[Sca-cooks] My last post on pysanky and vinegar

[Stefan li Rous]

Anne replied to Phlip with:
> But while lye is certainly caustic, it equally certainly isn't acid. In
> fact, it's base. Extremely so. Don't know Aqua Regia.
>
> I think it is possible that when  Stefan asked about acid, he did mean
> specifically acid...

No, not really. I guess I should have said etching solution, but I can also
see where such solutions might be used for coloration rather than specifically
for etching. I was trying not to be overly specific, yet give some ideas for
articles that might be interesting.


> I'm pretty sure some mordants used are acid. When dyers in period used
> urine, modern dyers commonly use uric acid... I don't really know a lot
> about this, but it would be a place to look.
I'm not sure if the urine is used as a mordant or to seperate out the dye in woad. Possibly both at different times and processes.

Well, one area to look is this file:

urine-uses-msg     (6K) 10/ 6/99    Period uses of animal and human urine.

http://www.florilegium.org/files/CRAFTS/merch-woods-msg.html

Or specifically for dyeing and mordants, these files in the TEXTILE ARTS section::
dyeing-msg       (162K)  2/28/00    Dyeing techniques and discussion.
dye-list-art       (9K)  2/28/00    A list of period plant dyes by Moriel.
mordants-msg      (17K)  7/30/98    Info. on mordants. Period and modern.

   (And no, using some of these for food coloring would be a BAD idea...)

The woad info is in the PLANTS, HERBS AND SPICES:

woad-msg          (49K) 12/30/99    History of woad. Making dyes from woad.

Stefan
--
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris            Austin, Texas         StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****