Making Quill Pens
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Dyes
Vegetable Dyes ~ Being a Book of Recipes
and Other Information Useful to the Dyer: Wool, Silk, Cotton and Linen -
Mordants - British Dye Plants - The Lichen Dyes - Blue - Red - Yellow - Brown
and Black - Green - The Dyeing of Cotton - The Dyeing of Silk
Black Dye
by Dino Labiste: A deep, black dye can be created using water, tannins, and
iron. Any natural material can be colored a black tone by first soaking the
item in a tannic acid solution. Then the material is immersed in a second
solution of iron salt to give it the permanent dark pigment...
Indian Dyes
all text. The Sioux made red from the buffalo berry and the squaw
currant, with the roots of prairie dock added to strengthen and "set" the
color; brownish-black from green hickory nuts or walnuts; a superior black
from wild grapes; yellow from sunflowers and yellow coneflowers...
Woad Page
A page devoted the Woad plant and it's uses. Great page if you like
the color blue! Includes growing, processing, dyeing and making paint. To
process fresh woad into blue dye, you will need fresh woad plants, sparkling
non-sudsy ammonia, an egg-beater, cooking whip, or electric mixer; some
glass jars and a non-stick cooking pan. Be prepared for a small yield
because woad contains only one tenth of the indigo that true indigo plants
contain...
"Quill & Ink Production"
Series of (3) articles By Pater Monasterii on cutting, using quills
and making inks. Follow the links within this document to reach the other
two articles. Throughout our period various breeds of birds were used to
supply different quills, including duck, goose, swan and pheasant. Having
chosen your quill you will need to decide whether to strip the plume. The
choice is yours as illustrations show them both plumed and stripped...
Brown with Walnut
From the Mannam Carpets, site, information on dyeing. Vegetal dyeing is
almost an art form perhaps because of the many variables involved - even
plants from the same geographical area, gathered at different times can
produce varying shades due to seasonal changes. So if uniformity of shade is
important do start with enough dyestuff to meet the full needs of your
project. See also:
Yellow with Tesu |
Red with Madder |
Rust with Henna
Cheap Dye Stuffs This site, from Kathryn of the Hills includes a
write up from an 1833 cookbook. Recipes provide basic information on dying
with natural ingredients and should be regarded as a first step in the
exploration of natural dye materials. Many other good dyestuffs are
available locally with which to experiment.
[PDF Link recovered 4/20/11]
"Colors, Dyestuffs, and Mordants of the
Viking Age: An Introduction" by Carolyn Priest-Dorman
This article is intended as an aid to people, generally re-enactors, who are
engaged in experiments with natural dyestuffs. It is basically a list of
which dyes and dyestuffs are known (or strongly believed by experts) to have
been used in the Viking Age. It is purposely not detailed with respect to
geographic information. That information can be found by consulting the
sources listed at the end of the article.
Dyes Used For Rug Yarns Their Characteristics and History From the About
Turkey site, information on the use of natural dyes in their rugs. Poorly
translated, but you'll get the drift. Perhaps someone could fix it up for them
and e-mail the results. ["The use of wegetables, barko, roots
and other natural items to make dyes has been a well known art for many tousands
of years. this ancient practice continued unchanged and untouched untill the mid
19th. century when synthetic dyes were invented. The findigs at a Chinese spring
dating from about 3000 B.C. inicate that the scince of dyeing was initially
devolpped in the far east."] See? Understandable, but a bit...
odd.
Hand Dyeing with Margaret Rowe Margaret Rowe's site shows some of
her images on dyeing with these native plants. Eucalypts are native to
Australia, Papua New-Guinea, and a few of the adjacent islands. The dye
colors obtained from Eucalypts range from red, to orange, through to yellow,
and olive green. Eucalypt leaves can be used as a substantive dye, in that
no mordant is required to color the wool...
"The Laboratory for Historical Colorants at UCLA" by David
McJunkin, with Catherine McLean and Elizabeth C. Welsh An article on
a special UCLA Lab at the WACC (Western Association for Art Conservation)
site. A tenth century Paracas coca pouch; a parasitic, sap-sucking insect
from Armenia; a fourth-century BC Greek statue; a swamp tree of Tabasco; the
coronation mantle of the Holy Roman Emperor; a trod-upon weed of the Mexican
highlands; the Star Spangled Banner from Ft. McHenry; a synthetic, organic
compound invented in 1862: what do these things have in common? They have
all been subjects of study in the Laboratory for Historical Colorants housed
in the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at UCLA...
