Oil-Paint can be removed, by rubbing it with very pure spirits of turpentine. The impure spirit leaves a grease-spot. Wax can be removed, by scraping it off, and then holding a red-hot poker near the spot. Spermaceti may be removed by scraping it off, then putting a paper over the spot, and applying a warm iron. If this does not answer, rub on spirits of wine.
Ink-Stains, in carpets and woollen table-covers, can be removed, by washing the spot in a liquid, composed of one teaspoonful of oxalic acid dissolved in a teacupful of warm (not hot) water, and then rinsing in cold water.
Stains on Varnished Articles, which are caused by cups of hot water, can be removed, by rubbing them with lamp-oil, and then with alcohol. Ink-stains can be taken out of mahogany, by one teaspoonful of oil of vitriol mixed with one tablespoonful of water, or by oxalic acid and water. These must be brushed over quickly, and then washed off with milk.
Modes of Cleansing Various Articles.
Silk Handkerchiefs and Ribands can be cleansed, by using French chalk to take out the grease, and then sponging them, on both sides, with lukewarm fair water. Stiffen them with gum Arabic, and press them between white paper, with an iron not very hot. A tablespoonful of spirits of wine to three quarts of water, improves it.
Silk Hose, or Silk Gloves, should be washed in warm suds made with white soap, and rinsed in cold water; they should then be stretched and rubbed, with a hard-rolled flannel, till they are quite dry. Ironing them, very much injures their looks. Washleather articles should have the grease removed from them, by French chalk, or magnesia; they should then be washed in warm suds, and rinsed in cold water. White Kid Gloves should have the grease removed from them, as above directed. They should then be brushed, with a soft brush, and a mixture of fuller's earth and magnesia. In an hour after, rub them with flannel, dipped in bran and powdered whiting. Colored or Hoskin's gloves can be cleansed, very nicely, by pure spirits of turpentine, put on with a woollen cloth, and rubbed from wrist to fingers. Hang them for several days in the air, and all the unpleasant smell will be removed. Gentlemen's white gloves should be washed with a sponge, in white-soapsuds; then wiped, and dried on the hands. Swan's-down tippets, and capes, should be washed in white-soapsuds, squeezing, and not rubbing them; then rinse them in two waters, and shake and stretch them while drying. Ostrich feathers can also be thus washed. Stiffen them, with starch, wet in cold water and not boiled. Shake them in the air, till nearly dry, then hold them before the fire, and curl them with dull scissors, giving each fibre a twitch, turning it inward, and holding it so for a moment.
Straw and Leghorn Hats, can be cleansed, by simply washing them in white-soapsuds. Remove grease, by French chalk, and stains, by diluted oxalic acid, or cream of tartar. The oxalic acid is best, but must be instantly washed off. To whiten them, drive nails in a barrel, near its bottom, so that cords can be stretched across. On these cords, tie the bonnet, wet with suds, (having first removed the grease, stains, and dirt.) Then invert the barrel, over a dish of coals, on which roll brimstone is slowly burning. Put a chip under one side of the barrel, to admit the air. Continue this, till the bonnet is white; then hang it in the air, (when the weather is not damp,) till the smell is removed. Then stiffen it with a solution of isinglass or gum Arabic, put on the inside, with a sponge. Press the crown, on a block, and the rest on a board, on the right side, putting muslin between the iron and straw, and pressing hard. Be careful not to make it too stiff. First, stiffen a small piece, for trial.
ON COLORING.
Precautions and Preparations.