Tweet
Re: Dyed greatcoats
Hallo!
A common form of dyeing black was to use logwood bark mordanted with iron. The problem with black logwood dye was that the bark was imported from Central and South America, and as the Federal Blockade became more effective, the availability of logwood declined.
Plus, other "formula" or "recipes" often required copperas.
CHARLESTON MERCURY, January 1, 1862, p. 1, c. 4
The Washington Star, of the 23d inst., says:
The clothing of the "secesh" taken in the recent battle at Drainsville, proves that the enemy are, indeed, intense sufferers for want of Quartermaster's stores. Thus, three-fourths of their coats are of cotton cloth--not woolen--lined in some instances with a heavier cotton cloth, or padded with cotton. The coats of the South Carolina troops engaged were colored by being dyed with tobacco juice.
[LITTLE ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, February 6, 1862, p. 1, c. 5
The following letter was accompanied by some samples of home made cloth, remarkable for their fineness:
For the True Democrat.
Belfast, Saline Co., Ark., Jan. 20, 1862.
Mr. Editor—As your valuable paper is a welcome visitor in our family circle, and while perusing its columns, in these stirring and heart-rending times, in search of something new and interesting, I see a premium offered to those young ladies who will send in the largest number of yards of home made jeans cloth, and as I wish the young ladies success in their efforts to gain the medals, I will send you a few samples of my own manufacturing for those young ladies to excel. Now girls, try yourselves.
As times are hard, I will send you some receipts for dying cloth, and if you think they will be of any value to the public, you may make them known to your numerous readers.
For Brown.—Take a large pot, fill it with walnut roots and the bark of red oak, about equal parts, boil them until the strength is out, then take out the bark; strain the ooze through a cloth into a clean vessel; wash the pot, pour back the ooze, let it boil. The cloth must be sewed up like a sack, right side in, rinsed in warm soap suds before you put it in; put in your cloth now. Raise every 15 or 20 minutes, air it well and put it back again, until it is as deep as you desire. Rinse it well in clean water, then soap suds again; then dip the cloth in starch, let it get half dry, then roll it, right side in, on a smooth beam very tight, and be very careful to let no rinkles [sic] go on the beam, or they never will come out. Then keep turning and beating with a mallet for one hour and a half; then commence rolling off and ironing on the wrong side until perfectly dry, as you take it off the beam.—The warp should be colored as you desire before putting in the loom.
For Black.—First boil a potfull of walnut root, take out the root then, add extract of logwood enough to dye it black; add a small portion of acatate [sic] of copper; carry the cloth through the same process as the first in dressing. Post oak will do if you cannot get the walnut root; for dying black, add copperas. This is no humbug, and will not rot the cloth, for I have been trying it for 18 years.
To Dye Drab Color.—Beech bark and peach tree root, boiled together, will make a beautiful color.
To Make a Dark Brown.—Walnut roots and the inside of pine bark, and copperas.
To Make a Light Clear Brown.—Walnut roots and laurel leaves.
To Make a Flesh Color.—The inside of pine bark and madder.
To Make a Dove Color.—The inside of pine bark and walnut leaves, add copperas. . . .
Mary E. Barr.
"THE SOUTHERN BANNER [ATHENS, GA], October 29, 1862, p. 3, c. 3
From the Richmond Enquirer.
The Comfort Cloak--A Substitute for Overcoats and Blankets for Our Army.
I see that great complaint is made for the want of clothing for our army.--Allow me to suggest a cheap and warm substitute for a blanket and overcoat, and which can be made by any country matron.
Take sufficient quantity of common cotton shirting, dye it brown with black walnut, cut it and make it in the form of a large loose cloak without sleeves, leaving slits for the arms; wad it with cotton batting, in thin layers like a quilt, fix an oil cloth cape to it, reaching down to the waist, fasten it with a belt around the waist, the throat and breast part to be fastened with string--and you have the most complete cloak and blanket a soldier ever slept in, and much lighter than the woolen coat. . . .