A Lesson to Dye For From the University of Minnesota, Duluth, an
introduction to plant dyes. Science is more meaningful for most students
when it is learned in some context which is relevant to something else they
have learned or to real life. This unit was designed to do both by building
on a science unit on plants that discusses flowers, roots, leaves, bark,
seeds and other plant parts. The integration of plant science with stories
from history gives a human touch. It connects the learning to previous
learning of colonial or world history, for example. Anecdotes bring in
drama, economics and geography as well. Students practice numerous
scientific methods as they carry out controlled experiments and
trial-and-error experiments. Connections with art are made as the students
use the results of their dyeing experiments to make some handcrafted items,
a real-life application. Because students are involved in gathering supplies
and producing displays and handcrafted objects, they take ownership of their
work. All materials are low cost... See also
A Lesson to Dye For
Part 2 [Links updated 4/20/11]
Lichens and People This site contains a huge list of the use of
lichens. If you do a search of the page with the word "dye", you can find
the lichens that are used for dyeing. [Ctrl+F keys will bring up the
"Find Word" search box on any page]
Medieval Gardens This La Belle Compagnie site, discusses plants
form the Medieval times, many of which were planted for dye sources. Again,
if you do a search of the page with the word "dye", you can find the plants
that are used for dyeing.
Mordants From the Joy of Handspinning
site. Mordants are needed to set the color when using natural dyes. Different
mordants will give different results.
"A Natural Dyeing Experience" by Birthe Pedersen From Denmark,
Birthe's site describes her experiences dyeing with mushrooms.
[PDF Link recovered 4/20/11]
Natural Dyes and Medicine A well-documented, and accurate,
article on natural dyes by Rosemary Jacobs. I have been spinning protein
fibers such as wool and silk into yarn and dyeing them with natural dyes for
about 20 years now. I've also done a lot of reading on the subject and
believe that anyone interested in natural drugs should study the history of
the dye industry and obtain hands-on experience in the use of what we now
refer to as vegetable dyes but which in reality, just like natural
medicines, consist of substances obtained from all of nature including
animals, vegetables and minerals...
[PDF Link recovered 4/20/11]
Natural
Dyes International/a> A new organization for natural dyers.
Unfortunately, they want you to "become a member" for anywhere from
$2.50/mo. to $250/year. Outrageous, in my opinion. I didn't stick around to
see if there was any free stuff... Okay, I got over my tizzie and went back.
My apologies. There IS some good info for free on this page:
Dye Instruction - so maybe they aren't all that bad after
all. I just hate pay sites.
Plant of the Month
Carol Todd's site has a page that changes each month to feature another
natural dye plant.
Dock |
Eucalyptus |
Honeysuckle |
Indigo |
Madder |
Matillija Poppy |
Mulberry, Fruitless |
Olives |
Rosemary |
Sunflower Seeds, Hopi Black |
Walnut
Rug Dyes From the Jacobsen Carpets, really very nice information
on natural dyes used in traditional rugs. Quite interesting table listed below text. There exists a very
widespread belief that "vegetable" or "natural" dyes are superior to
"synthetic" dyes, and that a rug woven with "vegetable" dyes is in all ways
a better carpet than a rug woven with synthetic colors. In fact, it is
usually not possible to separate the dyestuffs used in many rugs into these
two neat categories, and even were this possible, some vegetable" dyes are
much more fugitive in color or even damaging to the wool than the
"synthetic" dyestuff that yields the equivalent shade...
Traditional Natural Dyes in Cambodian Ikat Weaving. From the
Khemara Silk site, information on using natural dyes for their Ikat
weavings.
The RIT Custom Color Recipe Chart
Create your own high-fashioned colors. Each color recipe is for
one pound of white material, dry weight, using three gallons (or the
low-level water setting on your washing machine) of hot water. Just combine
the colors as listed in the recipe, dissolve the powder dye thoroughly
according to package directions, and then follow the timing or dyeing
instructions as listed in each RIT package.[Link updated
4/20/11]
Natural Dye Research in the South Central Andes by Vicki Cassman.
