Green And Blue Dye For Silks And Woollens Recipe

For green dye, take a pound of oil of vitriol, and turn it upon half an

ounce of Spanish indigo, that has been reduced to a fine powder. Stir

them well together, then add a lump of pearl ash, of the size of a

pea--as soon as the fermentation ceases, bottle it--the dye will be fit

for use the next day. Chemic blue is made in the same manner, only using

half the quantity of vitriol. For woollen goods, the East indigo will

answer as well as the Spanish, and comes much lower. This dye will not

answer for cotton goods, as the vitriol rots the threads. Wash the

articles that are to be dyed till perfectly clean, and free from color.

If you cannot extract the color by rubbing it in hot suds, boil it

out--rinse it in soft water, till entirely free from soap, as the soap

will ruin the dye. To dye a pale color, put to each quart of soft warm

water that is to be used for the dye, ten drops of the above

composition--if you wish a deep color, more will be necessary. Put in

the articles without crowding, and let them remain in it till of a good

color--the dye-stuff should be kept warm--take the articles out without

wringing, drain as much of the dye out of them as possible, then hang

them to dry in a shady, airy place. They should be dyed when the weather

is dry--if not dried quick, they will not look nice. When perfectly dry,

wash them in lukewarm suds, to keep the vitriol from injuring the

texture of the cloth. If you wish for a lively bright green, mix a

little of the above composition with yellow dye.

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