Allerley Mackel:

To remove stains from cloth, velvet, silk, gold stuffs and clothing these stains being of grease, oil or wine stains or any other kinds, and how to do this easily without damage, with waters or lyes as will be taught in this booklet. Thereto also how to restore clothing which has lost its color, as well as how one dyes yarn and linen, and also wood and bone, in a variety of colors.

The Allerley Mackel is an example of the popular kunstbuchlein, or collection of household & artisanal recipes, popular during the 16th century. My translation was taken from the facsimile of the Allerley Mackel printed in Sidney Edelstein's article of the same name in the Journal of Technology & Culture, Vol V, No. 3, Summer 1964. The recipes are supplemented by my notes (in italics beneath).

To restore the lost color to a garment
To remove spots from wool cloth.
Another Way
Another way
To make a water for removing spots from white cloth
How one removes grease or oil spots from white cloth
How to remove grease or oil spots from various clothing including white ones
Another for removing grease spots
To remove wine spots from various cloths
To remove various stains from silken veils
To remove various stains and spots from crimson velvet
A water that takes away all dirt and spots from cloth of gold and velvet
To make pearls which look like real pearls in all respects
To dye yarn and linen cloth blue
To make a blue dye to dye anything
To dye red
Another red dye
To dye yarn and linen cloth brown
How one dyes wood, bone and horn
To dye a green color
Another green
Another [Green]
To dye red.
To dye yellow
To dye black
To soften horn
To make horn so soft that it can be worked into forms
Another of the same [to make horn soft]
To pour horn in molds like lead

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The exact translation of the term "weyd" is problematic. The phonetic spelling could refer to willow ashes (weidt) or woad ashes (waid). Both willow and woad ashes are mentioned in T Bouck va Wondre, a Dutch spot-cleaning and fabric dyeing manual of the early 16th century. In addition, weyd aschen could be the 16th c. German equivalent of the dutch wee assen, or "common ashes" from the hearth.

To remove spots from wool cloth.
Take cold lye of beech ashes, put therin a little lees of wine and also some burned clay (gebranten leimen) from a baking oven. Lay the cloth therein where it is spotted, and all stains will be removed. Thereafter wash the wool with clean water, and let it dry in the sun.

Another Way
Six ounces alum feces , four ounces crude tartar, two ounces alum, one half quintin camphor, one half quintin dragon’s blood, grind all together very small and mix it well together. Then take six ounces ox gall and six bucklin of clear water, put these things all in a kettle, let boil down a third, after which strain it through a cloth. If you cannot get the ox gall or the camphor, the water is strong enough. If you would use it, take a new woolen scrap, moisten it in the water, and rub the spot or stain with it. When the piece of cloth becomes dry, moisten it again with the water and rub until the spot has disappeared; thereupon take warm water and wash the place where the stain has been. But for white cloth take the same water and add some soap, boil it, and do as before.

According to Sidney M. Edelstein, "in this section the writer mixes together just about all of the available materials for removing all sorts of stains. The combination of tartar, alum, camphor, and dragon’s blood, as well as oxgall, should form a concentrated dispersion or emulsion containing solvents (the camphor-oxgall) to hold fats and waxes, tartrates to help remove iron, and adsorbents. The aluminum resinates formed with the dragon’s blood would have adsorbent action and would give some viscosity to the mix."

Another way
Six ox galls and as much rain water, a half pound tartar, two loth alum, grind it all small. Take then a drinking glass full of vinegar, put therein another half loth of vitriol pounded fine, boil it all down a third, and use it as aforesaid.

According to Sidney M. Edelstein: "The author is describing an acid spot remover. The combination of acid, gall, tartrates, and alum would indicate its use as a cleanser for vegetable and fat stains and perhaps for iron rust. The addition of vitriol could only be for the purpose of giving dark color to the spots where the acid and alum might normally remove some of the dye. Since most fabrics used by the common person were dark brown or black, this formula would have wide application."

To make a water for removing spots from white cloth
Take four ounces alum feces and two bucklin full of water, and let it boil down a quarter. Then take white soap and cut it into small pieces, take also an ounce of alum, and put it all in the water. Let it stand for two days and use it then on white cloth, as mentioned above.

How one removes grease or oil spots from white cloth
Take starch which has been boiled with flour and soak the cloth therein for a night where the grease or oil spots have set in the cloth. Then wash it in clear running water and hang it up in a place where the sun shines. However, if you wash cloth of costly colors, then you must hang it so that the sun shines a bit but not too hot, so that the color won't fade, as the hot sun soon damages costly colors.

According to Sidney Edelstein, "this solution has emulsifying action and adsorption for fats and oils, particularly when used in the concentrated form. It is to be borne in mind that many mechanical stains would be held in by the fats and oils, and the emulsification or removal of the fats and oils would usually remove a certain amount of this mechanical dirt also."