The brilliant colors found in the archaeological and ethnographic textiles
of the Andes never cease to amaze me. However, the technical analyses of
these textiles are frustrating to read because they are limited to design
and structural information and the dyes are only mentioned by color, i.e.
red, blue, etc. During the 1984 Junius Bird Textile Conference at the
Textile Museum, it became obvious that our lack of knowledge on the subject
of dyestuffs of the Andes is also a concern of the majority of enthusiasts
who participated. The need for basic research is clear. When the opportunity
to live in Arica, Chile, presented itself, I decided to dedicate part of my
work to dye research...[Link updated 4/20/11]
Natural Egg Dyes/a> This Easter try coloring eggs the natural way. Use hard cooked
brown or white eggs. After eggs are cooked, quickly cool the water or rinse
in cold water. This helps to prevent "greening" of the yolk. Natural dyes
take a bit longer to color the egg, so plan on extra time, or leave the eggs
in the refrigerator overnight.
Dyeing Gives about 8-10 recipes for natural dyes and the colors the plants
produce (bottom of page)
[PDF Link recovered 4/20/11]
What The Irish Wore - Dyes and Dyeing: In early Ireland, dyeing was
considered to be a somewhat magical process, and was strictly a women's
craft, there being a taboo on dyeing fabric in the presence of men. The book
of Lismore contains a passage in which St. Ciaran's mother tells him to go
out of the house, since it is unlucky to have men in the house while dyeing
cloth. He curses the cloth so that it dyes unevenly, then later recants. There
were also rules about which days of the month or week were proper for dyeing --
the information not recorded in this source).
[PDF Link recovered 4/20/11]
Natural Dyeing with Oxalis Flowers
This site, from Janis Saunders, from the Fiber News.
[PDF Link recovered 4/20/11]
Dye History from 2600 BC to the 20th Century /a>
bby Susan C. Druding. Originally written
for a Seminar presented in Seattle, Washington at Convergence 1982, a
bi-annual gathering of weavers, dyers and spinners.
Making dyes from common plants is not a new thing. It is, in
fact, how we first got color. Our ancestors knew they could extract certain
colors from certain plants, such as yellow from goldenrod or purple from
berries. Although commercial dyes are simpler, many long to return to doing
things the natural way. Here we will take a look at a few plants and the
colors they give along with how to prepare a dyebath and dye material.
[PDF Link recovered 4/20/11]
Dye ecipies From the Innsbruck Manuscript 14 recipes for 6 colors
using natural methods.
Making Natural Dyes From Plants Did you know that a great source
for natural dyes can be found right in your own back yard! Roots, nuts and
flowers are just a few common natural ways to get many colours. Yellow,
orange, blue, red, green, brown and grey are available.
Dye Recipes from Leyden Papyrus X
(c. 300 A.D.) These recipes are from the English translation of Leyden
Papyrus X, done by Earle Radcliffe Caley and published in the Journal of
Chemical Education, Vol 3, No 10 in October of 1926.
Dye Recipes from Stockholm Papyrus (c. 300-400 A.D.) aka
Papyrus Graecus Holmiensis. These recipes are from the English translation
of Stockholm Papyrus, done by Earle Radcliffe Caley and published in the
Journal of Chemical Education, Vol 4, No 8 in August of 1927. The contents
of the papyrus are equally important for the early history of technical
chemistry and, if anything, are more varied and comprehensive than those of
the one at Leyden. As a matter of fact the two papyri are complementary and
taken together they give an excellent cross-sectional view of the operations
and aims of chemical technology in the beginning centuries of the Christian
Era.
Dye Recipes from the Mappae Clavicula (c. 850-900) The
earliest copy of the Mappae Clavicula was a manuscript in the
Benedictine monestary of Reichenau, dated to 821-822, which is no longer in
existence. The translation below is based on the Phillipps-Corning Mappae
Clavicula manuscript, currently in the Corning Museum of Glass at
Corning, NY. This manuscript was translated by Sir Thomas Phillips and
printed in the 1847 edition of Archaeologia. This manuscript is
primarily concerned with metalworking and making of pigments, but scattered
among the recipes are several that deal with creating "dye" liquids (used
either to paint or dye fabric) and instructions for dyeing fabric and
leather.
