Straw.—Care must be taken when dyeing these materials to have them quite free from grease and dirt, before dyeing them. If they do not wet readily and evenly, after being soaked in warm water for a couple of hours, they should be carefully washed in warm soapsuds, and thoroughly rinsed. The soap, however, should be of good quality and, especially with straw, either in the form of straw braid or made up into hats, no soda or other free alkali should be allowed in the bath, for fear of injuring the surface and destroying the gloss. This last is sometimes improved by dipping the straw, after dyeing and rinsing, into a weak bath of Castile (olive oil) soap, or of Turkey red oil (about one tablespoonful to the gallon), before it is dried.
In dyeing straw, the greatest pains must be taken to dye it evenly. Braid should be tied up in loose hanks or bundles, so that the dyestuff can penetrate readily into every part; and with a loop of tape or string, by which it can be raised or lowered in the dye-bath. It should be kept in motion sufficiently to cause uniform circulation of the liquid. The dye-bath should not be too strong, especially at the beginning, and should be heated slowly to the boiling point, where it should be kept for half an hour or so, to insure penetration. It is best to add the dyestuff in small portions, from time to time, as the bath becomes exhausted, lifting the goods out of the bath each time, and stirring in the new color before putting the goods back again. If the goods once become uneven it is very hard, if not impossible, to get them level again, or to strip them fully, without spoiling the materials. The best thing to do, if this misfortune overtakes them, is to dye them some dark color, where minor irregularities will be covered up and pass unnoticed. In other words, “Dump it in the black,” as the dyers say.
Ladies’ straw hats are dyed in just the same way as the loose braid, the same care being taken to clean and wet the goods thoroughly, and to dye evenly. It is often of interest to experiment with old hats of good material, but faded, and to dye them up some pleasant new shade, and the ribbons and trimmings to match. Sometimes the remains of the old coloring will strip well by washing in hot soapsuds, and sometimes by soaking in warm water containing about one tablespoonful to the gallon ofsodium hydrosulphite—the same salt that was used as a reducing agent for the Vat colors in the last chapter.
If the color comes out well, it is then easy enough, after thoroughly rinsing, to dye them any desired shade. Otherwise they can be dyed Navy Blue, with a good shade of Methylene Blue and a trace of red, or Seal Brown, using a large amount of red and a little yellow and blue; or they can be dyed black with a black dye, such as one of the so-called Leather Blacks, usually made by mixing a deep purple with a yellow, or one of the strong, powerful Basic greens with red.
In general, a well dyed piece of braid is supposed to show smooth, even coloring, good gloss, and good penetration of the dyestuff into the folds of the straw. There are, however, decided possibilities for the intelligent worker to obtain more interesting effects with but little trouble. It is very easy to use the principles, already explained, of rainbow dyeing, for straw braid, and beautiful effects can be obtained in this way, though it would need an artistic as well as an experienced milliner to fully utilize the same in making hats. But it frequently happens, when dyeing coarse braid without boiling, that the dye penetrates unevenly, from the edge towards the centre. Very pretty shaded effects can be produced in this way, the general color being uniform, and yet the straw, when looked at closely, showing tints instead of one flat, uniform shade. By dyeing the straw a solid color first, and then shading it in this manner with a different color, very interesting effects can be produced.
It may be worth while to mention here that, when bought at wholesale places, it is astonishing how cheap the raw materials are. Bodies of straw, chip, etc., framing wire, white satin ribbon, artificial flowers, wing feathers, etc., from which not only pretty but even handsome and elegant head coverings can be created, and cost next to nothing at wholesale. The mechanical part of dyeing all these things can be learned in a very short time; after that the possibilities for a skilled worker, who has a good eye for color and can dye to the desired shades herself without having to hunt them far and near, are very large.
Raffia.—This is a material so widely used in the public schools, as well as by craftsmen, for weaving baskets, that it is well worth while to pay more attention to the dyeing of it. It is quite cheap, and very bulky, and takes these colors extremely well. So that it is one of the most satisfactory of all raw materials to experiment with, especially if there is a school or workshop at hand, where the dyed goods can be utilized.
The raffia should be shaken out thoroughly, and soaked in soft water over night, or at least for several hours, to thoroughly wet and soften it. If even shades are desired it can then be dyed, just like straw braid, in a warm dye-bath containing the dyestuff, previously dissolved in diluted acetic acid or vinegar.
It is much more interesting, however, to dye it rainbow shades from the start. If red, blue, and yellow dyestuffs are dissolved separately, in different cups or pitchers, these solutions can be used to replenish the large dye-pots of the same colors. To keep the colors reasonably clear, and prevent them from speedily degenerating into “mud,” it is well to keep on hand one or two rinsing-pots, full of warm water, or to have a sink near at hand, where each hank or bundle of raffia should be rinsed after being taken out of one dye-pot and before going into the next.
The raffia, when thoroughly wetted out, should, for convenience’ sake, be made up into separate loosely-tied bundles, with a loop on each by which to handle it in the dye-bath without staining the hands. It is well, too, to have some oil-cloth around, for these bundles drip a good deal, and the dye-liquor will stain anything of an animal or vegetable nature with which it comes in contact. After a little experimenting with dipping these bundles first into the first dye-pot and then—rinsing each time—into the other two, it will be easy to get the general effect of any particular shade, although, when examined closely, the fibre will show the presence of all three colors.