Part 93

(1) With Soap Liquor.--Cut up a bar of soap and dissolve it over a fire in 2 gal. water. Put 2 qt. of this dissolved soap into a pail of warm water. Dip a scrubbing-brush into this soap liquor, and scour with it about 1 sq. yd. of the carpet; be careful not to let the liquor soak through to the back. When this piece is thoroughly cleaned, rub the soap well out of it by means of a coarse flannel or sponge, sucking up all the wet and dirt made by the brush; rinse the flannel or sponge frequently in warm water. Now take a clean sponge and dip it into a pail of common sour, squeeze it out, and then rub the sour well into the part just cleaned and rinsed. Rub as dry as possible with clean, coarse cotton or linen cloths before proceeding with the cleaning. The whole carpet is to be cleaned, spirited, and dried in the same manner, a square yard at a time.

(2) With Gall.--Put a bag of very fresh bullocks’ gall into a pail containing 2 gal. cold water, with 4 oz. pearlash dissolved in it, and well mix it either with a stick or your hands. Have ready, besides this, 2 pails cold water, a large sponge, a couple of flannels, and some dry, coarse cloths. Dip the brush into the gall and water, and scrub the carpet, a square yard at a time, as quickly and as carefully as possible. Rinse, and suck up the gall and dirt with a large flannel or sponge, which is to be frequently rinsed in the pails of cold water. Well dry with cloths before beginning a second square.

By adopting this simple process, any carpet, whatever its size, may easily be cleaned on the floor; the process is especially useful when the carpet is not very dirty, or when it contains delicate colours, as the gall cannot possibly injure them. The only objection to this method is that when cleaned with gall there is often a disagreeable smell left in the carpet; but if the gall be obtained from a fresh-killed bullock, and the carpet, after cleaning, be hung for a few hours in a current of fresh air, the whole of this smell will go off.

(3) With Ammonia.--Dissolve in a small pan 1 oz. pearlash in hot water, and mix with it 1 gal. ammonia, which must be obtained from a drysalter, not from a chemist. Dip a sponge or coarse flannel into the ammonia, take it out rather wet, and well rub it into the carpet, then dip the scouring-brush into the liquor and well scour the part already sponged as quickly as possible. The dirt and ammonia must then be sucked up in the sponge or flannel, and the part well dried with flannels and cloths before proceeding with the next. Each square yard will take about 20 minutes to clean and dry thoroughly.

This is another very simple method, the only objection to it being that the carpet will smell of the ammonia for some time if it is kept in the room in which it has been cleaned; it should therefore be hung for 3 or 4 days in the open air or under an open shed, taking care, however, that it does not get wet.

In dry cleaning, special care must be taken not to allow the liquor to soak to the back of the carpet or rug; and also that, before commencing, the floor or board on which the operation is conducted, is perfectly dry. A good fire should also be kept in the room during the whole time, as much of the success of the operation depends on rapid drying.

_Floors._--(_a_) First sweep well. Have a small tub or bucket of warm water; an old saucer to hold a piece of brown soap; a large thick tow-linen floorcloth; and a long-handled scrubbing-brush. Dip the whole of the floorcloth into the water, and with it wet a portion of the floor. Next, rub some soap on the bristles of the brush, and scrub hard all over the wet place. Then dip your cloth into the water, and with it wash the suds off the floor. Wring the cloth, wet it again, and wipe the floor with it a second time. Lastly, wash the cloth about in the water, wring it as dry as possible, and give the floor a last and hard wiping with it. Afterwards go on to the next part of the floor, wet it, scrub it, wipe it 3 times, and proceed in the same manner, a piece at a time, till you have gone over the whole; changing the dirty water for clean, whenever you find it necessary. For a large room, fresh warm water will be required 4 or 5 times in the course of the scrubbing. When the floor has been scrubbed, leave the sashes raised while it is drying. For scouring common floors that are very dirty, have by you an old tin pan with some grey sand in it; and after soaping the brush, rub it on some sand also. Always commence operations at the corner farthest from the door and work towards the door.

(_b_) Take some clean, sifted, white or silver sand, and scatter it on the floor. Dissolve 1 lb. potash or pearlash, in 1 pint water, and sprinkle the sand with this solution. Have a pail of very hot water, and well scrub the boards lengthwise with a hard brush, and use the best mottled soap. Change the water frequently. The potash, if applied as directed, will take out all stains. Ink stains may be removed from boards by using either strong vinegar, or salts of lemon.

(_c_) The following will be found useful in cleaning and restoring colour to wooden floors:--1 part calcinated soda allowed to stand ¾ hour in 1 part slaked lime; then add 15 parts water, and boil. Spread the solution, thus obtained, upon the floor with a rag, and after drying, rub with hard brush and fine sand and water. A solution of 1 part concentrated sulphuric acid and 8 parts water will enliven the wood after above application. When dry, wash and wax the floor.

(_d_) Remove ink from floors by scouring them with sand wet with water and a little oil of vitriol, mixed. Then rinse them with strong saleratus water (potassium bicarbonate).

(_e_) Take ¼ lb. fullers’ earth and ¼ lb. pearlash, and boil together in 1 qt. water, and, while hot, spread it on the greased surface, allowing it to remain 14 or 15 hours; after which it may be scoured off with sand and water.

(_f_) Procure some good light benzoline, scrub the stained portion with a hard brush dipped in this, then wipe with a dry flannel. Make a strong solution of common washing soda in hot water, place a little unslaked lime, broken into coarse powder, over the stains, and pour on sufficient solution of soda to wet the lime thoroughly. Leave this mixture on for a short time, then scrub hard with plenty of clean hot water, and wipe dry with clean flannel.

(_g_) A small quantity (say 2_d._ worth) oxalic acid (poison) dissolved in ½ pint hot water; apply on a rag tied to a stick; wash off with soda, soap, and water.

(_h_) Marks of tempera (whitewash) can be removed by a good scrubbing with soap and water; oil stains require to be softened with turpentine, and then scraped off. There is a soap called Philadelphia Kitchen Crystal Soap, which removes oil stains rapidly; it must never be put into water, but a damp flannel is rubbed on it, and the stains are scrubbed with the lather. It also removes dirty marks on paint quickly and easily.

_Furniture._--(_a_) Scratches on furniture may be removed by rubbing with a woollen rag dipped in boiled linseed oil. The article must then be varnished with shellac dissolved in alcohol.

(_b_) To clean and restore the elasticity of cane chair-bottoms.--Turn the chair bottom upwards, and with hot water and a sponge wash the canework well, so that it is well soaked; should it be dirty, use soap; let it dry in the air, and it will be as tight and firm as new, provided none of the canes is broken.

(_c_) Straw Matting.--Wash it with weak salt and water and dry it well, or boil a small bag of bran in 2 gal. water, and wash the matting with the water, drying it well.

(_d_) Ink Stains out of Mahogany.--Put a few drops of spirits of nitre (nitric acid) in a teaspoonful of water, touch the spot with a feather dipped in the mixture, and on the ink disappearing, rub it over immediately with a rag wetted in cold water, or there will be a white mark, which will not be easily effaced.

(_e_) Ditto.--Apply spirits of salts (muriatic acid) with a rag until the spots disappear, and immediately afterward wash with clear water.

(_f_) Ditto.--To ½ pint soft water put 1 oz. oxalic acid, and ½ oz. butter (terchloride) of antimony; shake well; when dissolved, it will be very useful in extracting stains from mahogany, as well as ink, if not of too long standing.

(_g_) Furniture creams or French polishes.--These are better bought than home made. Nearly 100 good recipes exist, and maybe found in ‘Spons’ Mechanic’s Own Book.’

_Furs, Skins, and Rugs._--(_a_) Fur.--Soap or water will spoil it. Get some clean common whiting--powdered, and plenty of it--put it in a damp place for a day or so, but on no account let it get wet; rub it into the fur with the hand, and don’t be afraid to rub it. Now let it stop till next day, give it another good rubbing, then shake out all the whiting you can, and give it a good brushing with a clothes-brush. It will now be pretty clean, except the skin at the bottom of the fur. To remove the dirt from thence get the fur over the back of a chair, and use the point of the clothes-brush very briskly, at the same time giving a short puff of wind every time you give a stroke with the brush. With a little patience you will remove every trace of whiting, grease, or dirt. Lastly, pour a little spirits of wine on a plate, dip the point of the clothes-brush in this, and lightly pass it over the fur; move the brush the same way as the fur runs.