Dye Recipes from the Segreti per Colori (15th c.) The
latin text of the manuscript and its English translation forms a major part
of Mary Merrifield's "Original Treatises on the Arts of Painting", published
in 1849. The section of this which is reproduced below is chapter 8, on
dyeing fabric, coloring leather and making chamois. I have also included
recipes for the pigments indigo, verzino and oricello, all of which are
mentioned in the dye recipes.
The Allerley Mackel: A dyeing and textile cleaning manual from
1532 To remove stains from cloth, velvet, silk, gold stuffs and
clothing these stains being of grease, oil or wine stains or any other
kinds, and how to do this easily without damage, with waters or lyes as will
be taught in this booklet. Thereto also how to restore clothing which has
lost its color, as well as how one dyes yarn and linen, and also wood and
bone, in a variety of colors.
Dyeing & Cleaning recipes from the Secrets of Alexis of Piedmont
(1580) "The Secretes of the Reverend Maister Alexis of Piemont - containyng
excellente remedies against diuerse diseases, woundes, and other accidentes.
Newlie corrected and amended, and also somewhat enlarged in certaine places,
whiche wanted in the first edition."
A Profitable Book of cleaning & dyeing recipes (1580/1605)
"declaring divers approoved Remedies, to take out spots and staines in
Silkes, Velvets, Linnen and Woollen Clothes: With divers Colours how to die
Velvets and Silkes, Linnenn and Woollen, Fustian and Thread: Also to dresse
Leather, and to colour Felles. How to guild, graue, sowder, and Vernish. And
to harden and make soft Yron and Steele. Verie necessarie for all men,
specially for those which have or shall have any doing therein: with a
perfect Table hereunto, to finde all things readie, not the like revealed in
English heretofore. Taken out of Dutch, and Englished by L. M. Imprinted at
London by Thomas Purfoot, dwelling within the Rents, in S. Nicholas
Shambles. 1605."
The Whole Art of Dyeing (1669/1705) In Two Parts: The
First being an Experimental Discovery of all the most useful Secrets in
Dying Silk, Wool, Linnen and the Manufactures thereof, as Practised in
England, France, Spain, Holland and Germany. To which is Added, A Discourse
of Pot and Weyd Ashes, as well as several other Foreign Ingredients used in
DYING. Written Originally in the German Language. The Second Part is a
General Instruction for the Dying of Wools and Woollen Manufactures of all
Colours; for the Culture of the Drugs used in the Tinctorial Art, as also
for the Dying of Hats; Published by the especial Command of the present
French King in that Language, and Illustrated with several Philosophical and
Practical Annotations by the German Translator.
Ziegler's Little Dye Book (1677) from a translation by
Patricia Hilts of the "Little Dye Book" contained in Marx Ziegler's Weber
Kunst und Bild Buch of 1677. The translation appears in Patricia Hilts,
The Weaver's Art Revealed: Facsimile, Translation, and Study of the Fist
Two Published Books on Weaving, Part I, and was published in Ars
Textrina, vol. 13 (1990). This volume of Ars Textrina also includes a
glossary of early German weaving and dye terms and an introductory chapter
by Patricia Hilts on the history of dyeing. Patricia has graciously
permitted these recipes to be made available online.
The Dyer's Assistant in the art of dying wool and woollen goods
(1778/1800) Extracted from the philosophical and chymical works of those
most eminent authors, Ferguson; Dufay; Hellot; Geoffery; Colbert; and that
reputable French dyer, Mons. De Julienne. Translated from the French. With
additions and practical experiments. by James Haigh
The Country Dyer's Assistant (1798) This work is noted for
being the first American book devoted to the art of dyeing and fabric
finishing.
The Domestic Dyer (1811) "being receipts for dying Cotton
and Linen, hot and cold. New-Engand:Printed for Domestic Uses. 1811 The
following receipts are calculated on a larger scale than will always be
necessary for domestic uses; but the articles must, in every case, be in the
same proportion. A copper, or brass kettle is necessary in all cases of
dying."
The Family Dyer and Scourer (1831) Being a Complete
Treatise on the Ars of Dyeing and Cleaning Every Article of Dress, Bed and
Window Furniture, Silks, Bonnets, Feathers, &c.Whether made of Flax, Silk,
Cotton, Wool or Hair; Also Carpets, Counterpanes, and Hearthrugs - By
William Tucker: This book is particularly useful for the home dyer, as it
focuses on small batches. The recipes are geared towards dyeing a coat,
jacket or stockings, rather than dyeing entire lengths of fabric. Although
the date of the publication is 1831, this is the third printing of the book
(as mentioned in the Preface). It mentions spensers quite frequently, which
were out of fashion by the 1830s. Therefore, I would say the majority of
these recipes are usable back to 1800.
