Wet white clothes in suds, and lay them on the grass, in the sun. It will save from grass stain, to have a clean white cloth under the articles to be whitened. Lay muslins in suds made with white soap, in a flat dish; set this in the sun, changing the suds every day. Whiten tow-cloth or brown linen by keeping it in lye through the night, laying it out in the sun, and wetting it with fair water, as fast as it dries.
Scorched articles can often be whitened again by laying them in the sun, wet with suds. Where this does not answer, put a pound of white soap in a gallon of milk, and boil the article in it. Another method is, to chop and extract the juice from two onions, and boil this with half a pint of vinegar, an ounce of white soap, and two ounces of fuller’s earth. Spread this, when cool, on the scorched part, and, when dry, wash it off in fair water. Mildew may be removed by dipping the article in sour buttermilk, laying it in the sun, and, after it is white, rinsing it in fair water. Soap and chalk are also good; also, soap and starch, adding half as much salt as there is starch, together with the juice of a lemon. Stains in linen can often be removed by rubbing on soft soap, then putting on a starch paste and drying in the sun, renewing it several times. Wash off all the soap and starch in cold fair water.
MIXTURES FOR REMOVING STAINS AND GREASE.
Stain Mixture.—Half an ounce of oxalic acid in a pint of soft water. This can be kept in a corked bottle and is infallible in removing iron-rust and ink-stains. It is very poisonous. The article must be spread with this mixture over the steam of hot water, and wet several times. This will also remove indelible ink. The article must be washed, or the mixture will injure it.
Another Stain-Mixture is made by mixing one ounce of sal ammoniac, one ounce of salt of tartar, and one pint of soft water.
To remove Grease.—Mix four ounces of fullers earth, half an ounce of pearlash, and lemon-juice enough to make a stiff paste, which can be dried in balls, and kept for use. Wet the greased spot with cold water, rub it with the ball, dry it, and then rinse it with fair cold water. This is for white articles. For silks and worsteds use French chalk, which can be procured of the apothecaries. That which is soft and white is best. Scrape it on the greased spot, under side, and let it lie for a day and night. Then brush off that used, and renew it till the spot disappears. Wilmington clay-balls are equally good. Ink-spots can often be removed from white clothes by rubbing on common tallow, leaving it for a day or two, and then washing as usual. Grease can be taken out of wall-paper by making a paste of potter’s clay, water, and ox-gall, and spreading it on the paper. When dry, renew it, till the spot disappears.
Stains on floors, from soot or stove-pipes, can be removed by washing the spot in sulphuric acid and water. Stains in colored silk dresses can often be removed by pure water. Those made by acids, tea, wine, and fruits can often be removed by spirits of hartshorn, diluted with an equal quantity of water. Sometimes it must be repeated several times.
Tar, Pitch, and Turpentine can be removed by putting the spot in sweet-oil, or by spreading tallow on it, and letting it remain for twenty-four hours. Then, if the article be linen or cotton, wash it as usual; if it be silk or worsted, rub it with ether or spirits of wine.
Lamp-Oil can be removed from floors, carpets, and other articles by spreading upon the stain a paste made of fuller’s earth or potter’s clay, brushing off and renewing it, when dry, till the stain is removed. If gall be put into the paste, it will preserve the colors from injury. When the stain has been removed, carefully brush off the paste with a soft brush.
Oil-Paint can be removed by rubbing it with very pure spirits of turpentine. The impure spirits leave 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 woolen table-covers can be removed by washing the spot in a liquid composed of one tea-spoonful of oxalic acid dissolved in a tea-cupful of warm (not hot) water, and then rinsing in cold water. When ink is first spilled on a woolen carpet, pour on water immediately, and sop it up several times, and no stain will be made. Often on other articles, a stream of cold water poured on the under side of the ink-spot will so dilute the ink that it can be rubbed out 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 tea-spoonful of oil of vitriol mixed with one table-spoonful of water, or by oxalic acid and water. These must be brushed over quickly, and then washed off with milk.
Silk Handkerchiefs and Ribbons 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 table-spoonful 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. Wash-leather 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. Light Kid Gloves should have the grease removed from them, and then wash them on the hands with borax water and soft flannel—a tea-spoonful to a tumbler of water. Then stretch and press them. Dark Kid Gloves wash in the same way.
CHAPTER XXIII.
MISCELLANEOUS ADVICE AND RECIPES.
