A rabbit hole full of adhesive

Via

I was going to start testing glue ideas since there didn't seem to be that many options of plausible historical glues. But first, first, I figured I'd have a look at the history of wallpaper and see if I could find a little more information on Jerome Lanyer's 1635 patent to manufacture. I thought maybe I could find some more direction for what types of glues could be. I found Wallpaper,its History, Production, and Possibilities by Henry G. Dowling with a couple more clues about the early history of wallpapers. I did find out that Jerome Lanyer received his parent from Charles I on May 1, 1635 for a process he called "Londraindiana," and paid 10 (the book didn't specify 10 what) a year to keep the lucrative right to make flocked hangings. I found out that these were not printed on paper because paper wasn't strong enough. I also found the flock referred to as wool dust. I also found a date of 1620 for a French maker of flocked hangings called La Francois of Rouen.

From there I got pointed to a 1758 book on painting, enameling, and other techniques with recipes for paints,varnishes, sizes, etc, by Robert Dossie titled Handmaid to the Arts. There's an appendix to the two volumes called "On the Manufacturing of Paper Hangings" that is pointed to as the major source on early papers, including info on flocking.  He discusses alternating large and small knives for chopping wool rags into flock as well as the use of a mill. He also talks about the application of the flock: "Flock requires to be put on with the varnish." He suggests printing the varnish then removing the hanging to another table "to be strewed over with flock that is later to be gently compressed by a board or some other flat body, to make the varnish take better hold of it."

In the earlier sections on the gilding of bookbinding papers and leather, Dossie also has some information that should transfer. He mentions that the size is put on a wooden plate or block rather than on with a brush. In addition to both gold size, he mentions that, "the size should be thickened with as much yellow ocher and red lead as the proper working of the print will admit." The size is applied to the block by setting it evenly onto a cushion that has been evenly brushed with size." This technique is an accurate discussion of the color sieve or color box technique that is used by modern block printers where a felt pad is saturated with color and then put on a stretched membrane that floats on some starch. This ensures even and consistent uptake of the color as you can't press too hard without the force being dispersed.

From Dossie I took a detour to The Grove Encyclopedia of Materials and Techniques in Art by Gerald W.R. Ward where I found the cool box for shaking the paper is a late 18th, early 19th century innovation and the earlier flocking would have been done with a longer staple fiber, and by hand. It also mentions the adhesive made from boiled linseed oil and letharge (that's lead oxide folks.) Back to Dossie, I find recipes for varnish and sizes. There's a glover's size which is boiled scraps of leather, making a gelatin glue that would be used warm too, but it doesn't quite fit the "varnish" definition.

So then I went off looking for suggestions on how to make boiled linseed oil without getting lead poisoning. I found Indra Kneepken's Master's Thesis for the university of Amsterdam. "Understanding historical recipes for the modification of linseed oil: An experimental study in the properties of modified linseed oil for use as binding medium in early Northern European panel painting". It is 150 pages of fascinating. That has sent me off digging through multiple Medieval manuscripts of recipes and back into Cennini as well.

I guess that's the long winded way of letting you know that I've gotten nothing done today but a bunch of reading? And my glue experiments are going to wait until I give this a few more reads and look up a few more references. I think the answer is here. Not as straightforward as "use rabbit glue" or "try some glair," but i'm actually very happy about that. i didn't think those solutions were going to work and this very well may. i like it much better than just grabbing a jar of modern glue off the shelf and doing that.


Further reading:
"Color and Other Materials of Historic Wallpaper" by Catherine Lynn, Journal of the American Institute of Conservation, 1981   http://www.cool.conservation-us.org/coolaic/jaic/articles/jaic20-02-003.html
 Handmaid to the Arts by Robert Dossie, 1758. This link does not include the appendix, but there is a great deal of information on varnish and sizes that I am finding helpful  https://archive.org/details/handmaidtoartsb00dossgoog

You put the lime in the coconut. . . Um, why is there wool in my blender?

Fear not intrepid adventurers, this blender, like the crock pot, toaster oven, and immersion blender before it has gone on to weirder things than it was originally designed for. As flocking was originally a byproduct of the manufacturing of wool cloth (I'm going to assume from when the cloths were fulled and shaved, but I haven't found specific mention) it isn't something I can lay my hands on. Well, that is not precisely true. Flocking fiber is easily obtainable from woodworking suppliers as craftsmen use it to line boxes (look, no fabric Ma!) and cover duck decoys. It is, however, made of rayon and nylon fibers rather than the historical wool. I have ordered some to try out so I can compare the durability and texture of whatever madness I manage to make and what the pros sell. You can get a kit with the flocking fibers, the color matched adhesive, and a mini-flocker that pumps air. Amazon carries them so I should be getting one on my doorstep soon.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01hb4d3

In the meantime, I wanted to try some ideas out. A few years ago I saw an episode of The Fabric of Britain focused on the history of wallpaper and there was this wonderful section on the 18th century fad of flocked wall paper as well as of its origins in 1634 when Jerome Lanyer received a patent for the manufacture of flocked paper in Engliand. Allyson McDermott walks Paul Martin through the historical process of making the stuff. There are supposed to be some clips at the link under the picture but the aren't currently working for me. It could be my geographical location so I included the link in case it works for others. I would really have loved to watch it again to refresh my memory. One thing that I do remember clearly, however is that Allyson has a giant box to shake the paper and fibers in.

That is important, because I have a feeling this is going to be a lot like glitter. It will never, ever go away. There's a traditional family Christmas story that was told by my mother as I was growing up of the first Christmas that she and my father had together in their little apartment. My mom decided to flock the tree. In the kitchen. She also decided to make paper Santas with bottoms made of folded magazines spray painted red. Another project she chose to take on in the kitchen. The red flocking was apparently a sight to behold and was still very decorative come spring. As it remained until they moved.

While it is lucky we own our own home and thus my genetic legacy of harebrained crafting ideas won't get me thrown out on the street, episodes like the time I poured candles and reconditioned our countertops with beeswax in the process have made my husband wary. So I guess I'm getting a box with a good lid before I do anything of any size. First experiments will therefore be little samples.

Deep breath. Here goes. I started by taking a wool remnant I had hanging around and cut it into little bits with scissors.

That gave me a start. Obviously no consistency and it's not nearly fine enough.

 I threw it in my Ninja and pulsed it for about 4 minutes. I knew that wasn't going to be nearly long enough, but I could see some of the smallest bits being fine enough and I have a limited amount of time while my twins are at Kindergarten, so there's a deadline I'm fighting.

 I put a stencil down and brushed glue onto a cream silk taffeta. As I said, not fine enough, and not enough of the fibers that are, but I'm seriously encouraged. I'm using a generic craft that dries clear since that's what I had and I'm testing the wool first. I will need a heavier bodied, slower driving glue and I want to try tinting it to deepen the color of the finished design. Excitingly though, I think this might actually work. I'm going to chop more wool today.