Dye Receipts from 300 Miscellaneous Receipts (1830-1860)
600 Miscellaneous Valuable Receipts worth their weight in gold: This book
covered a little of everything. Large sections are devoted to veterinary
medicine and culinary recipes for canning and preserving. It also contained
a substantial section of recipes for dyeing fabric and leather, and a number
of cosmetic recipes for pomades, hair oils and perfumes. In the forward, the
author mentions that these receipts are the result of 30 years of
collecting, which moves back the possible dates for which these techniques
can be used.
Home Fabric Dyes Mentioned in Confederate Newspapers (1860)
Dye Recipies from the Household Cyclopedia (1880) The art
of dyeing has for its object the fixing permanently of a color of a definite
shade upon stuffs. The stuffs are animal, as silk wool, and feathers, or
vegetable, as cotton and linen. The former take the colors much more
readily, and they are more brilliant. In some cases, as in dyeing silk and
wool with coaltar colors, the color at once unites with the fiber;
generally, however, a process of preparation is necessary. In certain other
cases, as in dyeing silk and wool yellow by nitric acid, the color is due to
a change in the stuff, and is not properly dyeing...
A Lytell Dye Book : Redactions & recreations of medieval & period
dye recipes. Of Recipes for dyeing red, black, blue, yellow, brown, green
and many other colours upon Silk, Woollen and Linnen in the manner of the
Master Dyers of old. by Drea Leed
Images of Dyers and Dyeing Technology through History a
collection of images of dyers and dyeing through history, from the
fourteenth century through 1800. Like all artistic depictions, they must be
taken with a grain of salt; several are allegorical, and very few of the
earlier images are designed to represent the dyer's trade completely
accurately. Nevertheless, they give a great deal of insight into the tools
and technology of the dyer as it evolved over the last millenium.
Coppers, Kettles and Vats: Equipment in Early Dyehouses by Sidney
Edelstein. WHAT did an American dyehouse look like a century and a half ago?
Are there any pictures of Colonial dyeing equipment? How were skeins
handled? These and many similar questions relating to the actual equipment
and technique used by the dyers in the early days of our country have been
posed to this writer from time to time. Peculiarly enough, in spite of the
publication in many countries of hundreds of books and manuscripts, which
have come down to us through the centuries, very few have contained detailed
information concerning the equipment used by the dyers, and almost none have
contained drawings or engravings depicting the dyer at work in his dyehouse.
Ciba 1: Medieval Dyeing &
Ciba 9: Dyeing and Tanning in Classical Antiquity The publication
of weighty and erudite treatises is not within the chosen scope of this
periodical. The editors' aim is rather to quicken the interest of the reader
in the history of dyeing and its cognate spheres, by means of articles
which, though written by experts, should be of general appeal. Short notes
on science, technics, and other subjects will be welcomed by readers not
historically interested. Not the least of the aims of the Ciba Review will
be to inform its readers as to Ciba products old and new, and to give useful
practical hints for the various branches of dyeing. From time to time the
Review will contain supplements with patterns of dyes; for collecting these
patterns portfolios will be supplied free of charge on application to the
Society of Chemical Industry in Basle (see enclosed card).
An Overview of Period Dyes by Kateryn Rous: Natural dyes produce
more muted colors than modern chemical dyes, but they can still be bright!
Some are very fast to light and washing. Most must be used in conjunction
with mordants, which act to bind the dye to the fiber.
Modifying agents were also used to improve results. The most commonly used
mordants (pre-1600) included alum, copper, iron, & tannin. Additionally,
fermented urine was key to using certain dyes, particularly woad and
indigo...
Dyeing: history to 1600 by Anna Liese: Color has always been
important to humans. Archaeological records tells us that early humans
developed methods of adding color to fiber as they learned how to use it to
construct fabric for clothing, household, and ceremonial items. Dyeing was a
precursor to embroidery, for in order for it to be worth applying a separate
thread to fabric, the thread must be sufficiently different from the
background fabric. Dyestuffs which made bright, fast colors were difficult
to find and therefore both the dyes and items dyed with them were valuable
trade items that drove trade routes even into the current age...
