Date and Time:
2015.11.23, 12:30pm
Location: Chandler LaboratorySubject: Madder dye preparation
Checked ph of urine to begin; almost no change in ph strip color, so neutral. I assume this recipe requires an acidic liquid to make the dye work, so I have no idea how this will turn out.
12:40pm - Combined 2 cups of old urine with 43 grams of ground madder root (sourced from Kremer pigments, pre-ground). Instead of adding the contents to a stainless steel pot I combined everything in the large mason jar seen above and heated the contents in a pot filled with water (similar to a double-boiler). Since I am not boiling the contents Naomi and I don't think the non-tempered glass will be a problem.
12:50pm- It looks the like the urine is turning red, but I'm surprised to see how much madder there is in this small amount of liquid. The top 2 inches of the jar is floating madder root.
1:10pm- Slowly adding potash alum. 'Alum' is a pretty nebulous term and the original french "alun de glace" is simply translated as "rock alum" in Cotgrave (just like our translation); after consulting with Professor Smith and Joel we decided using our supply of potash alum (which is already pre-ground) would be appropriate. Maybe we could try the experiment again and grind the large crystals of rock alum we have? The liquid effervesces almost immediately, so I can only add a couple grams at a time. Stirring seems to help the effervescence reside.
1:20pm- Finished adding all the potash alum. The foam/bubbles haven't fully resided.
1:40pm- Continued heating the dye until about 90 degrees C. I briefly warmed both the mason jars containing the veneers in hot water to avoid shattering the glass adding the hot dye. Poured the dye and some of the madder into each jar until the veneers were completely covered and reserved whatever was leftover in the same mason jar we used for preparation. The dye is a dark, rusty red color.
2:00pm- I immediately brought the two jars of soaking wood back to my apartment and placed them in the hot water bath.