(For 1 lb.) Mordant wool with 1/4 lb. alum and 1/2 oz. tartar for one hour; wring out and put away in a bag for some days. Dye with 1/4 lb. logwood for 1 hour.
FOOTNOTES:
[E] If the Extract is used alone, a mordant is not essential.
CHAPTER VI
RED
KERMES COCHINEAL MADDER
KERMES
Kermes, or Kerms, from which is got the "Scarlet of Grain" of the old dyers, is one of the old insect dyes. It is considered by most dyers to be the first of the red dyes, being more permanent than cochineal and brighter than madder. In the 10th century it was in general use in Europe. The reds of the Gothic tapestries were dyed with it, and are very permanent, much more so than the reds of later tapestries, which were dyed with cochineal. Bancroft says "The Kermes red or scarlet, though less vivid, is more durable than that of cochineal. The fine blood-red seen at this time on old tapestries in different parts of Europe, unfaded, though many of them are two or three hundred years old, were all dyed from Kermes, with the aluminous basis, on woollen yarn."