How to remove grease or oil spots from various clothing including white ones
Take water from boiled peas, soak the spots therein, and wash thereupon with clean fresh running water; hang it then where the sun shines warmly.

Another for removing grease spots
(Take) cold lye warmed a little with wine lees and mixed well together, that it is not too hot, and use as above.

According to Edelstein: "This is a typical remover for oil and fat stains by saponification. The author is not specific whether the lye is a solution of a carbonate or whether it is really a true lye (caustic soda made by adding lime to a solution of potash). In either case, the addition of the wine lees would reduce the harmful action on the wool."

To remove wine spots from various cloths
(Take) beech-ash lye and white wine lees in equal amounts, let the cloth lie therin over night, wash it then with clear water and hang it in the sun.

To remove various stains from silken veils
(Take) juice of chanterelles, soak the stains therein for two hours, wash it then with clear water and let it dry.

To remove various stains and spots from crimson velvet
Take vine stem ashes, make with them a good lye, the which lye take two bucklin full and put therein a loth of alum feces. Let it stand a while and then strain it through. Then take a fifth of an ounce of alum, a fifth of hard soap, a half fifth of soft soap, a quarter of common salt, a quarter sal ammoniac, a half-quarter celandine juice, and a quarter calf's gall. Mix it all together and strain it through a linen cloth. To use this liquid, then take wool shearings of scarlet and add thereto a little fine ground brasilwood, boil it all in this water a little, sieve it again through a cloth, and you will have a good red water which removes all stains. And whatever colors you wish to remove spots from, take the same color of wool shearings and do with it as has been taught above.

Here again we have a solution containing just about all of the stain removing agents available at the time. Not only are woolen shearings containing scarlet used as a source of the dye to restore the color to the goods, but brazil is also used to make sure of obtaining a good red. The final mix is an alkaline soap solution containing sodium aluminate, oxgall, and red dye. The action of the juice of celandine is not understood.

A water that takes away all dirt and spots from cloth of gold and velvet
Take crude red arsenic, and crude Mars, of each an equal part, grind it small and pour clean running water thereon. Also put five-leaved herb therein, and let it boil down by half, then let it cool and stand in the sun for two hours. Afterwards wash the cloth of gold or velvet therewith, and let it dry in the sun.

To make pearls which look like real pearls in all respects
Take the snail shells that one finds in water and boil them in wine until their black color goes away. Let them dry and scrape the black thoroughly off. Grind the white remains in a mortar, put it through a sieve, take egg whites beaten thin like water and put the powder therein. Make a paste thereof and form pearls out of it as you will, brush them well and let them dry. Place them in a pot , place the pot over a fire, and when the pot becomes hot pour them onto dry sand. Take thereto quicksilver and warm it, pour the pearls therein and stir it well, so that the silver adheres to them; then pour egg white on them and set them again over a so they will be well prepared. Some however do it this way: when they have brushed the pearls, then they let the pearls dry, and then take them and boil them in linseed oil, and wash them in hot water.

To dye yarn and linen cloth blue
Take the black dwarf elder berries, dry them in the sun and soak them in vinegar for 12 hours. Squeeze them with your hands, strain them and press it through a cloth. Put ground verdegris and alum therein. If the color should turn out light blue then add more verdegris. Lay the yarn or the linen cloth therein. Or take blue bilberries, pour water thereon, let it soak for three or four days, put alum therein and boil it well together.

These dyes aren't colorfast and will tend to fade to grey, despite the alum used as a mordant. Linen is more susceptible to this than wool. The verdigris may have been used to combat this tendency.

To make a blue dye to dye anything
Two loth of copper slag, a quarter salt, three spoonfuls vinegar, and put it all together in a copper vessel. Let it stand, and when you want to dye, put the named materials in a well-warmed decoction of brazilwood and dye what you wish therewith.

An interesting use of mineral substances to dye blue; this is an uncommon recipe. Most blue dyes have as their base either blueish berries, or woad. Lapis Lazuli is at times added to enhance the blue color. In this recipe, vinegar serves as a weak mordant.

To dye red
One loth of brasilwood sawdust, a loth of cinnabar ground small, boil with rainwater, also put in a lump as big as a walnut of ground alum. Boil it down by half, and dye therewith. You can also boil the brasil two or three times, as long as you add a little more cinnabar to it.

Another red dye
Take unslaked lime and pour rainwater thereon. Let it stand overnight and sieve the clear part through a cloth, and take for every mass of water a loth of brasilwood sawdust. Let it boil down by half. Add thereto a loth of ground alum, sieve the liquid free of the wood, and let it be somewhat hot but don't let the dye boil. Whatever you wish to dye should be prepared in the following manner: Take the lees of red wine and put them in a sack so that the wine runs out and the lees become dry. Then make balls or lumps of it the size of a hen's egg. Let them dry in the sun. Then burn them to ashes, and from these ashes make a strong lye and make it boiling hot. Whatever you wish to dye, heat with this and let it dry. Thereafter pass it through the aforementioned dye.

