The Dyer's Guide / Being a compendium of the art of dyeing linen, cotton, silk, wool, muslin, dresses, furniture, &c. &c.; with the method of scouring wool, bleaching cotton, &c., and directions for ungumming silk, and for whitening and sulphuring silk and wool; and also an introductory epitome of the leading facts in chemistry, as connected with the art of dyeing

by Thomas Packer

On dyeing silk a FINE CRIMSON.

Silk intended for the crimson of cochineal should have only twenty pounds of soap to one hundred pounds of silk, and no azure, because the natural yellow of the silk which remains is favourable to the intended colour.

The silk is to be strongly alumed and left in the alum from seven to eight hours, then washed and twice beetled at the river. Remember how the alum is to be worked, as to the manual part.

While this is doing, a liquor is to be thus got ready: take of blue and white galls from one to two ounces to each pound of silk, let them be well powdered and sifted; of fine cochineal, also well powdered and sifted, from two to three ounces, for every pound of silk; put these articles into pure soft water, and in a boiler made of grain-tin, (and not in what is commonly called tin, which is iron covered with tin, and which would utterly spoil the dye.) Neither would copper or brass suit as well as grain-tin. This has been observed before, (page 84.) in the article on dyeing wool scarlet. It ought, nevertheless, to be stated, that such tin boilers are difficult to be made of a certain size, and being liable, besides, to be melted without great care. Many dyers therefore, still use copper boilers. When the cochineal and galls have boiled you add to the liquor for every pound of cochineal, about one ounce of solution of tin, which is called composition, and is made in the following manner: