Chapter 13

Dissolve a couple of drachms of lunar caustic, and half an ounce of gum arabic, in a gill of rain water. Dip whatever is to be marked in strong pearl-ash water. When perfectly dry, iron it very smooth; the pearl-ash water turns it a dark color, but washing will efface it. After marking the linen, put it near a fire, or in the sun, to dry. Red ink, for marking linen, is made by mixing and reducing to a fine powder half an ounce of vermilion, a drachm of the salt of steel, and linseed oil to render it of the consistency of black durable ink.

395. _Black Ball._

Melt together, moderately, ten ounces of Bayberry tallow, five ounces of bees' wax, one ounce of mutton tallow. When melted, add lamp or ivory black to give it a good black color. Stir the whole well together, and add, when taken from the fire, half a glass of rum.

396. _Liquid Blacking._

Mix a quarter of a pound of ivory black, six gills of vinegar, a table-spoonful of sweet oil, two large spoonsful of molasses. Stir the whole well together, and it will then be fit for use.

397. _Cement for the Mouths of Corked Bottles._

Melt together a quarter of a pound of sealing-wax, the same quantity of rosin, a couple of ounces of bees' wax. When it froths, stir it with a tallow candle. As soon as it melts, dip the mouths of the corked bottles into it. This is an excellent thing to exclude the air from such things as are injured by being exposed to it.

398. _Cement for broken China, Glass, and Earthenware._

Rub the edge of the china or glass with the beaten white of an egg. Tie very finely powdered quick lime in a muslin bag, and sift it thick over the edges of the dishes that have been previously rubbed with the egg. Match and bind the pieces together, and let it remain bound several weeks. This is good cement for every kind of crockery but thick heavy glass and coarse earthenware; the former cannot be cemented with any thing; for the latter, white paint will answer. Paint and match the broken edges, bind them tight together, and let them remain until the paint becomes dry and hard. Milk is a good cement for crockery--the pieces should be matched, and bound together tight, then put in cold milk, and the milk set where it will boil for half an hour; then take it from the fire, and let the crockery remain till the milk is cold. Let the crockery remain bound for several weeks. The Chinese method of mending broken china, is to grind flint glass, on a painter's stone, till it is reduced to an impalpable powder: then beat it with the white of an egg, to a froth, and lay it on the edge of the broken pieces, match and bind them together firmly, and let them remain several weeks. It is said that no art will then be able to break it in the same place.

399. _Japanese Cement, or Rice Glue._

Mix rice flour with cold water, to a smooth paste, and boil it gently. It answers all the purposes of wheat flour paste, while it is far superior in point of transparency and smoothness. This composition, made with so small a proportion of water as to have it of the consistence of plastic clay, may be used to form models, busts, basso-relievos, and similar articles. When made of it, they are susceptible of a very high polish. Poland starch is a nice cement for pasting layers of paper together, or any fancy articles.

400. _Cement for Alabaster._

Take of white bees' wax one pound, of rosin a pound, and three quarters of alabaster. Melt the wax and rosin, then strew the alabaster over it lightly, (which should be previously reduced to a fine powder.) Stir the whole well together, then knead the mass in water, in order to incorporate the alabaster thoroughly with the rosin and wax. The alabaster, when mended, should be perfectly dry, and heated. The cement, when applied, should also be heated. Join the broken pieces, bind them, and let them remain a week. This composition, when properly managed, forms an extremely strong cement.

401. _To clean Alabaster, or any other kinds of Marble._

Pound pumice stone to a fine powder, and mix it with verjuice. Let it remain several hours, then dip in a perfectly clean sponge, and rub the marble with it till clean. Rinse it off with clear fresh water, and rub it dry with a clean linen cloth.

402. _Cement for Iron-ware._

Beat the whites of eggs to a froth, then stir into them enough quicklime to make a consistent paste, then add iron file dust, to make a thick paste. The quicklime should be reduced to a fine powder before mixing it with the eggs. Fill the cracks in iron-ware with this cement, and let them remain several weeks before using them.