A Brief History of Dyestuffs & Dyeing by Heather McCloy: Ever
since primitive people could create, they have been endeavoring to add color
to the world around them. They used natural matter to stain hides, decorate
shells and feathers, and paint their story on the walls of ancient caves.
Scientists have been able to date the black, white, yellow and reddish
pigments made from ochre used by primitive man in cave paintings to over
15,000 BCE. With the development of fixed settlements and agriculture around
7,000-2,000 BCE man began to produce and use textiles, and would therefore
add color to them as well...
Medieval Dyeing: Dyestuffs There is a mis-conception in some
circles that medieval textile technology couldn't achieve the rich hues that
the modern chemical dyes do. This misconception may in part be due to the
loss of colour in many of the textiles that have survived, only after
hundreds of years of exposure to light, humidity and in many case dirt.
Given the conditions it is hardly surprising that such textiles are dull,
washed-out or discoloured. However the medieval dyeing industry was fairly
advanced and had at its disposal not only a host of dyestuffs that could
easily be gathered just out the back door, but industrially grown and
harvested dyestuffs that were traded all across the Eurasian 'continent' and
beyond...
Period Dyes and their Modern Color Equivalents. Useful if you
want to ensure your clothing colors are accurate, but don't have the
resources to dye them yourself. A derivative page showing the dmc colors is
Here..
Colours and Dyes for 15th Century Clothing Colours of clothes in
the 15 th century were limited by what dyes were available. Choice of colour
is, in part, dependant upon status, and in part by sumptuary law...
[PDF Link recovered 4/20/11]
To Make a Beautiful Color: Trade Dyes in the 16th Century/a> by Gwyn
Carnegie: This article was first published in Recreating History in
October of 1996. It is based on a one-day workshop for beginning students,
and therefore, is very brief in its examination of period dyes and dyeing
practices in the late Middle Ages.
Tyrian Purple Variously known as Royal purple, Tyrian purple,
purple of the ancients, this ancient dyestuff, mentioned in texts dating
about 1600 BC, was produced from the mucus of the hypobranchial gland of
various species of marine molluscs, notably Murex. Although originating in
Tyre (hence the name), man's first large scale chemical industry spread
throughout the world. With the decline of the Roman Empire, the use of the
dye also declined and large scale production ceased with the fall of
Constantinople in 1453 (29 May, actually). It was replaced by other cheaper
dyes like lichen purple and madder...
Orchil, the Poor Person's Purple by Chris Laning: Did the Vikings
wear fuchsia? Someone asked that question on the Historic Costume mailing
list recently. I don't know the answer for sure, but orchil, the "poor man's
purple", was one possibility that immediately occurred to me. Dyeing cloth
and yarn with extracts of plant material is already a very well established
process at the beginning of written history. Plants provide abundant shades
of brown, gold, yellow, gray, and grayish green, most of them rather subdued
unless a lot of plant material is used relative to the amount of yarn being
dyed. (Equal weights, measured dry, is the traditional rule of thumb...)
To Dye a Saffron Color: Experiements in dyeing an Irish Leine, by
Kass McGann. Despite many historical references to Irish and Scottish léinte
dyed with saffron, it is my opinion, based upon the available evidence, that
these references are mistaken. The main reason for my disbelief in the use
of saffron as a spice is its prohibitive cost...
[PDF Link recovered 4/20/11]
Lac Dye in Medieval Persia by Roxane Farabi
[PDF Link recovered 4/20/11]
Cold-dyeing Wool with Madder/a> Published treatises on dyeing with
madder root have all warned the reader of the complexity and critical nature
of the process, requiring the wool to be heated to temperatures likely to
cause it to felt. The purpose of this experiment is to discover if it is
possible to dye wool to deep brown-red shades without heating the dye pot to
temperatures detrimental to the fibre...
Lichen Purples Lichen purple is a general term used to describe
purple dyes derived from lichens. It was known to the ancient Greeks and
Romans. But unlike other ancient dyes (indigo, Tyrian purple &c) the origin
and chemical composition of the dye are less exact...
