The Knitted Rug Page 7

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Indigo in its natural state is insoluble and consequently must be made soluble by certain chemicals called "reducing agents." Indigo dyeing is a process of oxidation and what actually happens is that the indigo in the vat becomes soluble and loses its color by the use of lime and copperas which deoxidize or reduce it to what is chemically known as indigo tin or indigo white. Therefore when the fabric dipped in the vat is first taken out, it is usually a greenish yellow tone. When ex-posed to the air it rapidly re gathers oxygen and becomes indigo blue. By this process the oxidized indigo becomes deposited on the threads of the fabric.

To set the indigo vat begin by mixing one pound of ground indigo with enough water to form a paste. This is done because the powdered indigo is so light in weight that it does not mix readily with large quantities of water. After it has been rubbed into a paste it can be easily diluted with more water, and two quarts may be added before it is poured into the hogs-head. Before pouring it in make sure that the hogshead is perfectly sweet. If it is in the least sour or moldy, it will effect the fermentation in the vat. Sweeten the hogshead by burning some sulfur strips in it, the kind wine merchants use to sweeten barrels.

Now dissolve two pounds and a half of copperas in boiling water, afterwards adding enough water to cool it. Then add it to the indigo in the vat and stir these two ingredients thoroughly together. Next mix the three pounds of slaked lime with ten quarts of water or enough to make it the color of milk, and add it to the mixture already in the vat, stirring it well with a wooden rake all the while.

The copperas or as it is chemically known ferrous sulfate, which is one of the agents for reducing the indigo to indigo tin must be chemically pure, because foreign ingredients hinder the chemical action of the vat, and the process of dyeing.

Now we have in the vat, one pound of ground indigo, two and one-half pounds of copperas, three pounds of slaked lime to which in all about twenty quarts of water have been added. To this twenty-four more quarts must be added and the vat stirred vigorously. There should be about forty-four quarts of water in the vat in all.

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

Introduction - Some Old Time Rugs - A Word About Dyes - The Braided Rug - The Scalloped Doormat Or Tongue 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