403. _To loosen the Stopples of Decanters and Smelling Bottles that are wedged in tight._

Dip the end of a feather in oil, and rub it round the stopple, close to the mouth of the bottle; then put the bottle about a couple of feet from the fire, having the mouth towards it. The heat will cause the oil to run down between the stopple and mouth of the bottle. When warm, strike the bottle gently on both sides, with any light wooden instrument that you may happen to have. If the stopple cannot be taken out with the hand at the end of this process, repeat it, and you will finally succeed by persevering in it, however firmly it may be wedged in.

404. _Lip Salve._

Dissolve a small lump of white sugar in a table-spoonful of rosewater, (common water will do, but is not as good.) Mix it with a couple of large spoonsful of sweet oil, a piece of spermaceti, of the size of half a butternut. Simmer the whole well together eight or ten minutes, then turn it into a small box.

405. _Cold Cream._

Take of the oil of almonds two ounces, of spermaceti half an ounce, and white wax half an ounce. Put them in a close vessel, and set the vessel in a skillet of boiling water. When melted, beat the ingredients with rosewater until cold. Keep it in a tight box, or wide-mouthed bottle, corked up close.

406. _To prevent the formation of a Crust on Tea-Kettles._

Keep an oyster-shell in your tea-kettle, and it will prevent the formation of a crust on the inside of it, by attracting the stony particles to itself.

407. _To remove Stains from Broadcloth._

Take an ounce of pipe clay that has been ground fine, and mix it with twelve drops of alcohol, and the same quantity of spirits of turpentine. Whenever you wish to remove any stains from cloth, moisten a little of this mixture with alcohol, and rub it on the spots. Let it remain till dry, then rub it off with a woollen cloth, and the spots will disappear.

408. _To extract Paint from Cotton, Silk, and Woollen Goods._

Saturate the spot with spirits of turpentine, and let it remain several hours, then rub it between the hands. It will crumble away, without injuring either the color or texture of the article.

409. _To remove Black Stains on Scarlet Woollen Goods._

Mix tartaric with water, to give it a pleasant acid taste, then saturate the black spots with it, taking care not to have it touch the clean part of the garment. Rinse the spots immediately, in fair water. Weak pearl-ash water is good to remove stains that are produced by acids.

410. _To extract Grease from Silks, Paper, Woollen Goods, and Floors._

To remove grease spots from goods and paper, grate on them, very thick, French chalk, (common chalk will answer, but is not as good as the French chalk.) Cover the spots with brown paper, and set on a moderately warm iron, and let it remain till cold. Care must be taken not to have the iron so hot as to scorch or change the color of the cloth. If the grease does not appear to be out on removing the iron, grate on more chalk, heat the iron again, and put it on. Repeat the process till the grease is entirely out. Strong pearl-ash water, mixed with sand, and rubbed on grease spots in floors, is one of the most effective things that can be used to extract the grease.

411. _To extract Stains from White Cotton Goods and Colored Silks._

Salts of ammonia, mixed with lime, will take out the stains of wine from silk. Spirits of turpentine, alcohol, and clear ammonia, are all good to remove stains on colored silks. Spots of common or durable ink can be removed by saturating them with lemon-juice, and rubbing on salt, then putting them where the sun will shine on them hot, for several hours. As fast as it dries, put on more lemon-juice and salt. When lemon juice cannot be obtained, citric acid is a good substitute. Iron mould may be removed in the same way. Mildew and most other stains can be removed by rubbing on soft soap and salt, and placing it where the sun will shine on it hot. Where soap and salt will not remove stains, lemon-juice and salt will generally answer. The above things will only remove stains in warm, clear weather, when the sun is hot. Sulphuric acid, diluted with water, is very effectual in removing fruit stains. Care should be taken not to have it so strong as to eat a hole in the garment, and as soon as the stain is out, it should be rinsed in pearl-ash water, and then in fair water. Colored cotton goods, that have common ink spilt on them, should be soaked in lukewarm sour milk.

