and basic dyes play an important role in silk printing, which for the most part is confined to the production of articles for fashion goods, handkerchiefs, and scarves, all articles for which bright colours are in demand. Alizarine and other mordant colours are mainly used for any goods that have to resist repeated washings or prolonged exposure to light. In this case the silk frequently must be prepared in alizarine oil, after which it is treated in all respects like cotton, namely steamed, washed and soaped, the colours used being the same. Silk is especially adapted to discharge and reserve effects. Most of the acid dyes can be discharged in the same way as when they are dyed on wool. Reserved effects are produced by printing mechanical resists, such as waxes and fats, on the cloth and then dyeing it in cold dye-liquor. The great affinity of the silk fibre for basic and acid dyestuffs enables it to extract colouring matter from cold solutions and permanently combine with it to form an insoluble lake. After dyeing, the reserve prints are washed, first in cold water to remove any colour not fixed onto the fibre, and then in hot water or benzene to dissolve out the resisting bodies. After steaming, silk goods are normally only washed in hot water, but those printed entirely in mordant dyes will stand soaping, and indeed require it to brighten the colours and soften the material. Some silk dyes do not require heat setting or steaming. They strike instantly, allowing the designer to dye colour upon colour. These dyes are intended mostly for silk scarf dyeing. They also dye bamboo, rayon, linen, and some other natural fabrics like hemp and wool to a lesser extent, but do not set on cotton. Artificial fibre printing See also Batik Digital textile printing Screen printing Transfer-print Woodblock printing Dunging References Notes Bibliography The article has a detailed description of the history and contemporaneous technologies of textile printing. Further reading Floud, Peter (1960) English Printed Textiles. London: H. M. S. O. for Victoria & Albert Museum Montgomery, Florence (1970) Printed Textiles: English and American Cottons and Linens 1700-1800. Winterthur, Del.Henry Francis DuPont Winterthur Museum Turnbull, John G., ed. (1951) A History of the Calico Printing Industry of Great Britain. Altrincham: John Sherratt