SAVANNAH [GA] REPUBLICAN, November 3, 1862, p. 1, c. 4
To Dye Wool Yarn a Durable Black Without Copperas.—Place in your kettle a layer of Walnut leaves, then a layer of yarn, then a layer of leaves and another of yarn, and so on till the kettle is full, pour on water till all is covered, and boil all day. The next morning pour off the liquor into another vessel, and put fresh leaves with the yarn in layers as before and pour the same liquor over it and boil again all day. Then hang the yarn in the air a few days after which wash it, and it will be a fine black.
The Walnut leaves should be gathered in the autumn, just as they begin to fall from the trees
MOBILE REGISTER AND ADVERTISER, November 12, 1862, p. 1, c. 7
Confederate Dye.—To make a Beautiful Blue.—Take alder berries, mash them and press out the juice; to two gallons of juice add about one ounce of copperas and two ounces of alum. Dip the thread in this thoroughly, and air it, and the dye is set.
SAVANNAH [GA] REPUBLICAN, December 10, 1862, p. 1, c. 5
Substitute for Copperas.—The following is a recipe which answers every purpose in dyeing where copperas is used in setting colors, or for dying copperas color: Half pint vinegar, half pint syrup or molasses, three gallons of water. Put the above into an iron pot with nails or other rusty iron, and let it stand twenty days. It is of no use to buy copperas for dyeing at one dollar per pound while this will answer every purpose.
BELLVILLE [TX] COUNTRYMAN, December 13, 1862, p. 2, c. 2
John H. Taylor of Georgia gives the above recipe, and says, many have tried it with complete success last season.
To dye cotton or wool brown.—A lady friend sends the following receipt for dying cotton or wool brown:
Take the bark of the root of a common wild plum—boil in iron or brass, as most convenient until the dye looks almost black. Strain, and add a small quantity of copperas dissolved in a small quantity of the dye. Add the article to be dyed. Boil an hour or so. Wring out and dip in strong cold ley. When dry, rinse in cold water. This gives a genuine, bright brown, which is the prettiest contrast for blue; and when checked in together makes a dress becoming enough for the proudest Southern dame or belle. Ladies, try it.
MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [JACKSON, MS], February 18, 1863, p. 1, c. 6
How to Dye Different Colors.
1. It is important to cleanse the wool or other material to be dyed, from grease and all foreign matters, which might prevent it from taking the dye. Wool must be well washed in warm soap suds, rinsed in warm water, squeezed as dry as possible, and then put into the dye. Cotton and linen must be thoroughly wet in boiling water, and then squeezed or wrung out of it, and put in the dye wet.
2. Use a copper cauldron for all light and delicate colors, and an iron pot for black and dark colors. The shades of color will be regulated by the strength of the dye, the number of times the article is dipped, or the length of time it remains in the dye.
3. Many dyes that will color cotton will leave wool and linen untinged, and some that will color wool deeply will dye cotton a very light shade.
4. What is used for brightening and making the colors durable are called mordants. The mordants used here are copperas, (sulphate of iron), blue vitrol [sic], (sulphate of copper), alum, wheat bran, lye and lime water. Those who cannot obtain copperas (now a scarce article) use the water from one of the mineral springs, which is strongly impregnated with iron.
5. The best seasons with dyeing with bark is in the spring and summer, while the sap is up in the tree. Autumn is the best season for dyeing with leaves, and winter is the season for dyeing with roots, because the sap of the tree goes into the roots.
6. Bark and roots must be cut in small pieces, let the caldron be two-thirds filled with the pieces, then fill up with water, and boil for several hours until the color is as deep as desired. If leaves and twigs are used, fill the boiler with stem, and cover with water. Two or three hours steady boiling will extract the color from the bark, roots, and leaves. Then strain off the liquid carefully from the sediment, and put it back into a clean boiler, add to it the alum or copperas, or both, according to the color desired; let it be completely dissolved and well mixed with the dye, after which immerse the wet wool, yarn or cloth in the dye, and proceed according to the definite directions for each color. By mixing different barks, roots and leaves together in the same dye, a variety of shades of different colors are obtained by those who are skilled in the art of preparing domestic dyes. The following named trees are much used for dying wool and cotton:
Sassafras bark and roots are used for dying worsted a permanent and beautiful yellow and orange color. Use a copper boiler, and five ounces of alum to one pound of wool or worsted yarns.
