Encyclopedia of Practical Receipts and Processes

How to silver a mirror, brew ginger beer, kill moths, make fireworks, tan a hide, bronze iron, cure a ham and clean a straw hat: William B. Dick's numbered encyclopedia answered the questions a nineteenth-century household actually had.

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Deep Black

To obtain a very deep black, add 1 pound of bark to the logwood, and proceed as in last receipt. 293. Drabs on Cotton, Silk and Wool, by one Process. Work for half an hour in 8 ounces copperas and 4 ounces tartar; lift and drain; then work for half an hour in 4 ounces logwood and 1 ounce bichromate of potassa; wash out and dry. By varying the quantity of logwood, and by introducing a little fustic or peachwood in combination with the logwood, a great variety of drabs, slates or fawns can be produced.

These few receipts for mixed fabrics will show the care required in such operations, although, by practice, they become comparatively simple. 294. To Detect Animal or Vegetable Fibres. Treat the fabric with bichloride of tin heated to from 130° to 150° Fahr., when the cotton and linen become black, and the wool and silk remain unchanged. 295. To Detect Mixed Fabrics of Cotton and Wool. Dip a piece of the cloth in bleaching liquor; after a little while the woolen turns yellow, and the cotton white, and may easily be distinguished.

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