Edwardian Silk & "Pure Dye"

cmpollack

VFG Member
Edwardian Silk & \"Pure Dye\"

Came across this interesting tidbit in a 1909 Bon Marche ad for silk petticoats:

"Perhaps you do not know that the wear of a silk petticoat depends largely on the way it is dyed. The excess of metal sometimes contained in the dye gives the silk a temporarily good appearance, but also rots the fabric, which cracks after a little wear. Every skirt in these three lots has been dyed with Pure Dye".

The ad goes on to list three types of sale petticoats, ranging from $4.65 to $7.50, in "Black and the wanted colors" (wish those "wanted colors" were listed!)
 
The use of dyes is an extensive subject but there is truth in this ad. Mordant dyes were commonly used for natural fabrics and iron mordants may be referred to here. Mordant substances at that time included "tannic acid, sumac, gall nuts, bark extracts, oleic and stearic acids, and Turkey red oil; and metallic substances such as various combinations or soluble salts of chromium, aluminum, iron, copper, and tin." Iron mordants are corrosive and eventually fibres begin to disintegrate. The mordant improves the fastness of the dye.

There were various classes of dyes for example Acid,Sulphur,Vat and Mordant was one of them.

There was another problem associated with silk and we've discussed this from time to time. What is known as "shattered silk." Silk fibres produced by the silk worm are encased in a gummy coating of sericin which in the 19th Century was removed by soaking the fibres in metallic salts. This eventually causes shattering in the woven fabric. This process also added weight to the silk and because the price of silk was based on weight this practice continued until trade regulations began to oversee silk weighting which is still carried out as it can improve the finish and dye characteristics of silk. You sometimes see labels with "weighted silk."
 
That's great information, thanks! (I'm copying and saving to my files... :saint: )

I knew that silk shattering had a metal-related connection, but didn't fully understand the process. Now it's much clearer!

Does the disintegration caused by iron mordants look the same as metallic-salt-related shattered silk, or is it a different type of deterioration?

I often run into better silk neckties of the 50s/60s labelled "weighted silk", and never realized the history behind the term!
 
Thank you for the link Christina - I've been working on a late '30s floral dress where the pieces of fabric with black dye are being eaten away. It's hard to work out what an issue is when you've not read about it but I have encountered it before. There seems to be no way to stop it so now at least I understand what's causing it.

Nicole
 
Very interesting reading - thanks! I had always thought that silk shattering was just due to silk being a natural fabric and it just desintegrating purely from age and maybe bad storage - but then I didn't even know this existed before joining this forum. I am still learning...

I have this gorgeous Indian silk shirt-waist dress from the 50s, that is very delicate and in some places is showing signs of shattering. Have decided to leave it as it is, and enjoy it as long as I can by wearing it with care every now and then. The (rayon?) lining is very sturdy and lining and upper fabric are sewn together in all seams, so in the worst case, the lining can start to show somewhere :saint:.

Karin
 
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