Kalmia, or dwarf laurel, dyes cotton a fine drab color. Use a copper boiler. The leaves and twigs of the kalmia and about one tablespoonful of copperas to three gallons of dye. Scale the cotton material in the dye for twenty minutes, then rinse in cold water, and hang to dry in the air.
Willow.—The bark dyes wool and linen a deep blue black, and dies [sic] cotton a dark slate color. Use an iron boiler. For black, three ounces of copperas to four gallons of dye; for slate color, one ounce of copperas is sufficient. Boil in the dye for twenty minutes, rinse in cold water and hang to dry. The dye may be deepened by a repetition of the same process in fresh dye.
Red Oak.—The bark and roots dye a fine shade of chocolate brown. Use an iron boiler two ounces of copperas to four gallons of dye. Boil twenty minutes in the dye and rinse in cold water. This dyes cotton. The Spanish oak dyes another shade of brown.
White Oak.—The bark dyes cotton lead color. Use an iron boiler; two ounces of copperas to four gallons of dye; scald in the dye twenty minutes, and rinse with cold water. Oak bark will not die [sic] wool.
Pine bark—all the varieties found in our woods—dyes cotton slate color, combined with the Kalmia it dyes dove color. For each color put one ounce of copperas to four gallons of dye, and boil in it for twenty minutes. Rinse the slate color in cold water and the doe color in cold lye.
Sweet gum bark dyes cotton dove color. Use a copper boiler; a spoonful of copperas to three gallons of dye, and scald in the dye for twenty minutes; rinse in cold water. To produce another shade, rinse the cotton stuff in cold lye water, and hang to dry in the air.
Guinea Corn—The seed dyes wool lead color, and will not dye cotton. Use an iron boiler, a little copperas, and rinse in lye.
Maple—The bark dyes both wool and cotton a fine dark shade of purple. Use an iron boiler and two ounces of copperas to four gallons of dye; scald in hot dye for twenty minutes and rinse in cold water.
Beech—The bark dyes dove color. Use an iron boiler and one ounce of copperas to four gallons of dye; rinse in cold water, or in lye for another shade.
Sumach—The leaves and berries dye black. Use an iron boiler, and four ounces of copperas to four gallons of dye. Boil the cotton yarn or cloth in the dye for an hour, and rinse in cold water.
Walnut.—The bark and roots dye cotton fawn-brown and root-color, according to the portion of bark or of roots and copperas used. The leaves boiled into dye color cotton purple and wool black; when used without boiling the leaves dye wool fawn-color. The green shells of the full grown nuts dye black with copperas. What is dyed black must be rinsed in cold water; the cotton to be dyed purple must be rinsed in lye. The fawn, brown and root color must be rinsed in cold water. The proportion of copperas used for black is two ounces to four gallons of dye; for the other shades use much less copperas.
To make a cold dye for wool, fill a tub with alternate layers of walnut leaves and wool, then pour on water till all is covered. The next day take out the wool and dry it in the sun, then re-place it in another tub with alternate layers of fresh walnut leaves. Strain off the water from the old walnut leaves and pour it over the wool and fresh walnut leaves; let it remain again till the next day. Repeat this process for one week, adding as much water from day to day as to make the dye sufficient to cover the wool and fresh leaves. This is a fine, permanent fawn-colored dye.
Madder dyes wool red. Mix four quarts of wheat bran with four gallons of water, and set it to ferment. When it is quite sour strain off the water and dissolve in it a lump of alum the size of a hen's egg. Set the liquid on the fire in a copper kettle, and just before it boils mix well into it a half pound of fresh madder for every pound of wool. Then put into the dye the wet wool or worsted stuff to be dyed, and let it remain immersed in the dye for an hour, turning and pressing it frequently, during which hour the dye must be kept very hot, but must not boil, lest the color should be tarnished. When the wool is taken from the dye pot it must be rinsed immediately in cool strong lye, or in lime water, and then dried.