How to keep cool in Hot Weather.—Sit in a room covered with matting or without any carpet, and keep the floor wet with pure water and a watering-pot. In hot nights, place a double wet sheet on the bed and a woolen blanket over it, and it will cool the bed which is heated through the day, and does not cool as fast as the evening air. A hot bed is often the cause of sleeplessness. Wear wristlets and anklets of wet flannel. Shut all doors and windows early in the morning to keep in cool air, and let in air only through windows that are on the shady side of the house. If chambers open upon the hot roofs of piazzas or porticoes, cover them with clean straw or hay, and wet them with a watering-pot. In all these cases, the heat is taken from the air and from all surrounding things by the absorption of heat as the water changes to vapor.
Indelible Ink.—Put six cents’ worth of lunar caustic in a small phial, and fill with rain-water. To prepare the cloth, put a great-spoonful of gum-arabic into a larger bottle, with a drachm of salt of tartar, fill with water, and, when dissolved, wet the cloth, and press it smooth with a warm (not hot) iron. Put the articles, when marked, in the sun.
To preserve Eggs.—Pack eggs in a jar small end downward, and then pour in a mixture of four quarts of slacked lime, two table-spoonfuls of cream tartar, and two of salt. This will cover about nine dozen for several months.
To prevent Earthen, Glass, and Iron Ware from being easily broken.—Put them in cold water, and heat till boiling, and cool gradually.
A good Cement for broken Earthen and Glass.—Mix Russian isinglass in white brandy, forming a thick jelly when cool. Strain and cork. When using it, rub it on the broken edges, and hold them together three or four minutes.
To keep Knives from Rust and other Injury.—Rub bright, and wrap in thick brown paper. Never let knife-handles lie in water, and do not let their blades stay in very hot water, as the heat expands the iron, and makes handles crack.
To cleanse or renovate Furniture.—White spots on furniture remove by camphene, or sometimes by oil or spirits of turpentine. Remove mortarspots with warm vinegar, and paint-spots with camphene or burning-fluid. Powdered pumice-stone is better than sand to clean paint. To polish unvarnished furniture, rub on two ounces of bees-wax, half an ounce of alconet root, melted together, and, when cooled, two ounces of spirits of wine, and half a pint of spirits of turpentine.
To clean Silver.—Wet whiting with liquid hartshorn, and this will remove black spots. Or boil half an ounce of pulverized hartshorn in a pint of water, and pour it into rags, dry them, and use to cleanse silver. Polish with wash-leather.
To cleanse Wall-Paper.—Wipe with a clean pillow-case on a broom, and brush gently. Rub bad spots with soft bread-crumbs gently.
To Purify a Well.—Get out the water, and then put in three or four quarts of quick-lime. Any well long unused should be thus cleansed.
How to treat Roses and other Plants.—Water them daily with water steeped in wood-ashes. To destroy slugs, scatter ashes over the plant at night before the dew falls, or before a coming shower. Water all plants with washing-day suds, and it makes them flourish. Scatter salt in gravel-walks to get out grass and weeds. Use old brine for this purpose. Use sawdust to manure plants; also wood-ashes; even that used to make lye is good.
Easy Way to keep Grapes.—When not dead ripe, have them free from dampness, take out the decayed, and wrap each bunch in cotton, putting only two layers in a box. Keep in a dry, cool room, where they will not freeze.
Snow for Eggs.—Two table-spoonfuls of snow strewed in quickly, and baked immediately, is equal to one egg in puddings or pan-cakes.
Paper to keep Preserves.—Soft paper dipped in the white of an egg is the best cover for jellies and pickles. Turn it over the rim.
To make Butter cool in hot Weather.—Set it on a bit of brick, cover with a flower-pot, and wrap a wet cloth around the pot. The evaporation cools it as well as ice.
To stop Cracks in Iron.—Mix ashes and common salt and a little water, and fill the cracks.
To stop Creaking Hinges.—Put on oil.
To stop Creaking Doors and make Drawers slide easily.—Rub on hard soap.
To renovate Black Silk.—Wash in cold tea or coffee, with a little sugar in them. Put in a little ink if very rusty. Drain and do not wring, and iron on the wrong side.
Another Way to clean Kid Gloves.—Rub them lightly with benzine, and, as they dry, with pearl-powder. Expose to the air to remove the smell.
To remove Grease-Spots.—Put an ounce of powdered borax to a quart of boiling water. Wash with this, and keep it corked for further use.
To get rid of Rats and Mice.—A cat is the best remedy. Another is to half fill a tub with water, and sprinkle oats and meal on the top. For a while they will be deceived, jump in, and be drowned or caught.
ODDS AND ENDS.
There are certain odds and ends where every housekeeper will gain much by having a regular time to attend them. Let this time be the last Saturday forenoon in every month, or any other time more agreeable; but let there be a regular fixed time once a month in which the housekeeper will attend to the following things:
First. Go around to every room, drawer, and closet in the house, and see what is out of order, and what needs to be done, and make arrangements as to time and manner of doing it.