The principles and practice of textile printing

Front matter

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Part I. Theoretical. Part II. Practical. Part III. Analytical

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A DICTIONARY OF

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THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE

OF

TEXTILE PRINTING.

BY

EDMUND KNECHT,

Pu.D. (Ztricn), M.Sc. Tecu. (MANCHESTER), F.I.C., PROFESSOR OF TECHNOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY, VICTORIA UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER ; HEAD OF THE CHEMISTRY DEPT., MUNICIPAL SCHOOL OF TECHNOLOGY, MANCHESTER ; EXAMINER IN DYEING TO THE CITY AND QUILDS OF LONDON INSTITUTE; AND

EDITOR OF “THE JOURNAL OF THE SOOIBTY OF DYERS AND COLOURISTS ”’ 5

AND

JAMES BEST FOTHERGILL,

TECHNICAL CHEMIST AND COLOURIST.

With 13 Plates, many Patterns, and 8O Fllustrations in the Text.

FONDON: CHARLES GRIFFIN & COMPANY, LIMITED, EXETER STREET, STRAND. 1912. [ Al? Rights Reserved. |

Preface

Ir is now many years since a comprehensive manual of textile printing has appeared in this country. In the interval, radical changes have taken place in this industry, which apply to some extent to plant and mechanical appliances, but chiefly to the introduction of new and important processes. New styles have been introduced, of which those in which the colouring matters (eg. insoluble Azo dyes, Nitroso blue, Paramine brown) are produced in the fibres are of paramount importance. On the other hand, the industry owes to the incessant activity and ingenuity of the colour manufacturers the introduction of whole classes of new colouring matters, many of which are eminently suited to meet the requirements of the trade. Again, many reagents which were then quite out of the reach of the colourist at the time (¢.y. formaldehyde, formic, lactic, and glycolic acids, hydrosulphite of soda, chlorate of soda, titanium salts, paranitraniline), on account of their expense, are now available in unlimited quantities at prices which allow of their universal application.

During the past few years, several of the colour manufacturers have issued to their customers some excellent literature on textile printing, but it is only natural that the information which these publications contain is more or less strongly biassed in favour of the special products of the particular firm from which it has emanated. The authors, feeling that an impartially written modern work on textile printing would be favourably received, undertook some ‘three years ago to collate the requisite information, and to present it as a sequel to A Manual of Dyeing. It has thus been possible to considerably reduce the size of the new volume, in that repetition of such information as is essential to dyeing and printing alike has been avoided as much as possible. Thus, in the new volume, such subjects as a description of the colouring matters, their composition and properties, are entirely omitted, while others like bleaching, Indigo, Paranitraniline red and Turkey red dyeing are only dealt with as far as they are actually carried out in print works, Most of the processes described are taken from actual practice, and where it has been deemed desirable, a printed pattern has been introduced in the text, to illustrate the effect obtained. ~ vl TEXTILE PRINTING.

The authors desire to acknowledge their indebtedness to the following firms for having kindly supplied patterns for illustrating the work :—Messrs The Calico Printers’ Association, Ltd., Messrs Horridge & Cornall, Messrs Blakeley & Beving, Messrs Meister, Lucius & Briining, Messrs The Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik, Messrs F, Bayer & Co., Messrs The Society of Chemical Industry, Basle, Messrs J. R. Geigy, Basle, Messrs The Lancashire Ultramarine Co., and Messrs L. Cassella & Co. They also desire to acknowledge their thanks to Messrs Mather & Platt for numerous figures representing machines employed in the industry.

All the standard works on the subject, as well as patent and current literature, have been consulted, 1

PRO a oH w 2: June 1912,

GENE N ES.

PART I, INTRODUCTION.

Historical , General considerations Pack Peli

METHODS OF PRINTING.

Block printing by hand

Block cutting Block cutting on eel **Coppered”’ blocks Cast-metal blocks

The pei of printing by hand re Loby>: ae ‘* Rainbowing ”

Block printing by meehine, Perrotine printing Surface printing

Stencilling .

The making and using of eal rie!

Stencilling machines .

Plate or flat-press printing.

Machine, roller or cylinder printing The roller printing machine Doctors Cleaning doctor Lint or composition doctor Lapping Blankets : Mackintosh blankets .