(_b_) Ditto.--Take equal parts of flour and powdered salt (which should be well heated in an oven), and thoroughly rub the fur. It should afterwards be well shaken, to free it from the flour and salt.

(_c_) Ditto.--Lay the fur on a table, and rub it well with bran made moist with warm water. Rub until quite dry, and afterwards with dry bran. The wet bran should be put on with flannel, and the dry with a piece of book muslin.

(_d_) Ditto.--Thoroughly sprinkle every part with hot plaster-of-Paris, and brush well with a hard brush. Then beat it with a cane, comb smooth with a wet comb, and press carefully with a warm iron; when dry, shake out all loose plaster-of-Paris.

(_e_) Hearth-rugs.--Hearth-rugs should never be cleaned on the floor, but on a large scouring board, and should only be operated upon ⅙ of their length at a time. After being cleaned, they require to be dried very quickly; as otherwise, on account of the thickness of the pile, they are apt to sadden. Hearth-rugs may be cleaned by either the first or second methods given for dry-cleaning carpets; with the following exception, that when the first method is adopted, only 1 lb. soap dissolved in 1 gal. hot water will be required. After the rug is finished, dip a clean sponge into a pail containing a little common sour, and well rub it into the face of the rug.

(_f_) Sheepskin Rugs and Mats.--Dissolve 1 bar soap in 2 gal. boiling water. Put 2 qt. of this into a tub or pan containing about 2 gal. warm water. First rub out the dirt and grease spots with the strong soap liquor, or, if necessary, with fullers’ earth. Then put the rug or mat into the tub containing the weak soap liquor, and well wash and punch it. Throw away this first liquor, and mix another lot with the same proportions of warm water and dissolved soap, and again well wash the rug; and so continue until it is perfectly clean. Then rinse well in cold water to take out all the soap, and afterwards in cold water in which a small quantity of blue has been dissolved. This blue water will only be required for white skins. After this has been done, the mat or rug should be wrung out, shaken, and hung to dry with the skin side towards the sun, but not when the heat is scorching, or the skin will become hard and brittle. It should, while drying, be frequently shaken and hung up first by one end and then by the other.

(_g_) Ditto.--Wash while fresh in strong soapsuds, first picking from the wool all the dirt that will come out. A little paraffin, 1 tablespoonful to 3 gal. water, will aid in removing the impurities. Continue to wash the skin in fresh suds till it is white and clean. Then dissolve ½ lb. each of salt and alum in 3 pints boiling water, put into it water enough to cover the skin, which should soak in the solution 12 hours, and then be hung on a line to drain. When nearly dry, nail it, wool side in, on a board, or the side of a barn, to dry. Rub into the skin 1 oz. each of pulverised alum and saltpetre, and if the skin is large double the quantity. Rub for an hour or two. Fold the skin sides together, and hang the skin away for 3 days, rubbing it every day or till perfectly dry. Then with blunt knife clear the skin of impurities, rub it with pumice or rottenstone, trim it into shape, and you have a door-mat that will last a lifetime. If it is to be dyed, have a shallow vessel as large as the skin in which to prepare the dye, so that the skin can be laid wool-side down smoothly into the vessel that all parts may be equally immersed in the dye. This should not be more than an inch deep, otherwise the skin might be injured by the hot dye. After colouring, again stretch the skin to dry, and then comb with a wool- or cotton-card.

_Glass Articles._--(_a_) Mirrors.--Wet the surface of the glass with gin, to remove the stains. Then rub with a cloth dipped in powdered blue. Polish with a silk handkerchief. Be very careful not to touch the frames.

(_b_) Ditto.--To clean glass in frames, when the latter are covered or otherwise so finished that water cannot be used, moisten tripoli with brandy, rub it on the glass while moist, and when dry rub off with a silk rag; to prevent the mixture injuring the cloth on the frame, use strips of tin bent to an angle; set these on the frame with one edge on the glass; when the frames are of a character that will not be injured by water, rub the glass with water containing a little liquid ammonia, and polish with moist paper.

(_c_) Ditto.--Take part of a newspaper, fold it small, dip it in a basin of clean cold water, and when it is thoroughly wet squeeze it out as a sponge, and then rub it hard over the face of the glass, taking care that it is not so wet as to run down in streams. After the glass has been well rubbed with the wet paper, let it rest a few minutes and then go over it with a fresh dry newspaper, till it looks clear and bright, which it will do almost immediately.