Spanish brown is used for dyeing cotton red. Put a pound of Spanish brown, powdered, into a little bag, and rub it out in a gallon of hot water till the bag is completely emptied of its contents. Then put the cotton yarn into the painted water, and rub the color into the yarn till all the coloring matter is transferred from the water to the yarn. After which put two tablespoonsful of linseed oil into the water and boil the yarn in it for fifteen minutes, then hang the yarn to dry. If the linseed oil cannot be obtained, boil the painted yarn in new milk for fifteen minutes.
Solferino pink.—Cut a piece out of the end of a pumpkin large enough to admit the hand, take out all the seeds and leave the strings in. Mash poke berries into a pulp and fill the cavity of the pumpkin with them, stir them up well with the strings and put the worsted yarn into the mixture, then cover it up close with the piece of pumpkin that was cut out. The next day take out the yarn and dry it in the air; when dry put the yarn back into the pumpkin as before, and cover it up again till next day. Repeat this process every day till the desired shade of pink is obtained, then rinse the worsted out in cold strong vinegar, and dry it for use. It will take a week to dye the deepest shade of pink.—Charleston Courier
NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER, May 7, 1863, p. 1, c. 1
Substitute for Copperas.
To the Ladies: Copperas is composed of Sulphuric Acid, or Oil of Vitriol and Iron, and is called by chemists Sulphate of Iron. A better material for dyeing, and the one invariably used by dyers is called Acetate of Iron, and is thus prepared:
Take common vinegar, the stronger the better, put into it rusty nails, or any pieces of rusty iron, and let it stand several days; the vinegar will eat off or dissolve the rust, and when it ceases to act on the iron, pour off the clear liquor and use it as you would Copperas, and you will find it a much better article and cost you nothing. E. N. Elliott, Chemist.
MOBILE REGISTER AND ADVERTISER, September 11, 1863, p. 2, c. 1
Communicated.
How to Dye Wool Gray.
In the course of some experiments by my wife last year, in regard to dying wool and cotton, it was ascertained that if wool be immersed in a decoction of the sliced fruit of the pomegranate, prepared in an iron vessel, a permanent and beautiful and beautiful gray color will be the result, which may be varied from the lightest drab to a deep black. The lighter shades require no mordant, the black should be set with copperas. The shade, of course, will vary with the changing proportion of fruit and water. By this simple process the tedious labor of hand-mixing is saved, while perfect uniformity and regularity of color is obtained.
Cotton thread may also be dyed blue by soaking well in the juice of elderberries, washing in warm suds, and setting with copperas. Previously to immersion in the warm suds, it is a royal purple. Though not a fast color, it is as permanent as any of our indigenous dyes
GALVESTON WEEKLY NEWS, September 21, 1864, p. 2, c. 1
Brenham, Texas, Sept. 9th, 1864.
Ed. News:--I send you a sample of wool dyed by Mrs. Caldwell and her daughter, Miss Kate Caldwell. It is the only home dye I have seen that strong soap and hot water will not fade.
Process.—Take the pear from the large size cactus, bruise it well, put in a tub, a layer of the bruised pears and then a think layer of wool and continue that until the tub is nearly full, put a light weight on it, add no water, set it in the sun or by a stove for six or eight days and you have the color of the sample. Nothing is required to set the color.
J.K.M.
The sample can be seen at our office. It is what the ladies call salferreno [sic] color (we have no name for it.) It is a reddish purple. We are heartily glad at every success of this kind. Until we become self-sustaining and self-supplying, we can never be a free people.
On the Federal side of life, one occassionally finds referennes to the men dyeing their own shirts in the field. I recall one aco**** of them using maplpe bark to dye white issue shirts blue, and another using walnut to dye their issue white shirts "snuff" color.
Sumac berries mordanted with iron will dye a weak gray or grayish tan that is not color fast or light fast, and fades from gray tan.