412. _Directions for Washing Calicoes._

Calico clothes, before they are put in water, should have the grease spots rubbed out, as they cannot be seen when the whole of the garment is wet. They should never be washed in very hot soap suds; that which is mildly warm will cleanse them quite as well, and will not extract the colors so much. Soft soap should never be used for calicoes, excepting for the various shades of yellow, which look the best washed with soft soap, and not rinsed in fair water. Other colors should be rinsed in fair water, and dried in the shade. When calicoes incline to fade, the colors can be set by washing them in lukewarm water, with beef's gall, in the proportion of a tea-cup full to four or five gallons of water. Rinse them in fair water--no soap is necessary, without the clothes are very dirty. If so, wash them in lukewarm suds, after they have been first rubbed out in beef's gall water. The beef's gall can be kept several months, by squeezing it out of the skin in which it is enclosed, adding salt to it, and bottled and corked tight. The water that potatoes has been boiled in is an excellent thing to wash black calicoes in. When there are many black garments to wash in a family, it is a good plan to save, during the week, all the water in which potatoes are boiled. The following method is said to set the colors of calicoes so that they will not fade by subsequent washing: Infuse three gills of salt in four quarts of boiling water; put in the calicoes, (which should be perfectly clean; if not so, the dirt will be set.) Let the calicoes remain in till the water is cold. I have never seen this tried, but I think it not improbable that it may be an excellent way to set the colors, as rinsing calicoes in cold salt and water serves to set the colors, particularly of black, blue, and green colors. A little vinegar in the rinsing water of pink, red, and green calicoes, is good to brighten the colors, and keep them from mixing. All kinds of calicoes but black, look better for starching, but black calicoes will not look clear if starched. On this account potato water is an excellent thing to wash them, if boiled down to a thick consistence, as it stiffens them without showing.

413. _Directions for Cleaning Silk Goods._

When silk cushions, or silk coverings to furniture, become dingy, rub dry bran on it gently, with a woollen cloth, till clean. Remove grease spots and stains as in direction No. 410. Silk garments should have the spots extracted before being-washed--use hard soap for all colors but yellow, for which soft soap is the best. Put the soap into hot water, beat it till it is perfectly dissolved, then add sufficient cold water to make it just lukewarm. Put in the silks, and rub them in it till clean; take them out without wringing, and rinse them in fair lukewarm water. Rinse it in another water, and for bright yellows, crimsons, and maroons, add sulphuric acid enough to the water to give it an acid taste, before rinsing the garment in it. To restore the colors of the different shades of pink, put in the second rinsing water a little vinegar or lemon-juice. For scarlet, use a solution of tin; for blues, purples, and their shades, use pearl-ash; and for olive-greens, dissolve verdigris in the rinsing water--fawn and browns should be rinsed in pure water. Dip the silks up and down in the rinsing water: take them out of it without wringing, and dry them in the shade. Fold them up while damp: let them remain to have the dampness strike through all parts of them alike, then put them in a mangler--if you have not one, iron them on the wrong side, with an iron only just hot enough to smooth them. A little isinglass or gum arabic, dissolved in the rinsing water of gauze shawls and ribbons, is good to stiffen them. The water in which pared potatoes have been boiled, is an excellent thing to wash black silks in--it stiffens, and makes them glossy and black. Beef's gall and lukewarm water is also a nice thing to restore rusty silk, and soap-suds answers very well. They look better not to be rinsed in clear water, but they should be washed in two different waters.

414. _Directions for Washing Woollens._

If you do not wish to have white flannels shrink when washed, make a good suds of hard soap, and wash the flannels in it, without rubbing any soap on them; rub them out in another suds, then wring them out of it, and put them in a clean tub, and turn on sufficient boiling water to cover them, and let them remain till the water is cold. A little indigo in the boiling water makes the flannels look nicer. If you wish to have your white flannels shrink, so as to have them thick, wash them in soft soap-suds, and rinse them in cold water. Colored woollens that incline to fade, should be washed with beef's gall and warm water before they are put into soap-suds. Colored pantaloons look very well washed with beef's gall and fair warm water, and pressed on the wrong side while damp.

