. . . About green threads. I knew a lady who wanted to clean an antique embroidery, which she did very gently and very carefully in distilled water. The whole thing turned out beautifully except the green. It just disintegrated and not a hair was left. At the time I wondered whether it was the chemical composition of the dye itself. I have run up against this a couple of times since with things I have bought at flea markets, and it's always the green thread that falls apart. Interesting. Sharon
===================================================================== Hi Sharon, I have to think that it is the chemical composition of the green dye stuff. A friend of mine used to make kites from ripstop nylon fabric. In spite of being the same fabric in the same weight from the same manufacturer, the hand of the fabric differed by color rather dramatically. As I recall, the yellow was quite stiff and the purple was soft and flowing. We know that the black dyes used in the 19th century are eating the fabrics they were applied to because of their iron oxide content. That means that most Chantilly is slowly dy(e)ing and is already mostly too fragile to actually wear. Modern dye manufacture is often stymied by ecological constraints into using less than optimal formulations. It seems to me that probably something in the green dye stuffs (some mineral oxide in a solvent) are not easy to bring to a neutral or near neutral state or that once stable, they degrade over time, which also probably means that they oxidize. Oddly, since I like to make lace in wire, a nice bright royal blue wire is non-existent. Maybe for the same kind of reason. Modern enamelled wire is actually coated with polyester much of the time. In any case, it isn't really enamel and doesn't come in a nice bright blue. End of musings . . . Patty - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