Curt
Dyeing Dabbler
Hallo!
A common form of dyeing black was to use logwood bark mordanted with iron. The problem with black logwood dye was that the bark was imported from Central and South America, and as the Federal Blockade became more effective, the availability of logwood declined.
Plus, other "formula" or "recipes" often required copperas.
CHARLESTON MERCURY, January 1, 1862, p. 1, c. 4
The Washington Star, of the 23d inst., says:
The clothing of the "secesh" taken in the recent battle at Drainsville, proves that the enemy are, indeed, intense sufferers for want of Quartermaster's stores. Thus, three-fourths of their coats are of cotton cloth--not woolen--lined in some instances with a heavier cotton cloth, or padded with cotton. The coats of the South Carolina troops engaged were colored by being dyed with tobacco juice.
[LITTLE ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, February 6, 1862, p. 1, c. 5
The following letter was accompanied by some samples of home made cloth, remarkable for their fineness:
For the True Democrat.
Belfast, Saline Co., Ark., Jan. 20, 1862.
Mr. Editor—As your valuable paper is a welcome visitor in our family circle, and while perusing its columns, in these stirring and heart-rending times, in search of something new and interesting, I see a premium offered to those young ladies who will send in the largest number of yards of home made jeans cloth, and as I wish the young ladies success in their efforts to gain the medals, I will send you a few samples of my own manufacturing for those young ladies to excel. Now girls, try yourselves.
As times are hard, I will send you some receipts for dying cloth, and if you think they will be of any value to the public, you may make them known to your numerous readers.
For Brown.—Take a large pot, fill it with walnut roots and the bark of red oak, about equal parts, boil them until the strength is out, then take out the bark; strain the ooze through a cloth into a clean vessel; wash the pot, pour back the ooze, let it boil. The cloth must be sewed up like a sack, right side in, rinsed in warm soap suds before you put it in; put in your cloth now. Raise every 15 or 20 minutes, air it well and put it back again, until it is as deep as you desire. Rinse it well in clean water, then soap suds again; then dip the cloth in starch, let it get half dry, then roll it, right side in, on a smooth beam very tight, and be very careful to let no rinkles [sic] go on the beam, or they never will come out. Then keep turning and beating with a mallet for one hour and a half; then commence rolling off and ironing on the wrong side until perfectly dry, as you take it off the beam.—The warp should be colored as you desire before putting in the loom.
For Black.—First boil a potfull of walnut root, take out the root then, add extract of logwood enough to dye it black; add a small portion of acatate [sic] of copper; carry the cloth through the same process as the first in dressing. Post oak will do if you cannot get the walnut root; for dying black, add copperas. This is no humbug, and will not rot the cloth, for I have been trying it for 18 years.
To Dye Drab Color.—Beech bark and peach tree root, boiled together, will make a beautiful color.
To Make a Dark Brown.—Walnut roots and the inside of pine bark, and copperas.
To Make a Light Clear Brown.—Walnut roots and laurel leaves.
To Make a Flesh Color.—The inside of pine bark and madder.
To Make a Dove Color.—The inside of pine bark and walnut leaves, add copperas. . . .
Mary E. Barr.
"THE SOUTHERN BANNER [ATHENS, GA], October 29, 1862, p. 3, c. 3
From the Richmond Enquirer.
The Comfort Cloak--A Substitute for Overcoats and Blankets for Our Army.
I see that great complaint is made for the want of clothing for our army.--Allow me to suggest a cheap and warm substitute for a blanket and overcoat, and which can be made by any country matron.
Take sufficient quantity of common cotton shirting, dye it brown with black walnut, cut it and make it in the form of a large loose cloak without sleeves, leaving slits for the arms; wad it with cotton batting, in thin layers like a quilt, fix an oil cloth cape to it, reaching down to the waist, fasten it with a belt around the waist, the throat and breast part to be fastened with string--and you have the most complete cloak and blanket a soldier ever slept in, and much lighter than the woolen coat. . . .
