Chapter V: Appendix: General Remarks (2)

Scour and rinse the feathers well; grays must be bleached as near to white as possible, and these ought only to be dyed dark shades of red. Prepare a bath with twenty per cent., of the weight of feathers, bisulphate of soda, and see, as in all cases, that it is well crystallized and dry. (Never use the article when it looks decayed, forms lumps or is moist). Add four to six per cent. azo red, according to the shade wanted, raise the temperature to 170° F., enter the feathers and work to shade; take out, starch and dry.

FAST ALIZARINE RED.

I. Scour and rinse the white, respectively bleached gray, feathers and prepare a bath of boiling water with eight per cent., of the weight of feathers, alum, four per cent. tartaric acid, two or three per cent. oxalic acid, and three per cent. alizarine red; let the bath boil for fifteen minutes, then let the temperature go down just below the boiling point. Lay down the feathers in the bath, which keep at near the boiling point for at least one hour before allowing it to go down to hand-heat; then continue for two or three hours longer, agitating the feathers from time to time; lift, rinse, starch and dry.

By using alizarine acid 2 A. bl. bl., a pure red, similar to Turkey red is obtained. Alizarine 1 W. S. gives scarlets. If the feathers are passed, before rinsing, through a strong soap bath, pretty blue tones are produced.

II. For a fuller red, striking towards bordeau, prepare a well concentrated boiling bath in the same manner with three per cent. bichromate of potash, one and one-half to two per cent. tartaric acid, one per cent. oxalic acid, and eight per cent. alizarine red 2 A. bl. bl. When all is dissolved, let the temperature go down below the boiling point, enter the feathers, and proceed as above.

SCARLET.

I. For this color naturally white feathers are preferably used, but well bleached grays may also be employed; scour and rinse well. Then fill your pan with boiling water, add a few handfuls of bran, let it well boil up, remove the bran from the bath and rub the feathers in the bath as in washing; then pass them three times through clean, cold water. While the feathers are draining, prepare another fresh bath of lukewarm water, to which add a little chloride of tin and, for one pound of feathers, about two pinches of starch and ninety grammes cochineal; then bring the bath to boil and let it gently boil for eight or ten minutes, shut off the steam or remove the pan from the fire, let it stand for a few minutes. Then lay the feathers down in the bath, taking care that they are well kept down in the liquid, work for twenty minutes diligently, then let them lodge in the bath for six to eight hours. As the combination of cochineal and the chloride is readily oxydized and changed to violet by the oxygen of the air, it is advisable to dye in a tinned pan with cover to shut out the air.

Then pass through three lukewarm waters, the last of which contains a little chloride of tin and about a pinch of cream of tartar.

II. Prepare a hot bath with twenty per cent. (of the weight of feathers) bisulphate of soda, well crystallized and dry, and four to six per cent. azo red, according to shade. Enter the feathers at 170° F., dye to sample in fifteen or twenty minutes, lift, starch and dry.

According to the brand of azo red which is used, either scarlet or ponceau is obtained. By mixing the various brands of azo red, a very fine ponceau is produced. If a very blue tone is desired, add to the bath some solution of coccinine (azo red blue touch).

PONCEAU.

I. Scour and rinse the white, respectively bleached feathers well. Prepare a nearly boiling bath, acidulated with sulphuric acid, to which simply add ponceau R. R. extra. Enter the feathers, operate at boiling heat one-half hour, then lay down the feathers and let them lodge until level; lift, rinse, starch and dry.

II. Prepare a sharp handwarm bath with one per cent. tartaric acid (of the weight of feathers), or with one per cent. Glauber salt and one-fourth per cent. sulphuric acid, to which add the filtered solutions of ponceau R. B., ponceau 6 R. B., and eosine S. extra B. Enter the feathers and agitate for twenty to thirty minutes, or until the desired shade is obtained; lift, rinse, starch and dry.

III. Lay down the feathers for four hours in a cold bath in which some chloride of tin has been dissolved; then dye for one-half hour in a hand warm bath of cochineal, lift and dry.

IV. Prepare a bath with one and one-half per cent., of the weight of feathers, saccharic acid, one-quarter per cent. tin salt, and six to seven per cent. cochineal, bring the bath to boil for one minute; then chill. Enter the scoured and rinsed feathers at hand heat, dye for three-quarters of an hour, take up and expose them for two hours to the air, rinse, starch and dry.

BORDEAUX.

Scour and rinse the feathers well. Prepare a boiling hot bath slightly acidulated with sulphuric acid, to which add a liberal quantity of ponceau 6 R. B., a few drops solution of aniline blue, and some yellow dyestuff, such as turmeric, fast yellow, or quinoline yellow, and bring the bath to boil for a few minutes. Then chill to sharp hand-heat, enter the feathers and work until level, and sample; if still too light, add some more of all these dyestuffs. As the bath shows from the beginning the color it will produce, it can be corrected before entering the feathers.

