Important: Safety Warning
This page describes trade processes that use dangerously toxic materials such as cyanide solutions, mercury amalgams, or strong acids. These processes require training, equipment, and precautions far beyond what the text describes.
In addition, this page directs the use of hazardous substances — such as benzine, gasoline, lye, or strong acids — for household tasks. These materials are highly flammable, corrosive, or poisonous, and the practices described have caused fires, burns, and poisonings.
This information has been left in for historical purposes but should not be acted upon.
Home › The Art Of Dyeing › To Bleach Cotton Cloth
To Bleach Cotton Cloth
After undergoing the rot steep, boil for 3 hours in caustic lye, of the strength of 1 gill of stock lye (see No. 101) to the gallon of water; are the simplest ways of obtaining this salt, wash out, and steep for 6 hours in a solution which may be reduced to a crystalline form of 1 pint of bleaching liquor (see No. 104) to by evaporation. The crystals assume a well- the gallon of water; wash, and steep 1 hour defined rhomboidal form of a fine sapphire- in a strong sour of 1 wine-glassful sulphuric blue color. acid to 1 gallon water; wash well from this before drying or dyeing.
If the cloth be very heavy, it may be necessary to repeat in their proper order the boiling in lye, the steeping in bleaching liquor, and in the sour, finishing, as before, with thorough washing or drying.