Painting a Mock Tudor style house question

Yup. Thats the color they used to go...

some and some.

Perhaps they used woad?

Blackberry, as far as I know, is very fugitive. Unless you collect them in your shirt of course when they stain for ever

I was thinking particularly about alkanet, which is fat soluble and the fat was added to the mixture. It doesn't need a mordant in that application.

Madder might have been used, I'll see if I can find anything about it but I thought you'd have been the expert :-)

Mary

Nothing to do with dyes at all, but seeing your post has reminded me - what did you do about your wool/natural insulation in the end?

No but I'd like to be :)

Anna

~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs / ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc |____|

I decided that at market rates ecofriendly at eight times the price is too expensive for me BUT there are grants available and they might make a difference. I am now awaiting the visit of their surveyor and as my house is an extremely non standard case, I hope the surveyor turns out to be a good mate and not a jobsworth

Anna

~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs / ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc |____|

See if there's a local sheep-shearing competition near you coming up (our local pub has one end June) and buy the fleeces from there as they'll only be suitable for insulation. You'll have to clean them up yourself of course :-(

Well, like it or not, you are round here ... and well respected for it among those who understand.

Mary

Well, they need more than the cleaning which is possible in a domestic situation.

And even if they weren't - have you ever washed a fleece? Many more than one fleece would be needed too.

A daughter (a sheep farmer) wants to insulate her restored house with fleece but she's not going to be able to use her own without professional treatment.

Such a pity :-(

Mary

What sort of treatment is necessary?

Sheila

Apart from obvious cleaning I think vermin protection (especially moth) is done.

I can look it up if you're interested.

Mary

Yes, please, if it's not too much trouble.

Sheila

Do you have any experience with alkanet ? My experiments with it were attractive, but so fugitive that I practically invented photography.

It's not the trouble, it's the remembering a0 to do it and b) where to look for it :-)

Nag.

That's not an insult, it's an order:-)

Mary

In colouring oils and wax for making cosmetics, yes. That's all.

Others have used it in other applications with success but it was some time ago that I discussed it and watched demonstrations that I can't give details.

Mary

To date I find that it's protected against moth and other insect damage to an international standard, without using nasties. I can't tell you any more than that at the moment but I do know that if fleece - even washed - isn't treated it's attacked by moth. Sometimes prepared, spun and moth guarded wool yarn is :-(

It's my main concern about using wool as an insulation although I'd risk it if we needed it. There wouldn't be any point in yanking out what we have though.

Mary

"Mary Fisher" wrote in news:4291af30$0$28631$ snipped-for-privacy@master.news.zetnet.net:

But, in our water, blackberry dyes cotton a pale greenish colour.

Only when still on the sheep :-)

Yep - which is why I thought I'd put a glum smiley after the sentence.

If she's got a sheep dip tank then you can get the chemicals to preserve the fleece. It needs a lot of washing and all the other residents removing, then some form of sealing I believe.

Yes, ma'am!

(nagnagnag)

Sheila