GARNET (RED).

I. Scour and rinse the feathers well clean, grays ought to be bleached. Prepare the dyebath as for ponceau (I.), or use an old ponceau bath, and add to it some aniline cerise (cherry red) and very little extract of indigo, or solution of fast blue-black. Enter feathers as hot as possible to handle, work for fifteen to twenty minutes while raising the temperature to boiling heat; then stop heating, lay down the feathers, and let them lodge until level; lift, rinse and dry.

II. Prepare a boiling hot, not boiling, bath of anotto, according to shade, enter the feathers, work them well through, then lay them down in the bath for twelve hours. Take them up, rinse, pass through a moderately strong alum bath, rinse again, and dye at 170°F., with either decoction of red wood (brazil, camwood, etc.,) or fuchsine; lift and dry.

GARNET (BROWN).

For very deep shades naturally gray feathers may be used unbleached with proper consideration of the tone of the bottom color. Have the feathers well cleaned and rinsed, and add to a bath of two gallons of water, one and one-quarter pounds cudbear and five ounces turmeric. Bring the bath to boil, boil for five or ten minutes, let cool down to 100° F., enter the feathers and dye to shade. Lift, starch and dry.

Or, utilize a used ruby bath (following) and add to it five ounces turmeric.

RUBY.

For a good color the feathers must be white, naturally or bleached; scour and rinse them well. Add to two gallons of water one and one-half pounds good cudbear, stir well, enter the feathers and work them, while slowly heating, as long as the hands can stand it. Then lay them down until colored to shade, lift, rinse well, starch and dry.

SALMON.

I. Salmon or "flesh" may be dyed upon bleached naturally gray feathers, in which case the creamy tint of the feathers must be taken into consideration and can be utilized for certain broken tones of the color. Have the feathers well washed in soap or soda, and rinsed perfectly clean. For dyeing prepare a bath as for rose, preferably with ponceau B. R., or utilize an old bath for rose, according to its strength and the shade to be produced, and add in either case a suitable, small quantity of filtered decoction of turmeric. Proceed as stated for dyeing rose, with the difference only, that the acid may be added to the dyebath at once, if the bath is made fresh. Particularly fine shades are obtained with rhodamine and turmeric, in a bath slightly acidulated with acetic acid, upon bleached grays.

II. Prepare a bath as for rose, with some solution of eosine, a little quinoline yellow, according to tone, and a little acetic acid, just enough to give the bath a slightly sour taste. Enter the well cleaned, or bleached feathers after rinsing, at hand heat and agitate them until the bath is well exhausted, or a level color, according to sample, obtained, rinse lightly, starch and dry.

AMARANTH.

After scouring and rinsing, prepare a bath with one and one-half ounces alum per gallon of water, at 75-80° F., and lay the feathers down in it over night. On the next morning rinse them in cold water; then dye them at hand-heat to nearly boiling heat in a strained decoction of Brazil wood (or camwood, hypernic, etc.) until the required shade is obtained, and rinse in warm water to which some tartar has been added; starch and dry.

BRONZE.

For this color naturally gray feathers may be used if a deep shade is to be dyed; for light shades they ought to be bleached. Scour and rinse the feathers well; then prepare a bath with five per cent., of the weight of feathers, bisulphate of soda, to which add azo orange, acid violet and extract of archil. Dissolve the dyestuffs, each separately in water, filter, add the clear solutions gradually in small quantities until the shade is nearly reached, then, in order to correct, by drops, until the exact depth and tone are obtained. Enter the feathers and dye to shade at 170° F. Instead of acid violet indigo carmine may be used; in this case, however, as the dyestuff runs up slowly and difficultly, work at 170° F., for twenty to thirty minutes, then raise the temperature slowly to near the boiling point and continue at that temperature, without actual boiling, until the required color is obtained. Then rinse, squeeze, starch and dry.

Bronze is also produced like drab, that is, with azo orange, acid violet and fuchsine S., but with greater quantities of dyestuff. Bronze is also obtained with the recipe for any dark brown, by making the yellow in it predominant; particularly good bronzes are in this manner obtained from dark chestnut brown.

OLIVE.

I. Clean the feathers by laying them down for six hours, or over night, in a weak warm solution of soda crystals (1° B.) to which add so much ammonia as to give it a faint odor; take up when completely ungreased and rinse well in lukewarm and cold waters. Prepare the dyebath with five per cent., of the weight of feathers, bisulphate of soda, to which add filtered solutions of indigo carmine, archil and fast yellow as required for the sample. As the indigo carmine is slow to dye up and requires boiling heat or a temperature near it, dye first the feathers blue with indigo carmine, then let the bath cool down to 170° F., and add the solutions of archil and fast yellow in small successive quantities, so as to be able to give the accurate tone.

