The New "Soluble Garnet" Dye.

The Manufacturer and Builder 12, 1870

The new dye known as soluble garnet seems to be coming more largely into use on the continent; and as the colors produced with it are exceedingly brilliant, similar to those obtained with archil, but much more stable when exposed to light and air, the garnet dye is likely to become a great favorite. The dye was first prepared by Casthelax, of Paris, and is the ammonia salt of isopurpuric acid, which is formed by the action of a metallic cyanide upon pleric acid. It is not prepared from the pure crystallized, but from an inferior kind of picric acid, and is probably destined to replace the archil in many cases in imparting to wool all shades from garnet to chestnut brown. It may be readily combined with other pigments, so that a number of different colors may be obtained. According to Casthelaz, the dyeing of wool and silk is effected by the addition of an organic acid to the bath; for instance, acetic or tartaric acid, mineral acids being excluded. The dye-bath for silk should be cold or tepid in the beginning. Different shades in red and brown are thus obtained that are dependent upon the concentration of the bath, the nature of the mordant, and the time of the operation.