Washing aes ‘* Back greys”

Furnishers and colour bet Rollers Mandrels

Engraving of copper Pellets, Hand engraving vil

PAGE

Vill TEXTILE PRINTING.

PAGE Machine engraving . : : : , : : : : 66 Pentagraph engraving : - . * : : 69

Modifications of the cylinder enter miaelie 5 . : : ; : 74 The ‘‘ Duplex” machine ; : : é ; x - "7b The intermittent or ‘‘ jumper” Sate machine : ; : : lf Defects incidental to roller printing . : : ae ; ‘ : 79

PART «BEL PREPARATION OF THE CLOTH FOR PRINTING.

Bleaching . A - ; : ; : ; : : 85 Marking and sewing of pieces . : - : : : : . 86 Snnghe 5 : - : , ; 7 : . ; 86 Washing ; : 5 : : : : ‘ . 90 The lime boil . 5 : ‘ : 5 ‘ : : : 91 Souring : : : ; : : : ; : 94 The first ‘‘lye pou Rs : ‘ é E : : : ; 94 The second ‘‘ lye boil” ; ‘ 2 5 : n : ; 94 Chemicking . : : 5 : ; , : : 5 94

Mercerising : : : : : : LOO

Shearing, brushing, ee eendie COaame : ¢ , " : ne eeLOS

Preparation of the cloth with ‘‘ prepares ” . : : - : a LOS

PART by: PREPARATION OF COLOURS FOR PRINTING.

Starches, gums, albumen, casein, glue, China clay ? : - : nee Og,

The making of printing colours. ; : : ; : ; er LS Generalities . . 2 : ; : : : - OP LES Straining of colours . : : - : - : : ~ “124 Defects in printing colours. ‘ 3 : : : , ve 2b

FARO, TREATMENT OF GOODS AFTER PRINTING.

Ageing : : : ° 5 : : ‘ a” : } 186 ‘* Ageing” or ‘*‘ hanging rooms”’ : : : : : 4 187 Thom’s patent ageing chamber ; ; - : : ; i lee Mather & Platt’s rapid steam ‘‘ ager” - : , : : 7 eS Ageing with superheated steam : : ; ; 5 : Fle gl Indigoager ., : : ; ‘ é : relay,

Dyeing ¢ : ; : : 2 . : : é oa Loe

Raising and dey sloping : : : . ° : . 7 ce eet

Cutting . : - : : ; ; oo LG

Washing . ; : : - : : , ; : wal

Clearing or Bhaickiie 7 : ; : - : : ; . 168

CONTENTS. 1X

Paras Vil MORDANTS, ETC.

PAGE Mordants . ; : é - ; 5 wre) Aluminium mordants . : ‘ , ; . 182 Iron (6 : 5 : : : , 5 isl Chromium a : : : < ‘ ; : ‘ LOS Tin 3 : ; : ; : ; : . 204 Nickel 3 ‘ : : : 5 . 207 Zine 5 ; . ; : ' , , , PADS) Copper : : : : : : : . 209 Lead - : : : : : : : 5 eile Manganese ie > : ; : Deze, Calcium salts . : : ; ; : ; . PAlB Oil mordants . : ° : ; ; ; zis Tannic acid . ; : ; : 5 ‘ , 220 Various assistants and preparations . 3 : 222 Soap . : : ; : , : : 226 Thickening pastes 6 : : ; : . 227 Oxidising and reducing agents. ; : » el Oxidising agents ; ; : : : : 5 hl Reducing agents : : : 2 : : . 235 Pave Vol.

STYLES OF PRINTING.

