Aniline Blue

To 100 pounds of fabric, dissolve 1.25 pounds aniline blue in 3 quarts hot alcohol, strain through a filter, and add it to a bath of 130° P.; also 10 pounds Glauber's salts, and 5 pounds acetic acid. Immerse the goods and handle them well for 20 minutes. Next heat slowly to 200° F.; then add 5 pounds sulphuric acid diluted with water. Let the whole boil 20 minutes longer; then rinse and dry. If the aniline be added in 2 or 3 proportions during the process of coloring, it will facilitate the evenness of the color.

Blue on Cotton

For 40 pounds of goods, use copperas, 2 pounds; boil and dip 20 minutes; dip in soapsuds, and return to the dye 3 or 4 times; then make a new bath with prussiate of potash, 0.5 pound; oil of vitriol, 1.25 pints; boil 0.5 hour, rinse out and dry.

Sky Blue on Cotton

For 60 pounds of goods, blue vitriol, 5 pounds. Boil a short time, then enter the goods, dip 3 hours, and transfer to a bath of strong limewater. A fine brown color will be imparted to the goods if they are then put through a solution of prussiate of potash.

Blue Dye for Hosiery

One hundred pounds of wool are colored with 4 pounds Guatemala or 3 pounds Bengal indigo, in the soda or wood vat. Then boil in a kettle a few minutes, 5 pounds of cudbear or 8 pounds of archil paste; add 1 pound of soda, or, better, 1 pail of urine; then cool the dye to about 170° F. and enter the wool. Handle well for about 20 minutes, then take it out, cool, rinse, and dry. It makes no difference whether the cudbear is put in before or after the indigo. Three ounces of aniline purple dissolved in alcohol, 0.5 pint, can be used instead of the cudbear. Wood spirit is cheaper than alcohol, and is much used by dyers for the purpose of dissolving aniline colors. It produces a very pretty shade, but should never be used on mixed goods which have to be bleached.

Dark-Blue Dye

This dye is suitable for thibets and lastings. Boil 100 pounds of the fabric for 1.5 hours in a solution of alum, 25 pounds; tartar, 4 pounds; mordant, 6 pounds; extract of indigo, 6 pounds; cool as usual. Boil in fresh water from 8 to 10 pounds of logwood, in a bag or otherwise, then cool the dye to 170° F. Reel the fabric quickly at first, then let it boil strongly for 1 hour. This is a very good imitation of indigo blue.

Saxon Blue

For 100 pounds thibet or comb yarn, use alum, 20 pounds; cream of tartar, 3 pounds; mordant, 2 pounds; extract of indigo, 3 pounds; or carmine, 1 pound, makes a better color. When all is dissolved, cool the kettle to 180° F.; enter and handle quickly at first, then let the fabric boil 1/2 hour, or until even. Long boiling dims the color. Zephyr worsted yarn ought to be prepared, first, by boiling it in a solution of alum and sulphuric acid: the indigo is added afterwards.

Logwood and Indigo Blue

For 100 pounds of cloth. Color the cloth first by one or two dips in the vat of indigo blue, and rinse it well, and then boil it in a solution of 20 pounds of alum, 2 pounds of half-refined tartar, and 5 pounds of mordant, for 2 hours; finally take it out and cool. In fresh water boil 10 pounds of good logwood for half an hour in a bag or otherwise; cool off to 170° F. before entering. Handle well over a reel, let it boil for half an hour; then take it out, cool and rinse. This is a very firm blue.

Blue Purple for Silk

For 40 pounds of goods, take bichromate of potash, 8 ounces; alum, 1 pound; dissolve all and bring the water to a boil, and put in the goods; boil 1 hour. Then empty the dye, and make a new dye with logwood, 8 pounds, or extract of logwood, 1 pound 4 ounces, and boil in this 1 hour longer. Grade the color by using more or less logwood, as dark or light color is wanted.

Blue Purple for Wool

One hundred pounds of wool are first dipped in the blue vat to a light shade, then boiled in a solution of 15 pounds of alum and 3 pounds of half-refined tartar, for 2 hours, the wool taken out, cooled, and let stand 24 hours. Then boil in fresh water 8 pounds of powdered cochineal for a few minutes, cool the kettle to 170° F. Handle the prepared wool in this for 1 hour, when it is ready to cool, rinse and dry. By coloring first with cochineal, as aforesaid, and finishing in the blue vat, the fast purple or dahlia, so much admired in German broadcloths, will be produced. Tin acids must not be used in this color.

To Make Extract of Indigo Blue

Take of vitriol, 2 pounds, and stir into it finely pulverized indigo, 8 ounces, stirring briskly for the first half hour; then cover up, and stir 4 or 5 times daily for a few days. Add a little pulverized chalk, stirring it up, and keep adding it as long as it foams; it will neutralize the acid. Keep it closely corked.

Light Silver Drab

For 50 pounds of goods, use logwood, 0.5 pound; alum, about the same quantity; boil well, enter the goods, and dip them for 1 hour. Grade the color to any desired shade by using equal parts of logwood and alum.