Should you find your color entirely too dark for your sample, wash off thoroughly in soap suds, and rinse in hot water; after which dilute a half teaspoonful of oxalic acid in a gallon of luke warm water, pass feathers through for a few seconds and rinse off in luke warm water. Then prepare your bath as per recipe, using a little more care and judgment in your second attempt.
SALMON.
Have your feathers white, or nearly so, by washing if dirty, or bleaching with permanganate if needed, being careful to rinse thoroughly for the purpose of removing any acid or soap; after which prepare your bath as follows: Take one gallon of luke warm water and a small handful of starch. Enter your feathers and rub around between the hands for a few seconds; then add to bath a few drops of diluted safranine and copperas about the size of a pea. Let your feathers remain in bath about one minute; after which take out and add to bath about one teaspoonful of diluted Bismarck brown, first increasing temperature of bath a few degrees with hot water; re-enter your feathers and allow them to remain in bath about a minute; after which squeeze out and dry in the usual way.
If your sample to be matched be more on the pink, use less aniline brown; and if more on the yellow, use less safranine and more aniline brown. Should you desire a much darker shade, use more of each color than laid down in recipe, and add a few drops of logwood liquor. If your feathers be found altogether too dark for sample, rinse off starch in cold water and dilute a half teaspoonful of oxalic acid in luke warm water, and pass your feathers through for a few seconds, take out and rinse a couple of times in hot water (not boiling). Prepare bath again as per recipe, using greater care. This shade of color is on the order of the terra cotta and crushed strawberry, and can be made in the same bath by adding color or diluting. Be careful in drying to use only clean starch and a clean board that has not been used with any acid colors.
STONE COLOR.
Stone color is a shade varying very slightly from slate and smoke color. All light shades can be used for this color; first preparing them by washing and rinsing them thoroughly. Prepare a medium strong bath of logwood by boiling for about fifteen minutes; after which enter your feathers, and let them remain in bath about two or three minutes, longer if a very dark shade be required; then take them out and rinse in cold water twice. Prepare a bath of half ounce of bichromate of potash in one gallon of boiling water, and dissolve thoroughly. Enter your feathers, and let them remain in bath about two minutes, keeping them well under the surface of bath and moving at the same time, to assist in producing an even color; after which take out and rinse off about three times in cold water, and prepare a bath of hot soap water. Enter your feathers, and wash thoroughly, adding to bath a small pinch of soda; after which rinse carefully in hot water; dissolve a small handful of starch in cold water, pass your feathers through, squeeze out and dry in the usual way.
If your feathers be found much too light for your sample to be matched, rinse off starch in cold water, and return your feathers to logwood bath for a few seconds; dissolve a small pinch of copperas in a gallon of boiling water, reduce temperature a little and enter your feathers, letting them remain in bath a few seconds. Take out and pass through starch and dry. If found to be altogether too dark, dilute a teaspoonful of oxalic acid in a gallon of hot water; pass feathers through a few seconds and rinse off in boiling water twice; wash, starch and dry.
BRONZE.
Wash and rinse thoroughly, using soap for washing, and rinse out in hot water about four times; after which prepare a bath of one quarter pound of turmeric to one gallon of boiling water. Enter feathers and let remain in bath about three minutes; take out and rinse. Boil a bath of half pound of logwood to one gallon of water about ten minutes; enter feathers and let remain in bath about four minutes; take out and rinse. Then prepare a bath of half an ounce of bichromate of potash and one gallon of boiling water, and let feathers remain in bath about two minutes, take out and rinse. Next prepare a bath of one quarter pound of turmeric and one-quarter teaspoonful of Victoria green crystals, and add one gallon of boiling water. Enter feathers and let remain in bath about four minutes; take out, cool off a small portion of the bath and add a small handful of starch. Pass feathers through and dry in powdered starch by pressing between the hands; then beat on a board or table until all the starch is removed from the feather.