Cooley's Cyclopædia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I

by Arnold James Cooley; Richard Vine Tuson

BLACK DYE. Syn. Teinte noire, Fr.; Schwarze farbe, Ger. The following are the processes and materials now commonly employed in dyeing black:—

a. For Cotton:—

1. The goods, previously dyed blue, are steeped for about 24 hours in a decoction of gall-nuts or sumach, then drained, rinsed in water, and passed through a bath of acetate of iron for a quarter of an hour; they are next again rinsed in water, and exposed for some time to the air; after which they are passed a second time through the bath, to which a little more iron-liquor is previously added. The whole process is repeated, if necessary, according to the intensity of the shade of black desired.

2. The goods are steeped in a mordant of acetate of iron, worked well, and then passed through a bath of madder and logwood for 2 hours. Less permanent than No. 1.

Obs. About 2 oz. of coarsely powdered galls, or 4 oz. of sumach, are required for every pound of cotton, in the process of galling. The first should be boiled in the water, in the proportion of about ¹⁄₂ gal. of water to every lb. of cotton. The sumach-bath is better made by mere infusion of that dye-stuff in very hot water.

3. (For 10 lbs. of cloth.) The goods are put into a boiling bath made of 3 lbs. of sumach, and allowed to steep, with occasional ‘working,’ until the liquor is perfectly cold; they are next passed through lime water, and, after having drained for a few minutes, immediately transferred to and worked for an hour in a warm solution of 2 lbs. of copperas; after free exposure to the air for about an hour they are again passed through lime water, and, after draining, ‘worked’ for an hour in a bath made with 3 lbs. of logwood, and 1 lb. of fustic; they are then ‘lifted,’ and ¹⁄₄ lb. of copperas being added, they are returned to the bath, ‘worked’ well for about 30 minutes, and finished. Good and deep.

Obs. Instead of copperas iron-liquor may be used, observing to take 1¹⁄₂ pint of the latter (of the ordinary strength) for every lb. of the former ordered above.

b. For Flax and Linen:—

This, for the most part, closely resembles that employed for cotton; but, in some cases, a mordant of iron-liquor, or of copperas, followed by passing the goods through lime-water, and exposure to the air, precedes the dye-bath.

c. For Silk:—