SAVANNAH [GA] REPUBLICAN, November 3, 1862, p. 1, c. 4
To Dye Wool Yarn a Durable Black Without Copperas.—Place in your kettle a layer of Walnut leaves, then a layer of yarn, then a layer of leaves and another of yarn, and so on till the kettle is full, pour on water till all is covered, and boil all day. The next morning pour off the liquor into another vessel, and put fresh leaves with the yarn in layers as before and pour the same liquor over it and boil again all day. Then hang the yarn in the air a few days after which wash it, and it will be a fine black.
The Walnut leaves should be gathered in the autumn, just as they begin to fall from the trees
MOBILE REGISTER AND ADVERTISER, November 12, 1862, p. 1, c. 7
Confederate Dye.—To make a Beautiful Blue.—Take alder berries, mash them and press out the juice; to two gallons of juice add about one ounce of copperas and two ounces of alum. Dip the thread in this thoroughly, and air it, and the dye is set.
SAVANNAH [GA] REPUBLICAN, December 10, 1862, p. 1, c. 5
Substitute for Copperas.—The following is a recipe which answers every purpose in dyeing where copperas is used in setting colors, or for dying copperas color: Half pint vinegar, half pint syrup or molasses, three gallons of water. Put the above into an iron pot with nails or other rusty iron, and let it stand twenty days. It is of no use to buy copperas for dyeing at one dollar per pound while this will answer every purpose.
BELLVILLE [TX] COUNTRYMAN, December 13, 1862, p. 2, c. 2
John H. Taylor of Georgia gives the above recipe, and says, many have tried it with complete success last season.
To dye cotton or wool brown.—A lady friend sends the following receipt for dying cotton or wool brown:
Take the bark of the root of a common wild plum—boil in iron or brass, as most convenient until the dye looks almost black. Strain, and add a small quantity of copperas dissolved in a small quantity of the dye. Add the article to be dyed. Boil an hour or so. Wring out and dip in strong cold ley. When dry, rinse in cold water. This gives a genuine, bright brown, which is the prettiest contrast for blue; and when checked in together makes a dress becoming enough for the proudest Southern dame or belle. Ladies, try it.
MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [JACKSON, MS], February 18, 1863, p. 1, c. 6
How to Dye Different Colors.
1. It is important to cleanse the wool or other material to be dyed, from grease and all foreign matters, which might prevent it from taking the dye. Wool must be well washed in warm soap suds, rinsed in warm water, squeezed as dry as possible, and then put into the dye. Cotton and linen must be thoroughly wet in boiling water, and then squeezed or wrung out of it, and put in the dye wet.
2. Use a copper cauldron for all light and delicate colors, and an iron pot for black and dark colors. The shades of color will be regulated by the strength of the dye, the number of times the article is dipped, or the length of time it remains in the dye.
3. Many dyes that will color cotton will leave wool and linen untinged, and some that will color wool deeply will dye cotton a very light shade.
4. What is used for brightening and making the colors durable are called mordants. The mordants used here are copperas, (sulphate of iron), blue vitrol [sic], (sulphate of copper), alum, wheat bran, lye and lime water. Those who cannot obtain copperas (now a scarce article) use the water from one of the mineral springs, which is strongly impregnated with iron.
5. The best seasons with dyeing with bark is in the spring and summer, while the sap is up in the tree. Autumn is the best season for dyeing with leaves, and winter is the season for dyeing with roots, because the sap of the tree goes into the roots.
6. Bark and roots must be cut in small pieces, let the caldron be two-thirds filled with the pieces, then fill up with water, and boil for several hours until the color is as deep as desired. If leaves and twigs are used, fill the boiler with stem, and cover with water. Two or three hours steady boiling will extract the color from the bark, roots, and leaves. Then strain off the liquid carefully from the sediment, and put it back into a clean boiler, add to it the alum or copperas, or both, according to the color desired; let it be completely dissolved and well mixed with the dye, after which immerse the wet wool, yarn or cloth in the dye, and proceed according to the definite directions for each color. By mixing different barks, roots and leaves together in the same dye, a variety of shades of different colors are obtained by those who are skilled in the art of preparing domestic dyes. The following named trees are much used for dying wool and cotton:
Sassafras bark and roots are used for dying worsted a permanent and beautiful yellow and orange color. Use a copper boiler, and five ounces of alum to one pound of wool or worsted yarns.
