Dictionarium polygraphicum. To dye woollen stuffs, &c. a flesh colour.

Dictionarium Polygraphicum:
Or, The Whole Body of Arts Regularly Digested.
Vol I.
London: Printed for C. Hitch and C. Davis in Pater-noster Row, and S. Austen in St. Paul's Church Yard. MDCCXXXV.
1735
To dye woollen stuffs, &c. a flesh colour.
First boil the stuff or cloth for two hours in a liquor made with a pound of alum, a pound of calcin'd tartar, four ounces of ceruss, and three ounces and a half of arsenick; then take it out, leaving the suds over the fire; and the next morning prepare a liquor made with two pounds of good leather shreds, a quarter of a pound of Orleans, two ounces of turmerick, and an ounce and half of aqua fortis.

Another.
When you have a mind to dye silk, linen, or cottons with Brasile wood, take two ounces of Brasile for a pair of cotton stockings, and an ounce of galls, and also two ounces of Brasile, and an ounce of alum; and pass them through each dye twice, till the dye becomes as clear as water, and they will be of a beautiful flesh colour, even to admiration.

Another.
Boil the cloth for an hour in a liquor made with three pounds and a half of alum, four ounces of ceruss, and three ounces of arsonick; pour off the water, and rinse the stuff in running water, and then make a liquor of eight pounds of madder, and two ounces of sal armoniack; let them lie a night to dissolve; then boil them a little, adding one ounce of pot-ashes; then pour soone of this upon the stuff in the other kettle; and as of ten as it is poured on, so often you dye, so that you may leave off when it is light dyed, or deepen it as you please; and if you would have it very deep, mix with the pot-ashes an ounce and an half of borax, and that will also give it a beautiful lustre.

Another FLESH colour.
For every pound of woollen, boil in a little water one ounce of tartar, and half a quarter of an ounce of starch; skim the liquor, then put in a quarter of an ounce of cochineal, a quarter of an ounce of starch, an ounce of aqua fortis, with a quarter of an ounce of English tin, and an ounce of rain water.
First make the water boil with the tartar and starch, and afterwards put in the rest of the ingredients; which boil together, and put in the ware, and boil it in the liquor for an hour, and the work is done.

Another.
Boil in fair water two ounces of white wine tartar, starch four one ounce, of juice of lemons as much, cream of tartar half an ounce, and as much turmerick as will lie upon the point of a knife. When these have boil'd, put in an ounce of cochineal, and a small time after two ounces of aqua fortis, in which two drams of tin hath been dissolv’d, and boil the ware an hour in this liquor.

A paler FLESH COLOUR.
This dye must be made just as the last, except that there must be but half the same quantity of ingredients, and that without any galls.

A Spanish FLESH colour.
For every pound of ware take two ounces of tartar, a quarter of an ounce of cochineal, a quarter of an ounce of starch, to which add half an ounce, when the former has been a little while in the suds.
Then having dissolved two ounces of filings of tin in three ounces of aqua fortis in the sun-shine, put the cochineal into the liquor by degrees; and when it boils, put in the aqua fortis, and a little after that, put in the goods to be dyed, adding a quarter of an ounce of cream of tartar, or the most subtile tartar, half an ounce of starch, half an ounce of lemon juice, and half an ounce of cochineal; boil for a quarter of an hour, or as you see occasion.

FLESH colour, to dye. To dye an incarnate or Flesh colour in grain.
Take stale liquor made with fair water and wheat bran, or sour tap-wort, being very clear, a sufficient quantity, alum bruis'd two pounds and a half, red tartar bruised small one pound; boil all together, and enter twenty yards of broad cloth; boil and handle it well for three hours; after which cool your cloth, and wash it well; then take fresh bran liquor (made of a peck of bran) the clear liquor a sufficient quantity, grains of kermes four ounces dried in a pewter dish before the fire, and made into a fine powder, red argol in powder four ounces; mix all these three things together, and make them boil; enter your cloth, and handle it, boiling it three quarters of an hour strongly, and keening the cloth under the liquor; then cool and wash it well.

Another incarnate colour in grain.
Take small beer, alum twenty ounces, red tartar eight ounces; melt or dissolve; then enter twenty yards of stuff or cloth, &c. and boil it two hours and a half; then cool; let it lie in water twenty-four hours; after which wash it well. Take fair water and small beer, of each equal parts, a sufficient quantity, grains in fine powder an ounce; infuse them all night, putting in also a little wheat flour, about an ounce; then make it ready to boil; enter your cloth.

Another incarnate, or Flesh colour.
First boil your cloth well in a good alum water; take it out, hang it up dropping, and let it dry. Take clear bran liquor a sufficient quantity, cochineal in fine powder one ounce, tartar half an ounce; mix and make almost a boiling heat, letting it take as little air as may be; then enter your cloth, and handle it as quick over as may be for about half an hour; after which, take it out, wash it well in cold water, and hang it up to dry.