General. ; ; : : : : : : : . 248 (1) Direct Printed Styles . é ; : , : : : . 244 Application of mordant colours : : : : : : . 245 Alizarin , ; : : : ; ; ; 0 Ay, red. ; : : : F : : . 248 ee piunkes. A : : : 5 . 250 >> claret-. ; : F A ; : , 5 Se Steam Alizarin purple . ; ; ; : . 258 Sp chocolate : 4 : : : . 264 Other Alizarin colours . ; : : ‘ ‘ 5 205 Alizarin blue . : : : : : ‘ ne 206 », yellows 6 ‘ : P » 259 i) Breens. : ; ‘ : . 260 Dinitroso-resorcin j : ; : . 261 Anthracene brown ; : ; : : ; . 262 Application of the natural or vegetable dyestuffs. : : ; . . 263 Logwood : ; ; : ; : . 2638 Persian berry extract . ; : : , ; ; . 264 Quercitron bark extract é ; : : . 266 Peachwood , : ; . : ‘ . 266 Catechu : : : : ; ‘ : : 5 AY Application of basic colours , ; : ; . 268 5 pigment or ‘‘albumen ” colours ; 5 . 278 3: direct dyeing colours : é : ; 5 ah Aniline black, ete. : ; : ; . : : 5 2t6 Indigo printing. ; : : . 287 The glucose process, . : : . 287

The hydrosulphite process C . 5 : 2 e290 x TEXTILE PRINTING.

Application of other vat dyestuffs Ciba colours . : The Sulphide colours : The Indanthrene colours .

The Algol colours The Helindone colours .

Steam mineral colours The loose steam style ; ‘*Padding” and ‘‘covering”’ styles Colours produced on the fibre by condensation Nitroso-blue Notes on the preparation of ped ae Application of the foregoing principles Series of colours for compound shades (2) The Dyed Style E The Madder style ‘* Alkaline” reds Madder chocolates », purples Fe Dlackae : Multi-colours in the Madder style , Dyed Madder colours and steam colours ‘Cover and Pad” style Discharging of slop-padded mordants The basic style The chrome mordant dyed aye Remarks on the dyed style .

Turkey red , : Turkey red for dicsheronte sy (Erban-Specht Process) .

Indigo dyeing : The ferrous sulphate me The zinc-lime vat The hydrosulphite vat .

The zine-bisulphite-soda vat The clear hydrosulphite vat The dyeing of the cloth (3) The insoluble Azo colours Preparation of the cloth Diazotising .

The development of the fulece The application of the Azo colours , : Printing of thickened naphthol solutions Printing of thickened diazo solutions .

Direct production of Para red on the fibre Azo colours with steam colours The dyeing of plain shades with the insoluble Signe

The coupling of the diazo compounds with colours of the Chrfapidine gr anes

Printing of ‘‘ Para brown”

Dyeing of ‘‘ Para brown”

Resist and discharge effects on insoluble Ago selon grounds

(4) Discharge and Reserve (Resist) Styles .

Discharge styles The discharging of Indigo by purines The chromate discharge ; The chlorate < Prussiate discharge

PAGE 292

294 299 302

Contents

Freyberger’s nitrate discharge .

Reduction discharges on Indigo Discharging of Turkey red

The acid process

Introduction

INTRODUCTION.

Tue term “textile printing” is used to signify the production, by various means, of coloured patterns or designs upon all sorts of textile fabrics—cotton, wool, silk, jute, linen, and various mixtures of these and other fibres.

Textile printing is really a form of dyeing, but differs from that art in that the cloth, instead of being uniformly coloured throughout by immersion in a solution of dyestuff, has one or more thickened colours or mordants applied to it locally, the colour being developed by steaming, etc., or by dyeing. The close relationship existing, however, between the two is emphasized by the fact that although it is quite possible to print on cloth almost any form of colour capable of being converted into a viscous fluid—as, for example, paint, coloured wax, etc.—yet, broadly speaking, the whole of the colouring matters employed in the one industry are identical with those employed in the other.

HISTORICAL.

The beginnings of the art of ornamenting textile fabrics by the stamping or printing on of coloured designs are lost in antiquity. They are usually assumed to have originated in the Far East, where the Hindoos and Chinese are known to have practised hand printing with wood blocks from the earliest times, but recent discoveries in the Pyramids, and other Egyptian tombs, of fragments of cloth undoubtedly decorated by some process other than dyeing alone prove pretty conclusively that the ancient Egyptians also were acquainted with some form of the art. Textile printing was also practised by the Peruvians before the Spanish conquest in 1531-1532, but whether they discovered the process for themselves or derived their knowledge of it from outside sources (which is not likely, considering the limited means of communication they possessed at that date) is not known. Taken altogether, then, it is probable that the art of printing on textile fabrics was discovered indépendently and at different times by each of these nations.

