Step 8 of Dyeing and Finishing: Second Hot Gambier Liquid Sealing and Sun-Drying
After the initial boiling and sun exposure, the gambiered gauze fabric proceeds to the eighth step, which involves sealing with hot gambier liquid followed by sun-drying. It is important to note that the liquid used for this sealing is the "second-used" gambier liquid. The temperature of the liquid must be maintained between 45°C and 50°C, a control entirely reliant on the workers' manual experience, with the standard being that it should not feel scalding to the touch.
What is "Second-used Liquid"?
Workers toss gambier roots into a crusher while simultaneously channeling water into the machine through a hose connected to a faucet near the stove. A large wooden barrel is placed at the pulp outlet, and once the crusher is activated, the rumbling motor drives the process, causing reddish-brown gambier juice along with residual dregs to flow into the barrel. After filling a barrel, workers pour the mixture into a sedimentation tank, adding a specific ratio of water—typically three barrels of dregs to one barrel of water.
The first-pressed gambier juice is left to soak for 24 hours before being filtered through a mesh screen into a filtration tank. At this stage, the larger gambier dregs are mostly removed, leaving behind a relatively viscous slurry. The remaining gambier liquid then undergoes further purification to eliminate fine, fibrous residues.
When the liquid storage tank is filled with gambier juice, it is transferred using buckets or pumps and filtered through bamboo sieves into the first filtration pool. This is known as the "First Extraction Liquid."
Water is then added to the sedimentation tank to further soak and filter the gambier juice. The resulting liquid is similarly pumped through bamboo sieves into the second filtration pool, producing what is referred to as the "Second Extraction Liquid."
This process continues sequentially, yielding the "Third Extraction Liquid," "Fourth Extraction Liquid" (also called residue water), and "Fifth Extraction Liquid." Finally, all these variants of gambier juice are channeled into large wooden barrels for storage and future use.
Among these, the Fourth Extraction Liquid has the highest concentration and is typically used for the initial dyeing of the raw silk fabric.
NALANGE CHRONICLES
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