The second paragraph of this recipe is instructions on how to make alum feces, otherwise called burnt alum and other terms.

To dye yarn and linen cloth brown
Take a pound of wild saffron and put it in a bag. Lay it a day and a night in flowing water; thereafter wash it until no more yellow color comes from it. Take then a pot and lay a layer of saffron therein which is not too thick. Strew thereon finely ground weyd ashes then again a layer of saffron and again weyd ashes, etc. Cover or stop it up well, and let it stand for seven hours. Take then eight mass of water, four mass vinegar and put the saffron and ashes in a pointed lye sack (long, pointed sack?). Let the warm water and vinegar run through 15 times, and this will be the last dye. Again take the same amount of water and vinegar, let it run through as before, and this is the second dye. Do it a third time, and this will be the first dye. Take this dye and warm it, and let the yarn lie therein for a night. Hang it up once its wrung out. Do the same with the second dye, and in the third let it lie for seven hours.

This is clearly a recipe for creating a red-brown dye from safflower. Virtually identical recipes for extracting red from Safflower can be found in the Profitable Dye Book, Secretes of Alexis, T Bouck va Wondre and the Household Cyclopedia. All mention suspending the dye material in water until the soluble yellow dye has been removed, and then precipitating the red dye with an alkaline solution of ashes. The triple-dying technique is one seen in other 16th century books for dyeing wool and especially linen with non-colorfast or non-substantive dyestuffs.

How one dyes wood, bone and horn
Any wood, bone, or horn you want to dye must lie for half a day in alum water, and then be allowed once more to dry. Then it should be dyed as follows.

To dye a green color
Take two parts verdigris, one third of sal ammoniac, grind it well together, and lay it in strong vinegar. In this vinegar lay the wood, bone or horn, and cover it tightly, and let it lie therein until it is green enough.

this creates an acid solution of copper

Another green
Lay the wood, bone, or horn in a glass jar, and pour vinegar thereon which has verdigris mixed in it so that it is quite thick and not too thin. Cover it well and let it sit seven days under warm horse manure. If it is not green enough, let it stand longer.

Another [Green]
You can also do it in the same way as described above, verdigris mixed with vinegar. Lay the wood, bone or horn therein, let it stand the same amount of time, take it out and lay it for 18 days under hot horse manure, which is moist.

To dye red.
If you would dye wood, bone, or horn red, you should take unslaked lime, pour rainwater thereon, let it stand overnight and in the morning sieve the clear portion through a cloth. Then take for one mass of water one loth of brasilwood sawdust, lay the bone, wood or horn therein, and let it boil well therein. But you must lay it in alum water beforehand.

To dye yellow
Take the bark of apple trees, scrape the outer rough skin from it, keep the middle layer and cut it into small pieces. Pour water thereon, lay the wood, bone or horn therein, also put alum therein and let it boil well together.

To dye black
Boil ground gall nuts in strong vinegar. Lay the wood, bone or horn therein, let it boil well together, take it out and lay it in egg white. Also add the juice of the outer shells of walnut, and let it boil once again.

To soften horn
Take urine which has stood covered for four weeks, and put in a pound of unslaked lime and half as much weyd ashes, or ashes of wine lees, eight loth tartar and as much salt, and mix everything well together. Let it boil well, pour it then in a lye sack and let it run through twice. Keep this lye well covered, and when you want to soften horn, let it lye therein eight days and it will become soft. Or take poppy stems with their tops, burn them to ashes, make a lye from this, and let the horn boil therin.

To make horn so soft that it can be worked into forms
Take one pound of ashes used to make glass, a pound of unslaked lime, one mass of water, and let it boil together until two thirds is boiled off. Then stick a feather in and run it between the fingers; if the hairs come away, it is boiled enough. If not, let it boil longer. Let it clear and strain the top portion off. Then take small chips of horn, let it soften therin for two days, then smear your hands with oil and work the horn well between them till it is a paste, then put it into whatever form you wish.

Another of the same [to make horn soft]
Juice of the herb called in Latin marubium album, and celery juice, also juice from Millefolii herb, also radish juice, and celandine juice, also strong vinegar; mix it all together and lay the horn therein, and set it for seven days, well covered, under warm horse manure. Work with it then as is mentioned above.

To pour horn in molds like lead
Take weyd ashes and unslaked lime and make a strong lye therefrom. In this lye, lay chips of horn and let it boil well together until it is a paste. And whatever color you want to have, grind it and put it in and pour it as you will.