Mechanized Processes

Machinery for dyeing and printing textiles could be quite complicated. The indigo process, for instance, requires alternate dippings and air exposure to properly develop the color. The machine pictured here does just that:

“The cloth is passed through the first vessel contained the reduced indigo and then through the nip to the overhead winces, which are designed to give the goods an air passage sufficient to promote oxidation. The cloth then falls from the winces on to slowly moving endless creepers or aprons to complete oxidation of the indigo before passing into the next dyeing vessel.”