When possible, gasoline should be used out of doors, although if proper precautions are taken, there is no reason why people should be nervous about using it in the house. In the first place do not use it in a room in which there is a fire burning and do not imagine the room is safe for a lighted match immediately after the vessel containing the gasoline has been removed. Gasoline fumes are heavier than air and if undisturbed will hang low in the room for some time; it is therefore a good plan to have the window open slightly, at the bottom as well as at the top, in order to create a current of air. The hot air rising and the fresh air coming in at the bottom of the window, will soon disperse the fumes.
GASOLINE ECONOMY
Have the gasoline in an earthenware vessel. Enamelware easily gets chipped and the exposed iron when touched by the hand may give a slight electric shock, as electricity is sometimes generated through rubbing the fabric. It is well, in any case, to avoid hard rubbing and to use as little friction as possible, taking particular care on bright clear days when the air itself seems charged with electricity. Gasoline can be used over and over again. The last baths for one batik, containing only a small amount of dissolved wax, can be used for the first bath next time, and with an apparatus similar to that illustrated, it is quite easy to run off the dissolved wax (which sinks, being heavier than the gasoline), and save only the clear fluid.
The last stage of the process is the ironing, which needs no more description than the suggestion that the work is placed between papers; this hint may prevent the streaking which sometimes ruins a batik that has successfully survived the various stages of a decorated textile’s creation.
C - Clean Gasoline
D - Dissolved Wax
TANK FOR SEPARATING WAX FROM GASOLINE
SUCCESSFUL DYEING
TEMPERATURE OF DYE-BATH
A good deal of the failure of success attending the dyeing of a batik depends on the temperature of the dye-bath. Too hot water will of course melt the wax and a too cold bath will make it so brittle that it will crack in unexpected and undesired places. The accompanying scale of temperatures shows the corresponding degrees of heat on different thermometers. When pure bees-wax has been used the dye-bath can be brought to and maintained at a heat of 110° Fahrenheit, corresponding to 46° Centigrade or 36° Reaumur. If a mixture of paraffin has been used, it is not advisable to have the dye at a higher temperature than 90° Fahr.
TABLE OF TEMPERATURES