Kalmia, or dwarf laurel, dyes cotton a fine drab color. Use a copper boiler. The leaves and twigs of the kalmia and about one tablespoonful of copperas to three gallons of dye. Scale the cotton material in the dye for twenty minutes, then rinse in cold water, and hang to dry in the air.
Willow.—The bark dyes wool and linen a deep blue black, and dies [sic] cotton a dark slate color. Use an iron boiler. For black, three ounces of copperas to four gallons of dye; for slate color, one ounce of copperas is sufficient. Boil in the dye for twenty minutes, rinse in cold water and hang to dry. The dye may be deepened by a repetition of the same process in fresh dye.
Red Oak.—The bark and roots dye a fine shade of chocolate brown. Use an iron boiler two ounces of copperas to four gallons of dye. Boil twenty minutes in the dye and rinse in cold water. This dyes cotton. The Spanish oak dyes another shade of brown.
White Oak.—The bark dyes cotton lead color. Use an iron boiler; two ounces of copperas to four gallons of dye; scald in the dye twenty minutes, and rinse with cold water. Oak bark will not die [sic] wool.
Pine bark—all the varieties found in our woods—dyes cotton slate color, combined with the Kalmia it dyes dove color. For each color put one ounce of copperas to four gallons of dye, and boil in it for twenty minutes. Rinse the slate color in cold water and the doe color in cold lye.
Sweet gum bark dyes cotton dove color. Use a copper boiler; a spoonful of copperas to three gallons of dye, and scald in the dye for twenty minutes; rinse in cold water. To produce another shade, rinse the cotton stuff in cold lye water, and hang to dry in the air.
Guinea Corn—The seed dyes wool lead color, and will not dye cotton. Use an iron boiler, a little copperas, and rinse in lye.
Maple—The bark dyes both wool and cotton a fine dark shade of purple. Use an iron boiler and two ounces of copperas to four gallons of dye; scald in hot dye for twenty minutes and rinse in cold water.
Beech—The bark dyes dove color. Use an iron boiler and one ounce of copperas to four gallons of dye; rinse in cold water, or in lye for another shade.
Sumach—The leaves and berries dye black. Use an iron boiler, and four ounces of copperas to four gallons of dye. Boil the cotton yarn or cloth in the dye for an hour, and rinse in cold water.
Walnut.—The bark and roots dye cotton fawn-brown and root-color, according to the portion of bark or of roots and copperas used. The leaves boiled into dye color cotton purple and wool black; when used without boiling the leaves dye wool fawn-color. The green shells of the full grown nuts dye black with copperas. What is dyed black must be rinsed in cold water; the cotton to be dyed purple must be rinsed in lye. The fawn, brown and root color must be rinsed in cold water. The proportion of copperas used for black is two ounces to four gallons of dye; for the other shades use much less copperas.
To make a cold dye for wool, fill a tub with alternate layers of walnut leaves and wool, then pour on water till all is covered. The next day take out the wool and dry it in the sun, then re-place it in another tub with alternate layers of fresh walnut leaves. Strain off the water from the old walnut leaves and pour it over the wool and fresh walnut leaves; let it remain again till the next day. Repeat this process for one week, adding as much water from day to day as to make the dye sufficient to cover the wool and fresh leaves. This is a fine, permanent fawn-colored dye.
Madder dyes wool red. Mix four quarts of wheat bran with four gallons of water, and set it to ferment. When it is quite sour strain off the water and dissolve in it a lump of alum the size of a hen's egg. Set the liquid on the fire in a copper kettle, and just before it boils mix well into it a half pound of fresh madder for every pound of wool. Then put into the dye the wet wool or worsted stuff to be dyed, and let it remain immersed in the dye for an hour, turning and pressing it frequently, during which hour the dye must be kept very hot, but must not boil, lest the color should be tarnished. When the wool is taken from the dye pot it must be rinsed immediately in cool strong lye, or in lime water, and then dried.
