How To Make DIY Iron Liquor Mordant For Natural Dyeing

Natural Dyeing & Printing, , , ,

how to make DIY iron liquor mordant for natural dyeing

DIY iron liquor mordant is very useful: as mordant before you dye fabric with natural dyes, to weather wood and dye leather black naturally. Iron liquor is easy to make at home and really cheap. In this tutorial I show you how to make DIY iron mordant using things you probably have at home! Continue reading How To Make DIY Iron Liquor Mordant For Natural Dyeing →

Mourning In The 1840s

1840-60 - Victorian, , ,

Mourning In The 1840s

‘It shows the best taste to make mourning as plain and as little fanciful as possible’. (The workwoman’s guide, 1840)

Mourning customs were very strict in the 1840s, especially in England. However, wearing mourning wasn’t a ‘punishment’, mourning clothes helped to protect the feelings of the person in mourning. Every stranger they met would recognize their mourning clothes and wouldn’t hurt the feelings of the mourner with unnecessary jaunty remarks.

1840s mourners knew four stages of mourning: They began with a dull black dress, gradually adding more luster and color, and finally wearing a lavender, purple or scarlet dress in the last mourning stage before they returned to wear colors.

Mourning clothes in the 1840s were still dyed with natural dyes. True black was difficult to dye with natural colors – wool and silk is easier to dye than cotton or linen – and it was prone to color bleeding. Mourning dresses could stain the skin and a shower of rain would ruin the mourning veil. Mourning dresses should also not be stored together with white or colored dresses, as they’d stain them. Mourning clothes could be stored separately in divans (The workwoman’s guide, 1840). Continue reading Mourning In The 1840s →

Tooth Care And Tooth Powder – Victorian And Edwardian Beauty Routine And Recipes

Historical Natural Beauty Routine & Products, , , , , , ,

Tooth Care And Tooth Powder - Victorian And Edwardian Beauty Routine And Recipes

In the Victorian and Edwardian era, teeth were usually cleaned with tooth powder; with precipitated chalk as the foundation of nearly all tooth powders. ‘A perfect tooth powder that will clean the teeth and mouth with thoroughness need contain but few ingredients and is easily made’ at home (Henley’s Twentieth Century Formulas, Recipes And Processes, 1916).

Related: 200+ Historical DIY Natural Beauty Products

The tooth powder should be mild: some tooth powder is ‘too active to benefit the teeth, because of the strong bleaching ingredient contained.’ (Health And Beauty Hints, 1910) Some tooth powder of the era contained abradants, such as pumice, cuttlebone, charcoal or kieselguhr. However, such tooth powders should only be used occasionally, if at all: ‘Abrading powders have much to answer for in hastening the day of the toothless race.’ (Henley’s Twentieth Century Formulas, Recipes And Processes, 1916)

For the base of a tooth powder ‘there is nothing better than precipitated chalk; it possesses all the detergent and polishing properties necessary for the thorough cleansing of the teeth, and it is too soft to do any injury to soft or to defective or thinly enameled teeth. […] Next in value comes soap. Powdered white castile soap is usually an ingredient of tooth powders. There is nothing so effective for removing sordes or thickened mucus from the gums or mouth. But used alone or in too large proportions, the taste is unpleasant. Orris possesses no cleansing properties, but is used for its flavor and because it is most effective for masking the taste of the soap.’ (Henley’s Twentieth Century Formulas, Recipes And Processes, 1916) Sugar may be added to sweeten the tooth powder; and the powder may be flavored according to one’s own taste with oil of peppermint, wintergreen, rose etc.

Like today, it was advised in the Edwardian era to rinse the teeth after eating acidic foods, and to use dental floss every evening.

Continue reading Tooth Care And Tooth Powder – Victorian And Edwardian Beauty Routine And Recipes →