On historical grounds, it would appear that the Chinese and Hindoos are about equally justified in claiming credit for the invention of block printing ; for, while Pliny the Elder (a.p. 23 to a.p. 79) certainly alludes to some unknown process whereby the Egyptians of his time produced patterns on dyed cloth, it is on record that letterpress printing from engraved wood blocks was extensively practised in China nearly two thousand years ago, and, further, that valuable Indian fabrics printed in colowrs were known to, and esteemed by, the Romans in the days of the Empire. From this latter cireumstance, which shows that the Hindoos had already gained a world-wide reputation for the excellence of their printed cottons, it may, not unreasonably, be inferred (a) that block printing, even at this early date, was an old-established industry in India; and (6) that any contemporary work produced in Egypt was either not executed by the process used by the Hindoos, or was still in the experimental stage, from which it seems never thoroughly to have emerged, Leaving, therefore, the

Peruvians out of the discussion—for no information relating to their work is available earlier than 1532—the question of the priority of discovery is narrowed down to the consideration of the rival claims of China and India. If we except the Assyrians, who employed carved wooden stamps for impressing cuneiform symbols on wet clay tablets and bricks, the Chinese, so far as is known, were the first to make use of engraved wood blocks for any kind of real printing. It is not unlikely, therefore, that they were the original discoverers of calico printing, for it is quite possible that the idea which led up to their invention of letterpress printing would suggest the feasibility of applying the same process to the ornamentation of textiles. That they produced block-printed fabrics in very remote times is unquestionable, but whether or not they anticipated the Hindoos in this respect is still a matter of conjecture, and even now, after a century or more of controversy, appears to be as far from settlement as ever. In fact, the rival claims of China and India to the honour of priority are based upon pure circumstantial evidence alone. Without going into detail, it may be interesting to note the main line of argument followed in each case.

Taking China first :—In the absence of direct proof to the contrary, it has been postulated by those who hold that textile printing originated in China, that because the Chinese were the first to practise letterpress printing, they would naturally be the first also to practise textile printing. This plausible argument, which depends entirely, for any value it may possess, upon the assumption that the highly civilised, ingenious, and technically skilful Chinese would be certain to recognise almost immediately the possibility of applying the principle of their newly invented letterpress process to the decoration of textiles, is pertinent enough to account in some measure for the rise of textile printing in China ; but, as a factor in the determination of the probable date of that rise, it loses most, if not all, of its specious importance when submitted to analysis. Considering, for instance, that letterpress printing and dyeing are two very different crafts, with nothing in common ; that in early times, in China, each craft was a ‘‘mystery,” the processes of which were only known to and practised by those who had been duly initiated ; and that, until comparatively recently, all new discoveries and methods were jealously guarded and kept secret as long as possible, it is in the highest degree improbable that—in the days when letterpress printing was a new invention, and dyeing a purely empirical process—either Chinese printers or dyers would know anything of the technicalities of each other’s crafts ; or, at least, would be sufficiently conversant with their practice to realise at once the possibility of combining them for the purpose of producing decorative effects hitherto unknown on textiles.

In that unscientific: age the development of an industry was necessarily a very slow process, and it is not unreasonable to suppose, therefore, that a considerable interval of time elapsed between the introduction of letterpress printing and that of textile printing ; for, on the one hand, the printers, for a long time, would naturally confine themselves to, and be fully occupied in, perfecting and working their own particular invention, while, on the other hand, the contemporary dyers, following their occupation on “rule of thumb” lines, would be scarcely likely to conceive at once the idea of extending the scope of their craft by the application of an entirely new invention (the object, appliances, processes, and materials of which were so totally different from anything to which they were accustomed), especially as no mode or style of textile decoration then existed capable of giving them a lead in that direction. In any case, the assumption that the invention of letterpress printing involved that of textile printing, and that the two were practically coeval, is nothing more than a mere conjecture, based on possibilities which, though plausible enough on the surface, are found to be rather too subtle and too remote to be unhesitatingly accepted as probabilities when contrasted with the actual course along which the

HISTORICAL. 5 development of letterpress and woodcut printing proceeded in Europe during the Renaissance. ‘lo trace the successive steps in this development is both needless and beyond the scope of the present work; but it may be noted that, although block printing was extensively employed in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries for the ornamentation and illustration of books and for the reproduction of works of art, it never once suggested itself to the printers and dyers of those times as suitable for application to the ornamentation of textiles.