(_d_) Windows.--Procure a washleather of convenient size and some “paper-hanger’s” canvas; 2 yd. divided into 3 pieces, will be a nice size to work with. Have the cut sides hemmed, and they will last a long while. When it is desired, use one; boil or soak for an hour or so in a solution of soda and water to get out the “dress”; then wring out, and rinse in as many courses of clean water as you like; then partially dry (practice will enable you to judge), fold to a convenient size, and it will be ready for use. The soda solution will now be cool enough for the leather (if too hot it will shrivel the leather); wash in the same manner, and wring superfluous moisture out; then wash the glass thoroughly with it and plenty of elbow-grease, and polish off with the canvas.

(_e_) Ditto.--One of the best materials is a mixture of calcined magnesia with enough purified benzin to produce, when shaken up, a thick milk. It should be kept in vessels provided with well-ground glass stoppers. For use, a small quantity of the mixture is applied to a muslin rag, or better, to a wad of cotton, and the windows are rubbed with this. It may be very readily cleaned off without leaving any deposit in the corners.

(_f_) Glass Globes.--Rub inside with a little wet pumice-powder on a cloth, and in 2 minutes you would not know that they were not newly purchased. The best way to cleanse dirty glass of all kinds is to put a small quantity of spirits of salts (hydrochloric acid) into a basin of water, and to place the dirty articles in the liquid for a few minutes, when it will be found that the glass is clean, and only requires drying. If very dirty, the globes may require to stay in the liquid a little longer. This plan is very useful for cleaning the pendant drops of glass chandeliers, water bottles, &c., as no soap is required. Care must be taken not to drop the undiluted spirits of salts on the clothes or hands.

(_g_) Photographic Glass Plates.--One of the most powerful--if not, indeed _the_ most powerful--detergents for refractory plates is the mixture of sulphuric acid and bichromate of potash recommended by Carey Lea some years ago. It is especially useful with glasses which have been frequently used, or which from the nature of the treatment they have undergone resist the action of both acids and alkalies completely. Its utility is dependent upon the powerful action of chromic acid upon organic matter, and we have never yet met with a plate which did not succumb to its treatment. One precaution is necessary in using it, however; it must be carefully removed from the glass by copious washing as soon as possible after it has done its duty. If allowed to soak for some time, as is frequently the practice, the plates appear to absorb the solution (the penetrating power of which is extraordinary), or an insoluble compound becomes firmly attached to the surface and stedfastly refuses to be displaced. Though generally invisible, it results in a peculiar mottled appearance between the glass and the developed film which entirely ruins the picture. We recently treated a number of plates which had become useless from this cause with various detergents, including acids as well as alkalies, but to no purpose; friction with various abrading powers failed to remove the defect, and we were well-nigh compelled to give it up. Remembering, however, that cyanide of potassium has been utilised by carbon printers for the purpose of reducing the strength of over-printed proofs--which it does by virtue of its action upon the insoluble compounds of chromium--we resolved to try its efficacy on our refractory plates, when all the mottling disappeared as if by magic. Those amongst our readers who dare to fly in face of all that has been lately written upon the dangers attending cyanide and bichromate of potash have here a “wrinkle.” Surely those who have dared bichromate will not fear the minor dangers of cyanide. (_Brit. Jl. Phot._)

(_h_) Ditto.--A cream of tripoli powder and spirits of wine, with a little ammonia added, is a very good solution for cleaning glass plates. Old collodion is also very good; it should be thinned down with an equal bulk of spirits of wine; add an excess of iodide of potassium, and shake till the solution is saturated. Caustic potash is very good; so is carbonate of soda. If the plates be new, and covered with little gritty particles which do not come off on the application of potash, they may be removed with nitric acid.

(_i_) Ditto.--Take a dilute solution of potash permanganate, and pour on enough to wet the sides of the vessel to be cleaned. A film of hydrated manganic oxide is deposited, which is then rinsed with hydrochloric acid. Chlorine is formed, which acts in the nascent state on the organic matter, which becomes readily soluble. The permanganate solution can be used again and again till its oxidising power is exhausted. (Walz.)