415. _Directions for Washing White Cotton Clothes._

Table-cloths, or any white clothes that have coffee or fruit stains on them, before being put into soap-suds, should have boiling water turned on them, and remain in it till the water is cold--the spots should be then rubbed out in it. If they are put into soap-suds with the stains in, they will be set by it, so that no subsequent washing will remove them. Table-cloths will be less likely to get stained up, if they are always rinsed in thin starch water, as it tends to keep coffee and fruit from sinking into the texture of the cloth. White clothes that are very dirty, will come clean easily if put into strong, cool suds and hung on the fire the night previous to the day in which they are to be washed. If they get to boiling, it will not do them any harm, provided the suds is cool when they are put in; if it is hot at first, it will set the dirt in. The following method of washing clothes is a saving of a great deal of labor: Soak the clothes in lukewarm soap-suds; if they are quite dirty, soak them over night. To every three pails of water put a pint of soft soap, and a table-spoonful of the salts of soda. Heat it till mildly warm, then put in the clothes without any rubbing, and boil them an hour. Drain the suds out of them as much as possible, as it is bad for the hands; then add water till cool enough for the hands. The dirt will be loose, so that they will require but a little rubbing. Rinse them thoroughly in clear water, then in indigo water. The soda can be procured cheap, by purchasing it in large quantities--soda is an excellent thing to soften hard water. The soda suds will not do to wash calicoes in. It is a good plan to save your suds, after washing, to water your garden, if you have one, or to harden cellars and yards, when sandy.

416. _Starch._

To make good flour starch, mix flour gradually with cold water, so that it may be free from lumps. Stir in cold water till it will pour easily; then stir it into a pot of boiling water, and let it boil five or six minutes, stirring it frequently. A tallow or spermaceti candle, stirred round in the starch several times, will make it smoother--strain it through a thick cloth. Starch made in this manner will answer for both cotton and linen very well. Some people do not boil their starch, but merely turn boiling water on the mixed flour and water, but it does not make clothes look nice. Poland starch is made in the same manner as wheat starch. When rice is boiled in a pot without being tied up in a bag, the water in which it is boiled is as good as Poland starch for clear-starching muslins, if boiled to a thick consistency after it is turned off from the boiled rice, and then strained. Muslins, to look clear, should be starched, and clapped dry, while the starch is hot, then folded in a very damp cloth, and suffered to remain in it till they become quite damp, before ironing them. If muslins are sprinkled, they are apt to look spotted. Garments that are not worn, when laid by, should not be starched, as it rots them when not exposed to the air.

417. _To clean Woollen and Silk Shawls._

Pare and grate raw, mealy potatoes, and put to each pint of the potato pulp a couple of quarts of cold water. Let it stand five hours, then strain the water through a sieve, and rub as much of the potato pulp through as possible--let the strained water stand to settle again--when very clear, turn the water off from the dregs carefully. Put a clean white cotton sheet on a perfectly clean table, lay on the shawl which you wish to clean, and pin it down tight. Dip a sponge, that has never been used, into the potato water, and rub the shawl with it till clean; then rinse the shawl in clear water, with a tea-cup of salt to a pailful of the water. Spread it on a clean, level place, where it will dry quick--if hung up to dry, the colors are apt to run, and make the shawl streaked. Fold it up while damp, and let it remain half an hour, then put it in a mangler--if you have not one, wrap it in a clean white cloth, and put it under a weight, and let it remain till dry. If there are any grease spots on the shawl, they should be extracted before the shawl is washed.