It thus appears that block printing on paper was not so inherently suggestive of textile printing as some seem to have imagined. Had it been so, it is inconceivable that such an important feature, which is assumed, for the purposes of argument, to have been patent to the early Chinese, should have escaped entirely, in analogous circumstances, the keen observation of mighty minds like Albrecht Diirer, Hans Holbein, Lucas van Leyden, and all the other great exponents of wood engraving ; and that, too, in an age when craftsmen were no less expert, no less ingenious, no less civilised, and, if anything, more alert to seize upon any means of extending their trade, than were the Chinese of fifteen hundred years before. As a matter of fact, “calico printing” was an unknown art in Europe until the latter part of the seventeenth century—two hundred and fifty years after the first introduction of letterpress and “woodcut” printing; and even then it was not evolved from the latter, but was imported as a “ workable process,” both directly and indirectly, from India. On the whole, then, while granting that the relationship between the two processes is sufficiently close to afford a certain amount of presumptive evidence in support of the view that “textile printing” in China was derived, in the first instance, from letterpress printing, it cannot be said that any real grounds exist for the broad assumption that their respective inventions were coeval, and consequently it is safer not to assign the invention of the former (in China) to any definite period.

Secondly, as regards India :—Unfortunately, up to the present, no record has been discovered indicating, in the slightest degree, the approximate date at which block printing was first practised in India. But the simple fact of the beginnings of an industry, common to two countries, being put on record in the one and allowed to pass unnoticed in the other, is not of itself any proof that that industry was originated in the first, or that it was introduced into the second from outside. Other considerations must be taken into account before the evidential value of a mere record can be properly estimated ; and so, curiously enough, in the case of India, the lack of historical data relating to the rise of textile printing, so far from prejudicing the Hindoo claim to priority in invention, tends rather to substantiate it. In this connection the following points are especially worthy of notice :—

(1) During the period in which textile printing is supposed to have been invented in China, the government of India was in the hands of the Brahmins, who, besides being the priests, scientists, philosophers, and lawgivers, were also the actual administrators of the country, and the sole custodians and interpreters of the Vedas—a series of Sanskrit writings revered as sacred by the Hindoos. According to the Vedic story, which was invented about 1200 b.c. by the Brahmins to justify their own claims to power, ‘‘ Brahma—the Creator of all the World ”—created four classes or “castes” of men from his own body, namely, from his head the Brahmins; from his arms the A’shatriyas (warriors) ; from his thighs the Vaisyars (tradesmen, craftsmen, and farmers); and from his feet the Sudras (menials). Further, it declares that the Veda was miraculously produced from Brahma’s mouth at the same time as the Brahmins; that it was to be committed to their charge alone ; and that it was to be taught and expounded by them only. Thus invested with divine authority, the Brahmins were regarded as beings of peculiar sanctity, and were held in high honour throughout India. In order to maintain their social, political, and religious supremacy, they adopted the policy of attributing the origin of every branch of art, science, and manufacture to the Veda, adding to it as they thought fit. They instituted the laws of Manu which not only defined exactly the social and religious status of each caste, but regulated everything relating to the daily life of its members—food, clothing, occupation, education, and marriage,—and severe penalties were exacted for the slightest violation of their stringent ordinances. Moreover, they compiled a series of works, known as the Sutras, which, although not asserted to have been directly inspired by the god Brahma himself, were alleged to be based upon the sacred Vedas, and consequently had divine sanction for the statements they contained. In these Sutras they not merely elaborated their religious system, but insisted upon the recognition of their claim to be considered as a sacred, independent, and superior caste, supreme alike over kings, princes, and people.