(_j_) Ditto.--Dissolve 15 gr. potassium iodide in 5 oz. water and 5 oz. alcohol, afterwards adding 3 gr. iodine and enough whiting or rottenstone to make a creamy paste Rub a little of this on the glass with a rag until clean, then polish with a cloth. (J. Hughes.)

(_k_) Glass Slides.--“I had tried previously to remove the hardened balsam in many ways, and had succeeded fairly with a mixture of prepared chalk, methylated spirit, and liquid ammonia, but found this objectionable because it was such a dirty job. I now simply warm the slides over a flame, and push off the covers into strong sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol), and leave them therein for a short time; when clean, drain off, and rinse with a little fresh acid, and finish off by washing well in water. As much balsam as possible is removed from the slides by scraping with a knife, and then sulphuric acid is rubbed upon them with a glass rod. They are then well washed. If necessary, a finishing touch may be given with a warm solution of washing soda or methylated spirit and ammonia, to remove all trace of grease. Sulphuric acid should be added to water, or water to sulphuric acid, very gradually.” (Thos. H. Powell.)

(_l_) Removing Grease.--Dissolve soda carbonate in water, in the proportion of 1 of the former to 10 of the latter, and let the liquid boil in a clean untinned iron pot. Slake 8 parts quicklime in a covered vessel and add the hydrate thus formed to the boiling liquid, stirring it meanwhile. Great care must be exercised in using this caustic solution, which must not be allowed to touch the hands; the glass must therefore be dipped in it by the aid of tongs or pliers. When the grease is dissolved, the glass is to be well brushed and subsequently rinsed in water.

(_m_) Removing Paint Stains.--3 parts potash, 1 oz. caustic lime; lay on with a padded stick and let remain some hours.

(_n_) Ditto.--Moisten with washing soda dissolved in warm water; renew for ½ hour; wash off with clean water.

(_o_) Bottles.--If oily or otherwise greasy, they should not be washed with water, but wiped with dry tow, or a dry dirty cloth, so as to remove as much grease as possible. By changing the cloth for one that is clean, the vessel can be wiped until all traces of grease disappear.

(_p_) Ditto.--A strong solution of an alkali, such as pearlash, may be used, whereby the removal of the grease is materially facilitated.

(_q_) Ditto.--If soiled by resin, turpentine, resinous varnishes, &c., wash with a strong alkaline solution, and rub by means of the wire and tow.

(_r_) Ditto.--If the alkali fail to act, a little sulphuric acid may be employed with advantage. The latter acid will also be found advantageous in removing pitch and tar from glass vessels. Nitric or sulphuric acid may be employed to clean flasks which have contained oil.

(_s_) Ditto.--“To clean a silver-bottle, pour in a strong solution of potassium cyanide; shake a few times, pour out, and rinse with water 2 or 3 times, and your bottle is perfectly clean. Keep the solution, and filter and strengthen when required. By doing this you can sun your bath better in 2 hours than in a week’s exposure in the dirty black bottles photographers appear to delight in.” (_Phil. Phot._)

(_t_) Ditto.--Alexander Müller, of Berlin, after speaking of the various methods in vogue for cleaning glass vessels, as, for example, sand (which is objectionable, as it scratches glass), shot (good, but should be followed by a wash of dilute nitric acid, to get rid of lead), brushes, copper scale (also good, but requires subsequent rinsing with some dilute acid), bits of paper or linen, wood ashes, salt (especially rock-salt), gypsum and marble-dust (very good), ground bones (likewise excellent), he concludes as follows:--Chisel or tongue-shaped pieces are cut from thick pieces of indiarubber, and a sharp brass or platinum wire is fixed into the thick end to serve as a handle. With this washer and its flexible handle, we are able to “lick” out, to a certain extent, any kind of a bottle. For beakers and capsules, we greatly prefer it to the hair pencil and feather commonly used; for, owing to their fibrous structure, the precipitate gets entangled in them, while they also lose some of their nitrogenous particles, which would affect the accuracy of careful nitrogen determinations, as, for example, in water analyses. Finally, to clean glass or porcelain vessels from the greatest variety of adherent organic substances, he recommends a mixture of bichromate of potassium and sulphuric acid as superior to ether, alcohol, benzine, &c.