DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62931#0177
PRINTING IN COLOURS
the dyer; such materials as logwood, cochineal, and brazil-wood
being introduced into Europe.
Coal-tar colours were discovered in the 19th century. In 1834
Runge produced kyanol, and in 1856 W. H. Perkin introduced the
first aniline colour, a mauve; this was followed two years later by a
magenta, discovered by R. W. Hoffman, whose name is largely
associated with naphthalene colours of which there is so wide a
range. The alizarine colours were introduced by Graehe and
Liebermann in 1868. Alizarine has now entirely superseded the
madder which was so largely used for Turkey reds.
There are several methods of direct printing in colours upon
fabrics: first, those which are at once fixed by the steaming process ;
second, those in which the colours are produced either by first
printing with a mordant, such as an acetate of alumina, then fixing
and dyeing the cloth in a bath of colouring matter; or the cloth is
first dyed all over, and the pattern is produced by the discharging
process, or a resist is printed on the cloth, which is then dyed.
White or coloured patterns may thus be produced upon the coloured
ground. For instance, upon cloth dyed with indigo, the pattern is
printed with an alkaline chromate. It is then passed through a hot
solution of sulphuric and oxalic acid, which discharges the indigo
dye from the pattern. The same effect is produced upon Turkey
red by printing with a tartaric acid paste; the cloth is then passed
through a solution of caustic soda to discharge the red.
The older processes of dyeing are still used extensively in the
East, and the beautiful reds from the kermes, yellows from weld,
blues from indigo and woad, and browns from the walnut, give a
range of harmonious colour, unapproachable even by the modern
scientific dyer’s pallet, with its wide range of colours that have so
enlarged the possibilities of colour printing; but as yet, they have
not exceeded the beauty, quality, and the durability of the older
dye-stuffs.
An early process of producing a pattern upon a coloured ground
was by covering portions of the fabric with clay or wax as a resist,
or by tying small portions of the cloth with thread before being
dipped in the dye-vat.
India at an early date perfected a process known as bhandana
work, or “ tye and dye process ”—so called from the Hindu verb
bhanda, “ to tie.” The pattern having been drawn upon the fabric, it
is passed on to the knotter, who follows the design by pulling up
the cloth into minute portions and tying with thread, which success-
fully resists the action of the dye when dipped in the vat.
This bhandana work is also used in the production of chin# silks
101
the dyer; such materials as logwood, cochineal, and brazil-wood
being introduced into Europe.
Coal-tar colours were discovered in the 19th century. In 1834
Runge produced kyanol, and in 1856 W. H. Perkin introduced the
first aniline colour, a mauve; this was followed two years later by a
magenta, discovered by R. W. Hoffman, whose name is largely
associated with naphthalene colours of which there is so wide a
range. The alizarine colours were introduced by Graehe and
Liebermann in 1868. Alizarine has now entirely superseded the
madder which was so largely used for Turkey reds.
There are several methods of direct printing in colours upon
fabrics: first, those which are at once fixed by the steaming process ;
second, those in which the colours are produced either by first
printing with a mordant, such as an acetate of alumina, then fixing
and dyeing the cloth in a bath of colouring matter; or the cloth is
first dyed all over, and the pattern is produced by the discharging
process, or a resist is printed on the cloth, which is then dyed.
White or coloured patterns may thus be produced upon the coloured
ground. For instance, upon cloth dyed with indigo, the pattern is
printed with an alkaline chromate. It is then passed through a hot
solution of sulphuric and oxalic acid, which discharges the indigo
dye from the pattern. The same effect is produced upon Turkey
red by printing with a tartaric acid paste; the cloth is then passed
through a solution of caustic soda to discharge the red.
The older processes of dyeing are still used extensively in the
East, and the beautiful reds from the kermes, yellows from weld,
blues from indigo and woad, and browns from the walnut, give a
range of harmonious colour, unapproachable even by the modern
scientific dyer’s pallet, with its wide range of colours that have so
enlarged the possibilities of colour printing; but as yet, they have
not exceeded the beauty, quality, and the durability of the older
dye-stuffs.
An early process of producing a pattern upon a coloured ground
was by covering portions of the fabric with clay or wax as a resist,
or by tying small portions of the cloth with thread before being
dipped in the dye-vat.
India at an early date perfected a process known as bhandana
work, or “ tye and dye process ”—so called from the Hindu verb
bhanda, “ to tie.” The pattern having been drawn upon the fabric, it
is passed on to the knotter, who follows the design by pulling up
the cloth into minute portions and tying with thread, which success-
fully resists the action of the dye when dipped in the vat.
This bhandana work is also used in the production of chin# silks
101