Dyeing with Indigo: A Natural Fermentation Vat The recipe
described here is authentic to the 16th century; dyeing blue with madder +
bran + indigo + washing soda (or an alkaline substance) is described in the
Profitable Book, c. 1580.
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Inks
Forty Centuries of Ink by David N. Carvalho. [WOW!!] There is
no "History of Ink;" but of ink history there is a wealth of material,
although historians have neglected to record information about the very
substance by which they sought to keep and transmit the chronicles they most
desired to preserve. From the beginning of the Christian era to the present
day, "Ink" literature, exclusive of its etymology, chemical formulas, and
methods of manufacture, has been confined to brief statements in the
encyclopedias, which but repeat each other. A half dozen original articles,
covering only some particular branch together with a few treatises more
general in their ramifications of the subject, can also be found. Seventy
lines about "writing ink" covering its history for nearly four thousand
years is all that is said in "The Origin and Progress of Handwriting," a
revised book of hundreds of pages of Sir Thomas Astle, London, 1876, and
once deemed the very highest authority...
Walnut Ink In the grand history of ink there are two varieties.
One is carbon based and includes India and Sumi inks. These are made from
soot with some kind of binder usually gum arabic. They were used in western
Europe until around the 12th century when there was a gradual shift to
tannin based inks...
[PDF Link recovered 4/20/11]
Some Ink Recipes Complied and written by ©Claes
G Lindblad on May 21, 1998. I became interested in inks more
than 20 years ago, when trying to tame a dip steel pen to behave nicely. All
inks available locally were intended for fountain pen use, meaning they were
too runny and too thin for proper scribal use.
how to make iron gall ink
Cyntia Karnes, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam. Hundreds of recipes for
iron gall ink have been published over the centuries. The sheer variety and
number of these recipes testify to the widespread use of iron gall ink and its
primary importance to our literary and artistic traditions. Artists and scribes,
domestics and entrepreneurs each concocted their own formula to suit their
particular needs. [Link updated 4/20/11]
Recipes for old writing and drawing inks Beware! These inks may be
corrosive and harmful to expensive writing and drawing equipment. There may
also be toxic environmental effects in mixing them. Before experimenting
with these recipes, you must consider the risks and accept responsibility
for whatever happens.
[PDF Link recovered 4/20/11]
How to make Gallotannate Ink
Artists like to work with drawing inks that are permanent. Good ink should
not fade in light, and it should not run or fade in humid or wet conditions.
In Japan, it is said that old family documents, made of good paper and good
ink, may be submerged in the well if the house catches fire. Although
everything else might be consumed by fire, the family papers may be
retrieved from the well and spread out to dry without harmful effects.
Old writing/drawing ink
At least as far back as the Middle Ages, there were two kinds of black ink
in common use. One type is still being used today, the other is not
available from ink manufacturers.
How to Make Your Own Ink Black, Blue & brown ink formulae.
"Quill & Ink Production" Series of (3) articles By
Pater Monasterii on cutting, using quills and making inks. Follow the links
within this document to reach the other two.
Make Ink
A lesson plan involving steel wool, kerosene, vinegar, tea bags and water.
See also:
How to Make Invisible Ink
Soy ink - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Soy ink is made from soybean oil which has an innate clearness to it.
Petroleum-based ink is not clear, and other vegetable oils are not as clear
as soybean oil making it harder to obtain bright colored ink. For this
reason, newspapers use soy ink regularly, especially for color because it
creates a sharper and brighter image...
Getting into Ink
Pretty good article from screen printers site. It’s not an exaggeration to
say that ink is the lifeblood of the screenprinting industry. So, once
you’ve mastered fundamentals like getting ink to stick to your substrate,
it’s really worth your while to get to know a little more about ink
itself...
Bizarre ink
You can also make ink from old pecan or walnut shells. Crush a dozen or so
shells in a cloth. Boil in 1 cup (250 ml) of water for half an hour to 45
minutes, or until the water is dark brown. Allow to cool. Strain into a
glass jar. Add 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) of vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon of salt...
WHAT'S THAT STUFF- - Ink
What is ink? I already had a general idea what ink is: It is an organic or
inorganic pigment or dye dissolved or suspended in a solvent--essentially
the same as paint. I confirmed that fact after digging around a bit, and
then learned a whole lot more...
How You Can Make Glow-In-The-Dark Ink
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