A Word About Dyes

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Throughout these chapters on domestic rug-making, I have given the old and familiar recipes for the colors used in dyeing the materials for the rugs since there seems to be a certain poetic justice in the association of these old-time methods. The recipes are for dyestuffs known as natural dyes. Some of them, however, like the formula for peach-leaf yellow in the chapter on the crocheted rug, might be more specifically classed as " hedge row dyes." Natural dyes consist of coloring matter which comes directly from animal, vegetable, mineral and metallic sub-stances. These pigments are often mistakenly classed together as vegetable dyes. The term natural dye is more inclusive and stands op-posed to all pigments produced by artificial means. Artificial dyestuffs are mostly derived from coal-tar and aniline products by analyzing the component parts of a natural dye and by reproducing them chemically.

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In recommending the use of the older methods of dyeing I do not wish to ignore or criticize the progress made by the chemist in modern coloring matters. But for the handicrafter the natural dye seems to me to have some ad-vantages. First of all, the colors can be used without modification whereas the artificial colors are crude and must all be toned down. A color-blind handicrafter could get good color with natural dye, but one often thinks that the user of artificial pigments is by nature color-blind.

For example, there is a series of artificial dyes called sulfur dyes because they are chemically derived from the action of sulfur and caustic alkali on organic matters. This is perhaps the most useful series of artificial dyes there is for the handicrafter, consisting of permanent colors but raw and crude unless toned down. Sulphur blue, for instance, must be modified with its complementary color, orange yellow, as there is no red in this series, before it loses its crudeness. If the natural dyes were used the fabric would first be dipped in blue and then on top of that the orange yellow would be overlaid. The artificial dyes must be mixed together in a powdered state and then used as a single color. It is exceedingly difficult to know what proportion of each color will produce the desired composite. I doubt if these dyes were intended to be modified in this way else the chemist who discovered the series would have provided a more exact recipe for toning them down. However, since they must be toned down, it is better to tone them down by guess-work than not at all.

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The Craft Of Handmade Rugs - View The Rest Of The Book

Introduction - Some Old Time Rugs  - The Braided Rug  - The Scalloped Doormat Or Tongue Rug
The Knitted Rug - The Crocheted Rug - The Hooked Rug In Cotton And Wool - The Needle-Woven Rug
The Colonial Rag Rug - Some Applications - Newer Methods Of Stencil Making - The Tufted Counterpane
Old Time Lights - The Batik Or Wax Resist Process