Paper and Printing Recipes Part 1

Paper and Printing Recipes.

by J. Sawtelle Ford.

HOW TO REMOVE COMMON WRITING INK FROM PAPER WITHOUT INJURY TO THE PRINT.

Common writing ink may be removed from paper without injury to the print by oxalic acid and lime, carefully washing it in water before restoring it to the volume.

TO RENDER PENCIL NOTES INDELIBLE.

Pencil notes found in a book, or placed there as annotations, may be rendered indelible by washing them with a soft sponge dipped in warm vellum size or milk.

TO REMOVE GREASE SPOTS FROM PAPER.

Grease may be removed from paper in the following manner: Warm gradually the parts containing the grease, and extract as much as possible of it by applying blotting-paper. Apply to the warm paper with a soft, clean brush, some clear essential oil of turpentine that has been boiled, and then complete the operation by rubbing over a little rectified spirits of wine.

HOW TO DETECT a.r.s.eNIC IN PAPER.

A simple method for detecting a.r.s.enic in paper, cards, etc., is described as follows:--Immerse the suspected paper in strong ammonia on a white plate or saucer; if the ammonia becomes blue, the presence of salt of copper is proved; then drop a crystal of nitrate of silver into the blue liquid, and, if any a.r.s.enic be present, the crystal will become coated with yellow a.r.s.eniate of silver, which will disappear on stirring.

AN INK RESTORER.

The process consists in moistening the paper with water and then pa.s.sing over the lines in writing a brush which has been wet in a solution of sulphide of ammonia. The writing will immediately appear quite dark in color, and this color, in the case of parchment, it will preserve.

COLORS FOR HOLDING BRONZE.

Red and green inks are good colors for holding bronze, when you are not working with size or varnish.

STENCIL INK.

A good and cheap stencil ink in cakes is said to be obtained by mixing lampblack with fine clay, a little gum arabic or dextrine, and enough water to bring the whole to a satisfactory consistence.

COPYING INK TO BE USED WITHOUT PRESS OR WATER.

Well mix three pints of jet-black writing ink and one pint of glycerine.

This, if used on glazed paper, will not dry for hours, and will yield one or two fair, neat, dry copies, by simple pressure of the hand, in any good letter copy-book. The writing should not be excessively fine, nor the strokes uneven or heavy. To prevent "setting off," the leaves after copying should be removed by blotting-paper. The copies and the originals are neater than where water is used.

WHITE INK.

There is really no such article as "white ink." A true ink is a solution of some substance or combination of substances in liquid. Colored liquids, however, may be prepared with various substances not soluble in the liquids available for writing fluids. A "white ink" may be made by rubbing the finest zinc white, or white lead, with a dilute solution of gum arabic. It must be stirred up whenever the pen or brush is dipped into it.

PURPLE HEKTOGRAPH INK.

To make the purple hektograph ink:--Dissolve 1 part of methyl-violet in 8 parts of water, and add 1 part of glycerine. Gently warm the whole for about an hour, then allow to cool and add 1/4 part alcohol. It is said, on good authority, that the alcohol may be advantageously omitted, and that the following proportions will give even better results than the above, viz: Methyl-violet, 1 part; water, 7 parts; glycerine, 2 parts. This formula, it is said, produces an ink which is less liable to sink into the paper.

A DARK RED INDELIBLE INK.

An indelible red ink for marking linen may be made from the following formula:

Prepare three separate solutions:

I. Sodium carbonate 3 drs.

Acacia 3 "

Water 12 "

With this moisten the spot to be marked, and dry and smooth with a hot flat iron.

II. Platinum bichloride 1 dr.

Water 2 oz.

Trace the letters with this fluid, permit to dry, and finally apply solution.

III. Stannous chloride 1 dr.

Water, distilled 4 "

TO MAKE A CARMINE.

Take 9 ozs. carbonate of soda and dissolve in 27 quarts of rain-water, to which add 8 ozs. of citric acid. When boiling, add 1-1/2 lbs. of best cochineal, ground fine, and boil for one and a quarter hours. Filter and set the liquor aside until cool. Then boil the clear liquor for ten minutes with 9-1/2 ozs. of alum. Draw off, and allow the mixture to settle for two or three days. Again draw off the liquor, and wash the sediment with clear, cold, soft water, and then dry the sediment.

VIOLET INK.

To make violet ink:--Put 8 ozs. logwood into 3 pints of water, and boil until half the water has gone off in steam. The rest will be good ink, if strained, and supplemented by 1-1/2 ozs. gum, and 2-1/2 ozs. alum.

Chloride of tin may be used instead of alum. Another plan is to mix, in hot water, 1 oz. cudbear (a dye obtained from lichen fermented in urine) and 1-1/2 ozs. pearlash; let it stand 12 hours; strain; add 3 ozs. gum and 1 oz. spirit.

INDELIBLE INK.

A cheap indelible ink can be made by the following recipe:--Dissolve in boiling water 20 parts of pota.s.sa, 10 parts of fine-cut leather chips, and 5 parts of flowers of sulphur are added, and the whole heated in an iron kettle until it is evaporated to dryness. Then the heat is continued until the ma.s.s becomes soft, care being taken that it does not ignite. The pot is now removed from the fire, allowed to cool, water is added, the solution strained and preserved in bottles. This ink will flow readily from the pen.

HOW TO REMOVE INK-STAINS FROM THE HANDS.

Ripe tomatoes will remove ink or other stains from the hands.

TREATMENT OF INDIA INK DRAWINGS.