Part 22 (1/2)
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 Was.h.i.+ng 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 was.h.i.+ng 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 was.h.i.+ng 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 quant.i.ties--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 was.h.i.+ng, 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 c.r.a.pe._
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 c.r.a.pe 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 c.r.a.pe--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 c.r.a.pe 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 l.u.s.tre 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 Gla.s.s._