By these and other means the Brahmins, little by little, extended their sphere of influence, and gradually, but not without some opposition, succeeded in forming practically the whole mass of the mixed population of India into one great social and religious Brahminical organisation—Hindooism—with themselves as its acknowledged leaders and sole directors. Notwithstanding the fact that Buddhism was in the ascendant from about 200 B.c. to 600 a.p., the Brahmins never lost their prestige, nor relinquished their policy of ascribing all new knowledge to the Vedas, for which purpose they kept themselves aw fart with current developments in all branches of work that they considered of any importance. Neither did they cease from advocating a return to their own particular tenets, which were never entirely superseded by those of Buddha ; and as they (the Brahmins) still retained the monopoly of Vedic learning, and were by far the most highly educated section of the Hindoo population, they continued to exercise considerable influence throughout the whole of the above period upon the secular affairs of the people, in whose minds the idea of “caste” was too firmly rooted to be easily eradicated, by a new and wholly ethical religious system, the central principle of which was that future well-being could only be obtained by those who lived a virtuous and charitable life on earth. Toa people steeped in ignorance and superstition, such a doctrine was both incomprehensible and much less acceptable than the Brahminical teaching of expiation by propitiatory sacrifices to the gods—an easy way of atonement, and one which afforded a sense of comfort to those who believed in its efficacy. Again, the restrictions placed by Buddha upon indulgence in pleasure, and the observance of the moral precepts he enjoined, proved in practice too rigid and austere to find favour with the mass of the people, and consequently, although Buddhism was nominally the chief religion for about a thousand years, it never displaced Brahminism in any considerable part of India. The two religions were coexistent during the whole of this time, and about equally popular, in many instances flourishing side by side in the same district.

In its highest form, Buddhism was essentially a religion for the devout few. The ideal of Buddha was too lofty and his rules of life too strict for wholehearted acceptance by the rank and file of the people of his time, and after his death his teaching was, little by little, incorporated with a mass of pagan legend and superstition, until it finally became transformed into a system of idolatry, pure and simple, with Buddha as god. The priests, instead of living the poor, simple, and humble lives ordained for them by Buddha, became rich, luxurious, exacting, and arrogant, and this, together with the debased condition of Buddhism generally, probably contributed in no small measure to the retention by the Brahmins of their old-established temporal power.

_ (2) If, therefore, textile printing was brought into India from China, it is incredible that its introduction, as a new foreign industry, should have escaped the notice of the Brahmins, whose policy, as previously mentioned, was to assign the origin of all knowledge to the Vedas, and through them to Brahma.

HISTORICAL. 7

Even granting that its first entry into the country may have been unobserved by the Brahmins, it is almost impossible that the swdden appearance of the entirely novel decorative effects obtained by its means could have failed to attract their attention and to excite their curiosity; so that, in any case, if textile printing really were of foreign origin, it is surprising that, so far as is known, no attempt was made in the Brahminical writings to attribute its inception to the Vedas.

(3) If, on the other hand, it be considered as an invention of the Hindoo dyers themselves, the absence of all historical evidence relating to its commencement in India is, in one way at least, easily explainable. For in this case the Brahmins would probably regard printing as a mere modification or a branch of the already old-established art of dyeing, and, as such, of too little importance to merit separate mention. Dyeing being one of the industries carried on by the lower castes (Vaisyars and Sudras), was, naturally, not at all interesting technically to the Brahmins, and consequently any improvements made in its methods and processes would not be likely to come under their notice, especially if they were effected gradually, as must have been the case with textile printing.

Apart from all questions of evidence or surmise, the fact that textile printing was an extensive and highly flourishing industry in India during the earliest centuries of the Christian era is of itself almost sufficient to dissipate the notion that the art was introduced from China. In view of the reasons already adduced for supposing that the development of textile printing in China proceeded at the usual slow rate of all ancient industries, it is probable that the earliest date at which it could possibly have been introduced into India approximated fairly closely to that at which the products of Hindoo block printers were already known and appreciated in imperial Rome—a fact which clearly demonstrates that even at that early date the industry in India was not merely firmly established, but was established on a more or less extensive commercial scale. Taken altogether, then, it would appear that the most reasonable conclusion to draw is, that textile printing in India was a native invention, and that its advanced state of development, and the high estimation in which Indian calico prints were held at the beginning of our own era, were the result, not of any improvements that may have been effected by the Hindoos in a comparatively recently imported foreign industry, but of their long practical experience of an indigenous craft—an experience probably extending backwards, through many generations, to a period long anterior to that at which letterpress printing was first practised in China.