Instead of extract of archil, fast red or bordeaux may be employed.

To avoid any possible injury to the feathers by the high temperature necessary for indigo carmine to run up, in its stead a solution of alkaline blue or of acid Victoria blue. Take up and dry the feathers without rinsing.

II. Scour well and rinse the feathers, and prepare a bath with three per cent. alum (of the weight of feathers), to which add azo orange and some indigo carmine; enter at 170° F., dye for fifteen or twenty minutes, then raise the temperature slowly to near the boiling point and dye to shade. Lift and dry.

By beginning with small quantities of the dyestuffs and successively increasing them and varying their proportions, a series of fine shades from light old gold to the deepest olive, near black can be produced.

III. Prepare a boiling bath, in which dissolve one per cent., of the weight of feathers, alum, one per cent. Glauber salt, and add a little sulphuric acid; let cool down to 170° F., add some fast yellow, a little solution of archil and of sulphate of indigo, work for fifteen minutes while raising the temperature to the boiling point, and sadden with blue black, lift, rinse and dry with starch.

IV. Prepare a sharp handwarm bath with a little sulphuric acid, to which add the clear solution of a little quinoline yellow or turmeric, and acid green; enter the feathers and work for fifteen minutes, or until they have taken a sufficiently nourished yellow-green color; then take them up, add to the bath some solution of fast brown, as required by the sample and dye at 170° F. to shade; rinse, squeeze, starch and dry. The brown dyestuff must be added very carefully in small doses, best by drops, in order to obtain with certainty any of the great varieties of shades, from olive green to olive brown, as required.

VIOLET.

Naturally gray feathers may be used unbleached, but only for very deep shades as the bottom color acts dulling upon the dye, and brilliant colors can only be obtained upon a pure white bottom. Scour, respectively bleach well, and rinse clean. Prepare a hot bath to which add some filtered solution of methyl violet, according to tone, that is, more or less blue, enter the feathers and work until cool, then add gradually more dyestuff solution according to shade while raising the temperature to near the boiling point and continue at this temperature until the desired shade is nearly obtained. If too blue, tone with a little solution of fuchsine S. Towards the end of the operation take up the feathers, add some alum to the bath, and when it is dissolved, shut off the steam, re-enter the feathers and work to shade for about ten minutes. Then lift, rinse and dry.

HELIOTROPE AND LILAC.

I. These colors being simply medium and light shades of violet, proceed as for the latter color, selecting for heliotrope the bluish brands of methyl violet, and for lilac the red touch mark. The dyebath is acidified with a little tartaric acid, so as to give it a feeble sourish taste and dyeing done at hand-heat until a level color is obtained with very little solution of the dyestuff, and more of it gradually added, while the temperature is raised to nearly boiling, as required for the shade to be produced. Or,

II. Prepare the dyebath simply of cold water acidulated with a little sulphuric acid, add a few drops of the filtered solution of methyl violet (4 B. for heliotrope), and dye to shade without heating. In both cases rinse after dyeing, pass through a bath of raw starch and dye as usual.

CREAM.

I. The lightest shade of this delicate color can be produced upon naturally gray ostrich feathers by simply bleaching them; this color, however, is extremely sensitive, probably because the action of peroxyd of hydrogen continues under the influence of the oxygen of the air. Bleached grays require, therefore, dying as well as naturally white feathers. The feathers being well scoured and rinsed, prepare in a white basin (preferable to the copper pans, because the coloring of the dyebath is easier and more correctly discerned over the white bottom) a bath of pretty hot water, to which add a pinch of tartaric acid, and a little decoction of turmeric or solution of fast aniline yellow or of azo yellow, but only enough to give the water a light tint; work the feathers in it for four to six minutes. Then sample and correct, if necessary, by adding more dyestuff solution. The shade being obtained, pass through cold water, starch and dry us usual.

II. Prepare in a white basin a handwarm bath with three or four drops of sulphuric acid and a few drops of the filtered solutions of picric acid, fast aniline yellow, quinoline yellow, or mandaric yellow extra, but preferably turmeric which dyes up more evenly than the other dyestuffs. Enter the feathers and agitate them for fifteen or twenty minutes; then lay them down in the bath for one-half hour longer to insure a level dye; lift, draw through lukewarm water, starch and dry.

WHITE AND BLACK.

