| AT THE AGE OF 14 | AT THE AGE OF 22 |
AT THE TIME OF THE COAL-TAR COLOR JUBILEE—50 YEARS AFTER HIS DISCOVERY OF MAUVEINE
Since that time, not a year has gone by without scores of new dyestuffs being put on the market by some of the great color houses. Of late years special efforts have been made to simplify dyeing processes, and at the same time to insure the fastness as well as the beauty of the colors. At the present time it is possible for the veriest amateur, with practically no previous knowledge of chemistry or of dyeing, and with only intelligence enough to follow some simple directions, to get, in one bath, with very little expenditure of time, an immense variety of shades that are exceedingly fast to light and to washing. A very few years ago this result could not possibly have been obtained, except by some expert dyer, and then only after long and tedious, as well as difficult, processes.
We are all familiar with the constant complaint that it is now impossible to get goods dyed or printed in good, fast colors. For instance, take the brilliant scarlet calico commonly known as Turkey red. In the days of our grandfathers a piece of cloth dyed Turkey red would stand rain and sun, washing and scouring, and thefibre would wear out before thecolor would fade. But nowadays, if you buy Turkey red cloth for the purpose of covering cushions for a piazza-lounge, you will be fortunate if the color does not begin to change after three or four days in the open air.
The reason is simple. In the old days theonly way to get that particular shade was by dyeing the cloth with ground-up madder root, through a series of operations lasting the best part of two months. Now any capable dyer would be able to dye cotton that exact shade with any of, say, twenty different colors, most of which would not require more than one or two hours to dye. Out of these twenty dyestuffs, four or five, rather more expensive than the rest, would give just as fast, just as brilliant, and just as strong color as the good old madder color. But the rest, which are distinctly cheaper and easier to apply, would furnish goods which wouldlook exactly the same to the average purchaser, but which might notlast any time at all.
Naturally, the average manufacturer carefully instructs his dyer to furnish him with the “cheap and nasty” goods, not only because it costs less money, but also, unfortunately, because he reasons that “it will be good for business.” The manufacturer has the greatest sympathy with the inclination of the fastidious housewife to throw away anything that looks faded, and to buy in its place something new and fresh. Curtains or portières that hold their original shade indefinitely, he has little or no patience with. A calico dress that keeps its color so that it can be worn for a second summer, is an abomination not to be endured. And in every case, when complaint is made, it is always said to be the fault of the chemist who produced and put on the market such “horrid, fugitive dyes.”
As a matter of fact, it is simply a case of picking and choosing. There have been discovered, so far, several thousand different coal-tar dyestuffs of all sorts and kinds. Out of these, probably one hundred, or less, can be considered really fast to both light and washing. The remaining ones, most of which never were considered valuable enough to put on the market, vary in degrees of fastness, the poorest being simply stains which will “bleed” indefinitely with moderate washing, and which will turn almost any color after exposure for a few hours to sun and weather.
In the following pages, considerable pains will be taken to emphasize the names and properties of the very best and fastest dyestuffs in the different classes,[1] so that the results of work done with them can be depended upon.