418. _Directions for Carpets._

Carpets should be taken up and shook thoroughly, if in constant use, as often as three or four times in a year, as the dirt that collects underneath them wears them out very fast. Straw kept under carpets, will make them wear much longer, as the dirt will sift through, and keep it from grinding out. Carpets should be taken up as often as once a year, even if not much used, as there is danger of moths getting into them. If there is any appearance of moths in carpets when they are taken up, sprinkle tobacco or black pepper on the floor before the carpets are put down, and let it remain after they are laid down. When the dust is well shaken out of carpets, if there are any grease spots on them, grate on potter's clay very thick, cover them with a brown paper, and set on a warm iron. It will be necessary to repeat this process several times, to get out all the grease. If the carpets are so much soiled as to require cleaning all over, after the dirt has been shaken out, spread them on a clean floor, and rub on them, with a new broom, pared and grated raw potatoes. Let the carpets remain till perfectly dry, before walking on them.

419. _To clean Light Kid Gloves._

Magnesia, moist bread, and India rubber, are all of them good to clean light kid gloves. They should be rubbed on the gloves thoroughly. If so much soiled that they cannot be cleaned, sew up the tops of the gloves, and rub them over with a sponge dipped in a decoction of saffron and water. The gloves will be yellow or brown, according to the strength of the decoction.

420. _To restore rusty Italian Crape._

Heat skim milk and water--dissolve in half a pint of it a piece of glue an inch square, then take it from the fire. Rinse the crape out in vinegar to clean it; then, to stiffen it, put it in the mixed glue and milk. Wring it out, and clap it till dry, then smooth it out with a hot iron--a paper should be laid over it when it is ironed. Gin is an excellent thing to restore rusty crape--dip it in, and let it get saturated with it; then clap it till dry, and smooth it out with a moderately hot iron. Italian crape can be dyed to look as nice as that which is new.

421. _To clean Mahogany and Marble Furniture._

No soap should ever be used for them--they should be washed in fair water, and rubbed with a clean, soft cloth, till dry. A little sweet oil, rubbed on occasionally, gives them a fine polish. The furniture should be rubbed over with a cloth dipped in oil, then rubbed over with a clean cloth till it appears dry and polished. White spots on varnished furniture may be removed by rubbing them with a warm flannel, dipped in spirits of turpentine. Ink spots may be removed by rubbing them with a woollen cloth, dipped in oil of vitriol and water mixed, being careful not to touch any part of the furniture that is not spotted. As soon as the ink is extracted, rinse the spot with pearl-ash water, and then with fair water. It is said that blotting paper alone will extract the ink, if rolled up tight, and rubbed hard on the spots. If it answers the purpose, it is altogether best to use it, as there is always danger attending the use of oil of vitriol, it being so powerful as to corrode whatever it may get dropped on, without its effects are destroyed by the use of an alkali.

422. _To clean Stoves and Stone Hearths._

Varnished stoves should have several coats of varnish put on in summer, in order to have it get hard, before being used. They should be washed in warm water, without soap--a little oil rubbed on them occasionally, makes them look nice, and tends to keep the varnish from wearing off. Black lead and British Lustre are both of them good to black stoves which have never been varnished--if they have been, it will not answer. They should be mixed with cold water, to form a paste, then rubbed on the stoves, and remain till quite dry--they should then be rubbed with a dry, stiff, and flat brush, till clean and polished. If you wish to preserve the color of free-stone hearths, wash them in water, without any soap; then rub on them, while damp, free-stone, that has been reduced to a powder--let it remain till dry, then rub it off. If the hearths are stained, rub them hard with a piece of free-stone. If you wish to have your hearth look dark, rub it over with hot soft soap, alone, or diluted with water. For brick hearths, use redding, mixed with thin hot starch and milk.

423. _To extract Ink from Floors._

Ink spots on floors can be removed by scouring them with sand wet in oil of vitriol, and water, mixed. Rinse them, when the ink is extracted, with strong pearl-ash water.

424. _To remove Paint and Putty from Window Glass._

Put sufficient pearl-ash into hot water, to make it very strong of it; then saturate the paint which is daubed on the glass with it. Let it remain till nearly dry, then rub it off hard, with a woollen cloth. Pearl-ash water is also good to remove putty before it is dried on the glass. If it dries on, whiting is good to remove it.

425. _To cleanse Feather Beds and Mattresses._