Science teaches that white is the source of light or the product of combination of all other colors, because the light of the sun, which is assumed to be white, when broken up by means of a prism, shows in its image reflected upon a white plain, the three primary, and three secondary colors with the uncounted number of intermediary products of combinations of fractions of the primary colors forming the transition from one to the other, which can be perceived by the eye but not exactly separated from one another, but may quantitatively determined to an approximate degree of accuracy. Black, on the other hand, is described as the absence of all light, and it is denied, therefore, by theory a place among the colors.

Practice asserts the direct contrary of the theory developed by science by way of conclusion. While philosophers assert that they have succeeded in producing white light by the combination of lights of the various colors, for which combination, however, they give no formula, no dyer with the greatest patience and with the most subtile proportioning of dyestuffs, giving pure reproductions of the primary colors as seen in the spectrum or image of the broken sunbeam, can ever be able to produce anything of a color approaching white. But every dyer knows how to produce white by bleaching, that is, by the destruction of all color. And this operation is comparatively simple and easy to perform, since the great achievements of modern chemistry have placed into the hand of the dyer the most energetic and effectious color destroying agents. The ostrich feather dyer of to-day is able to convert naturally gray and even black feathers into nearly pure white, which undertaking his father would have called the boast of a deranged mind and an absolute physical impossibility. And with the aid of a complementary color dyed upon the bleached feathers the tint remaining upon them is obliterated, or neutralized, which operation is generally called "white dyeing," although certainly white cannot be "dyed" with a blue or violet dyestuff as little as blue or violet can be produced with a yellow dyestuff.

Black, on the other hand, although the name and rank of a color is denied it by the doctrines of theory is, for the dyer, most essentially a color requiring for its production the contribution of all colors, as can be shown by a simple experiment. If, for instance, within a circle, three equal circles, whose diameters are greater than half the diameter of the surrounding circle, are printed, one blue, one red and one yellow, so that the points of contact with the periphery of the outer circle are equidistant from one another, or form a regular triangle, their segments overlapping one another form four spherical triangles, one violet where red and blue cover one another, one orange where red and yellow come together, one green where yellow and blue are mixed, but the fourth is the centre, where parts of the three differently colored segments cover one another, is black, but toned by the color of the greatest intensity. In fact, black requires for its production more color, and is more difficult to dye than any color of the spectrum. It is not strange, therefore, that many more methods have been proposed and have been tried and adopted to dye black than for the production of any other color. Yet all these blacks are more or less tinted and are nothing more than the deepest shade, which can be produced with the aid of metallic salts, of blue, brown, gray, violet, green and even red. The only black upon ostrich feathers which may be justly called an absolute black is that produced after the method of Mr. Paul, as described in the front part of this book (page 53-56). It presents, besides, the advantage, that it can be completely done in eighteen minutes, while there are older methods which require not less than three days. Such, of course, will find no room here, but only the most reliable and expeditious, and safest of the older methods will be selected with due regard both to beauty of color and preservation of the precious material.

WHITE.

Naturally white ostrich feathers and bleached grays, like all material taken from the animal realm, retains even after scouring and bleaching a more or less noticeable yellowish tint, which becomes visible after some time even upon such as appear snow-white immediately after scouring. The cause is, probably, that the fat which is contained in feathers, as well as in wool and hair, and a part of which remains after the cleaning process, is oxydized by the action of the air. To perfectly and completely extract this remaining small amount of fat which does not hinder the subsequent dyeing operations, is not advisable; for, it has been observed that in that case, the feathers become brittle, and for this reason, scouring with soap is preferable to scouring with soda. It has been observed that colored matter taken from the animal body in the course of time loses its brilliancy of color and becomes dull; white feathers turn yellowish, even if perfectly protected against dust. To prevent this alteration, the bleached feathers are "dyed white," or rather blued or tinted; that is, the brilliancy of the white is heightened and the faint yellowish tinge neutralized by the application of a very light, scarcely perceptible tint of a complementary color.

For this purpose, for instance, indigo carmine (greenish white), indigo carmine with a very small addition of ammoniacal cochineal (reddish white), induline or extract of indigo (bluish white), or methyl violet 6 B. (direct white), are employed, and a few drops of acid added to the bath, either sulphuric, acetic or oxalic acid. The acid, however, can be dispensed with, as it scarcely has anything to act upon, and as only a diminutive amount of it is employed, the blued feathers are not rinsed but immediately dried from the blue-bath. The additions of dyestuff to baths must be made so small that they do not affect a coloring of the feathers but only a faint tinting. Rather too little dyestuff may be added, which defect can at all times be corrected by adding a few drops more of the coloring solution, than too much. In the latter case it would become necessary to bleach the feathers again and go over the whole process of preparing the raw material for dyeing.

BLACK.