, add to the mordanting bath a little weld or fustic. Dye with 6 ozs. fustic (or weld). Dye in a separate bath with indigo extract, a rather bluer green than is wanted. Then put into a yellow bath till the right shade of green is got.
(4) GRASS GREEN
For 1 lb. wool: 1-1/2 oz. alum, 1/2 oz. sulphuric acid, 1/2 oz. salt, 1/4 oz. Tin crystals. Dissolve tin in separate saucepan and mix half of it with 1/4 oz. Flavin, add both to the bath together with indigo extract (1/2 tablespoonful). When hot enter yarn and boil hard for 1 to 1-1/2 hours. It turns a green when exposed to air. Wash very thoroughly.
(5) JADE GREEN (1 lb.)
Mordant with 1/3 oz. Cream of Tartar and 4 oz. Alum for 1/2 hour. Take out wool and air. Cool bath a little and add half the amount of the indigo extract to be used (according to shade of green required, 1/2 oz. indigo extract makes a good colour). Enter wool and stir rapidly for 5 minutes or so without boiling. Take out wool. Mix in the rest of the indigo extract. Enter wool and boil for 10 minutes. Take out wool. Throw away a quarter of the water and add some with 3/4 oz. fustic extract. Enter wool and boil for 1/2 hour to an hour.
CHAPTER X
THE DYEING OF COTTON
The dyeing of cotton is difficult with the natural dye stuffs, there are only a few colours which can be said to be satisfactory. The fastest known in earlier days was Turkey red, a long and difficult process with madder and not very practical for the small dyer. It had its origin in India where it is still used; red Indian cotton is one of the fastest colours known. Catechu is another excellent cotton dye used for various shades of brown, grey and black. A cold indigo vat is used for blue, Indigo Extract is not used. Yellows can be got with weld, flavin, turmeric (for which cotton has a strong attraction), and fustic. Great care is to be taken in dyeing yellow as it is not very fast to light. Greens may be got by dyeing in the indigo vat and then with a yellow recipe, purples from logwood with tin mordant, but purples and greens are unsatisfactory, and not suitable to the vegetable dyer.