IMPROVEMENTS IN DYEING MIXED COTTON AND SILK LACE AND OTHER FABRICS
Year: 1884

page_text: SILCIFICATION.
We WILLIAM CLARKE of St Ann's Hill Factory in the Town of Nottingham
Lace Dyer and Dresser and HENRY JAMES TANSLEY of 70 Lewis Street in the
Town of Nottingham Dyer do hereby declare the nature of our Invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN DYEING MIXED COTTON AND SILK LACE AND OTHER
FABRICS" to be as follows:-
24
The object of the Invention is to dye fabrics composed partly of cotton threads
and partly of silk threads in such a manner as to dye the silk threads equally
well as though they had been separately dyed and yet at the same time impart a
lighter tint of the same colour to the portions of the fabric which are composed
of cotton.
For this purpose we use an alkaline bath or soap lather holding the colouring
material with which the fabric is to be dyed and similar to the dye bath ordinarily
used for dyeing goods composed entirely of silk and slightly acidulate the bath by
the addition of acid. The acid used would vary with the nature of the material
with which the goods are being dyed. By slightly acidulating the bath the cotton
will be dyed simultaneously with the silk but of a lighter tint.
In this way if the ground work of the fabric is of cotton and the pattern or part
of it of silk there will be a colored pattern on a light ground-or on the other hand
if the ground work is of silk and the pattern of cotton there will be a light tinted
pattern on a darker ground.
Dated this 14h
1007

page_text: We WILLIAM CLARKE of St Anne's Hill Factory in the Town of Nottingham
Lace Dyer and Dresser and HENRY JAMES TANSLEY of 70 Lewis Street in the
Town of Nottingham Dyer, do hereby declare the nature of our Invention for
" IMPROVEMENTS
IN DYEING MIXED COTTON AND SILK LACE AND
FABRICS and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :—
"
OTHER
The object of the Invention is to dye fabrics composed partly of cotton threads
and partly of silk threads in such a manner as to dye the silk threads equally well
as though they had been separately dyed and yet at the same time impart a
lighter tint of the same colour to the portions of the fabric which are composed
of cotton.
For this purpose we treat the lace or other fabric composed partly of silk and
partly of cotton very much in the same manner as is now commonly adopted for
dyeing fabrics composed wholly of silk.
The mixed cotton and silk lace or other fabric is first boiled in a soap solution
to prepare the silk for receiving the dye-the lace or other fabric is then removed
from the soap bath and acid is added to the bath to render it neutral or leave it
very feebly alkaline and not to render it acid as is usually the case when goods
composed entirely of silk are to be dyed. If the bath is rendered sensibly acid the
cotton remains unaffected by the dye. Aniline dyes are then added and the lace
or other fabric is placed into the solution which has been kept up to the boiling
point.
When the lace or other fabric has been worked about in the bath for some
minutes it is again taken out and the bath is again raised to the boiling point and
the lace or other fabric then again placed into it. This is repeated three or four
times just in the way which is usual when dyeing goods composed of silk only.
Additional quantities of dye are added if requisite at each successive boiling of the
solution. When the lace or other fabric has been sufficiently dyed it is taken from
the bath and washed in water slightly acidulated. The water should not be
acidulated to the same extent as is common when washing dyed goods composed of
silk only. If too strong a solution be employed all the colour will be removed
from the cotton.
By dyeing lace or other fabrics composed partly of silk threads and partly of
cotton threads in the manner above described not only will the silk be dyed just as
well as if the goods were composed wholly of silk but in addition the cotton will
be dyed also simultaneously with the silk but of a lighter tint.
In this way if the ground work of the fabric is of cotton and the pattern or part
of it of silk there will be a colored pattern on a light ground-or on the other hand
if the ground work is of silk and the pattern of cotton there will be a light tinted
pattern on a darker ground.
In order that the Invention may be fully understood I will describe as an
example the way in which I proceed for dyeing lace of mixed silk and cotton to a
brownish color.
For treating say 50 lbs. of lace I prepare a bath of 6 lbs. ordinary bar soap
dissolved in 150 gallons of water. The lace is boiled in this bath say for about
1 hour. Afterwards the lace is taken out and acid is added to the bath until the
lather is killed or very nearly so but not enough to render the bath acid-the kind
of acid used is not of much importance-usually I employ vitriol. To the bath
I add say 1 lb. aniline yellow / oz. or less of 4, B Nicholson blue 4 oz. Bismark
brown and 1 pint of red archil the amount of dye used would however vary with

page_text: the tint to be imparted to the fabric as will be well understood. The whole of the
dye is not added all at once to the bath but is added by degrees as before
explained. When the bath has been boiled up some three or four times and the
lace has been worked to and fro in the bath after each boiling the lace will have
acquired the desired tint. The lace is then removed and washed in water slightly
acidulated say for 300 gallons of water about 1, pint of vitriol. Usually double
this amount of acid would be used for the same amount of water if the goods were
composed entirely of silk. When the goods have been sufficiently washed they are
afterwards finished and dressed in the ordinary way.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
The dyeing of lace and other fabrics composed partly of silk threads and partly
of cotton threads in a boiling bath of neutralized soap solution holding aniline dye
in such manner that the cotton is dyed simultaneously with the silk but to a
lighter shade as herein described.