Spanish brown is used for dyeing cotton red. Put a pound of Spanish brown, powdered, into a little bag, and rub it out in a gallon of hot water till the bag is completely emptied of its contents. Then put the cotton yarn into the painted water, and rub the color into the yarn till all the coloring matter is transferred from the water to the yarn. After which put two tablespoonsful of linseed oil into the water and boil the yarn in it for fifteen minutes, then hang the yarn to dry. If the linseed oil cannot be obtained, boil the painted yarn in new milk for fifteen minutes.
Solferino pink.—Cut a piece out of the end of a pumpkin large enough to admit the hand, take out all the seeds and leave the strings in. Mash poke berries into a pulp and fill the cavity of the pumpkin with them, stir them up well with the strings and put the worsted yarn into the mixture, then cover it up close with the piece of pumpkin that was cut out. The next day take out the yarn and dry it in the air; when dry put the yarn back into the pumpkin as before, and cover it up again till next day. Repeat this process every day till the desired shade of pink is obtained, then rinse the worsted out in cold strong vinegar, and dry it for use. It will take a week to dye the deepest shade of pink.—Charleston Courier
NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER, May 7, 1863, p. 1, c. 1
Substitute for Copperas.
To the Ladies: Copperas is composed of Sulphuric Acid, or Oil of Vitriol and Iron, and is called by chemists Sulphate of Iron. A better material for dyeing, and the one invariably used by dyers is called Acetate of Iron, and is thus prepared:
Take common vinegar, the stronger the better, put into it rusty nails, or any pieces of rusty iron, and let it stand several days; the vinegar will eat off or dissolve the rust, and when it ceases to act on the iron, pour off the clear liquor and use it as you would Copperas, and you will find it a much better article and cost you nothing. E. N. Elliott, Chemist.
MOBILE REGISTER AND ADVERTISER, September 11, 1863, p. 2, c. 1
Communicated.
How to Dye Wool Gray.
In the course of some experiments by my wife last year, in regard to dying wool and cotton, it was ascertained that if wool be immersed in a decoction of the sliced fruit of the pomegranate, prepared in an iron vessel, a permanent and beautiful and beautiful gray color will be the result, which may be varied from the lightest drab to a deep black. The lighter shades require no mordant, the black should be set with copperas. The shade, of course, will vary with the changing proportion of fruit and water. By this simple process the tedious labor of hand-mixing is saved, while perfect uniformity and regularity of color is obtained.
Cotton thread may also be dyed blue by soaking well in the juice of elderberries, washing in warm suds, and setting with copperas. Previously to immersion in the warm suds, it is a royal purple. Though not a fast color, it is as permanent as any of our indigenous dyes
GALVESTON WEEKLY NEWS, September 21, 1864, p. 2, c. 1
Brenham, Texas, Sept. 9th, 1864.
Ed. News:--I send you a sample of wool dyed by Mrs. Caldwell and her daughter, Miss Kate Caldwell. It is the only home dye I have seen that strong soap and hot water will not fade.
Process.—Take the pear from the large size cactus, bruise it well, put in a tub, a layer of the bruised pears and then a think layer of wool and continue that until the tub is nearly full, put a light weight on it, add no water, set it in the sun or by a stove for six or eight days and you have the color of the sample. Nothing is required to set the color.
J.K.M.
The sample can be seen at our office. It is what the ladies call salferreno [sic] color (we have no name for it.) It is a reddish purple. We are heartily glad at every success of this kind. Until we become self-sustaining and self-supplying, we can never be a free people.
On the Federal side of life, one occassionally finds referennes to the men dyeing their own shirts in the field. I recall one aco**** of them using maplpe bark to dye white issue shirts blue, and another using walnut to dye their issue white shirts "snuff" color.
Sumac berries mordanted with iron will dye a weak gray or grayish tan that is not color fast or light fast, and fades from gray tan.
Curt
Dyeing Dabbler
Comment