Another incarnate or Flesh colour, called a rasberry red.
Take bran liquor a sufficient quantity, alum three pounds; boil for three hours; then add madder four pounds, Brasile ground four ounces, alum one ounce, fresh bran liquor a sufficient quantity; boil, and then enter twenty yards of camblet stuff, but not boiling; keep it in two hours, take it out, and wash it well.

To dye linen or siftain of a FLESH colour.
For every pound of linen, put two ounces of bastard or wild saffron in a bag, and lay it all night in the quantity of a pail of water to dissolve; throw away this water, and take another pail of water; and having taken the saffron out of the bag, rub it well betwixt your hands, and wring it clean out of the water; filter the liquor that none of the saffron be lost, and then throw it away; repeat this operation as long as the saffron leaves any yellow tincture, and then wring it out dry with your hands.
Then take a little lye made with good beech ashes, heat it, and put it to your thus prepar'd saffron, letting it lye and steep for five or fix hours; then wring it out, and that none may remain, filter the lye through a hair fieve; then throw away the saffron, and add to the lye an equal quantity of beer vinegar; stir it about very well, and put in your pound of linen, letting it lie in the liquor for three or four hours, aid then rinse it clean out, and it will be of a very good crimson Flesh colour; but you must take care to stir the linen often about, to prevent its being flak’d and unequally dyed.


To dye woollen, silk, worsted, or yarn, of a FLESH colour.

First prepare two pails full of sharp lye from a handful of beech-ashes twice boil'd; throw a pound of pot-ashes into one pail, and heat the lye in a brass-kettle; and when the ashes are dissolv’d, stir the liquor very well; brisk up the fire, and then put in a pound of flocks or shreds of red dyed cloth; hang the kettle over the fire; let it boil for some time, and stir it about with a stick; then fill it up with the remaining lye, scum it clear, and as it boils away for three hours, fill it up with stale urine; then pass a thread of yarn through it, and draw it thro' your finger to examine whether there are any hairs hanging to it, and if they do, put in a quarter of an ounce of turmerick powdered; stir it well about, and try with the thread of yarn again, whether it takes a red as you would have it.

If you would have the goods of a beautiful orange colour, then pour half the dye into another vat, and put the goods into it, having been before dyed yellow with broom or dyers yellow weed; and in the remaining part of the dye you may put the whole goods (which must not be alumed) and then cover it very close, that no steam may evaporate before it be cold.

Then put about two pails full of water into a tub, and in it rinse both the colours very well; dry them, press them, and rinse them again in spring water.

If you would have the ware of a very beautiful Flesh colour, hang the kettle (which must be of brass) again over the fire, boil the dye to suds, and put in the ware, leaving it there till it is cold; then rinse it in the same water, which you have before, but take a special care that you do not mingle the orange and Flesh colour together.

If you would have a lighter orange colour, hang the dye again over the fire, and put in the ware that has been dyed yellow, and let it lie till it becomes cold; then rinse it, as the Flash colour before. If you would have a lighter Flesh colour, then boil the dye again to suds, and put in the white ware, as before, and rinse it out; and so, if you would dye a light gold colour, &c. do it as before, and take the water wherein you have rinsed your for mer ware, and boil or heat it, and then put in the quantity of a pigeon's egg of alum; after which, put in the ware that is dyed either blue or yellow, and let it lie in it till it is cold, and then rinse it out.


To dye SILK FLESH colour or INCARNADINE.
For every pound of silk, put in a quarter of a pound of Brasil; boil it, strain it through a sieve, and pour fresh cold water upon it. While it is warm, put in the silk, leaving it in till it hath drawn all the strength out of the dye; then rinse and dry it.


To dye SILK the beautiful Spanish FLESH colour or carnation.
First prepare and alum your silk as for crimson, and for every pound of silk, take four pounds of wild saffron, which put into a thick back; throw it into several waters, and work it so long, till the water comes from it clear; then take the saffron out of the bag, squeeze it, and rub it with your hands till it is dry, putting it into another vessel; afterwards for every pound of silk take a quarter of a pound of pot ashes, and rub them well into the saffron in a clean vessel; and after that, if it be necessary, it may be rubb’d again.
When all this has been done, divide the saffron into two parts, and take a bag so thick that the pot-ashes cannot get thro’, when it is tied up; put one part of the saffron into this bag, and pour clear water upon it in the kettle, till the strength of the saffron is boil'd out; then for every pound of silk, take half a pint of lime juice, and divide that also into two parts, and to each part of saffron, add one part of lime juice; then take the dry silk, and stir it up and down in the kettle, in which the loose part of the saffron is, for the space of an hour; then let it be very well wrung and pass'd thro’ the kettle where the bag is, and for an hour continually stirred; then let it be wrung out and dry’d in a dark place, and not in a clear light, and it will be of the beautiful colour desired.