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To Remove Grease from Silk

Take French chalk finely scraped, and put it on the grease spot, holding it near the fire, or over a warm iron reversed, or on a waterplate in which is boiling water. This will cause the grease to melt, and the French chalk will absorb it, and it may then be brushed or rubbed off; or, put a little powdered French chalk on the spot, cover it with a piece of white blotting-paper, and over that a piece of brown wrapping paper, and apply a hot flat-iron. If any grease remains, proceed as before, until it is all extracted. The French chalk is a fine soluble powder of a dry absorbent quality, acting upon silks the same as fuller's earth does upon cloth. turpentine. If they show after a while, rub again on both sides. If there are grease spots on the floor, remove them with potter's clay before the carpet is laid down. 358. To take Grease Spots out of Carpets. Mix a little soap into a gallon of warm soft water, then add 1/2 ounce of borax; wash the part well with a clean cloth, and the grease or dirty spot will soon disappear. 359. To Remove Oil Stains from Leather and Paper. Oil stains may be removed from leather, paper, &c., by applying pipe-clay, powdered and mixed with water to the thickness of cream; leave it on for four hours. This will not injure the best colors.

360. Methods of Removing Various Stains. Fruit-stains, wine-stains, and those made by colored vegetable juices, are often near-

The above plans may be adopted when you ly indelible, and require various treatment. desire to extract the grease immediately; but if time is not an object, proceed as follows:

Sprinkle pulverized French chalk upon the spot and put the article in a dark place, and in a few days the grease will entirely disappear. We think this last method the best, as the heat from the iron will sometimes injure silk of a delicate tint.

Thorough rubbing with soap and soft water; repeated dipping in sour butter-milk, and drying in the sun; rubbing on a thick mixture of starch and cold water, and exposing long to sun and air, are among the expedients resorted to. Sulphurous acid is often employed to bleach out colors. It may be generated at the moment of using, by burning a

353. To Remove Grease Spots from small piece of sulphur in the air, under the Silk.

Grease spots may be taken from wide end of a small paper funnel, whose upper silks in the following manner : Upon a orifice is applied near the cloth. Coffee and wooden table lay a piece of woolen cloth or chocolate stains require careful soaping and baize, upon which lay smoothly the part washing with water at 120°, followed by stained, with the right side downwards. sulphuration. If discoloration has been pro- Having spread a piece of brown paper on the duced by acids, water of ammonia should be top, apply a flat-iron just hot enough to applied; if spots have been made by alkaline scorch the paper. About five or eight sec- substances, moderately strong vinegar may onds is usually sufficient. Repeat until the be applied; if upon a delicate article, the spot is extracted. Then rub briskly with a vinegar should be decolorized by filtering piece of writing paper. (See last receipt.) through powdered charcoal. 361. The Effects of Acids and Alka- part, previously washed clean, a weak solulies upon Different Colors. The effect of tion of chlorine, chloride of lime, spirits of acids upon blacks, purples, blues (except salts (muriatic acid), oxalic acid, or salts of those produced by indigo or Prussian blue), lemon, in warm water, and frequently by and upon all those shades of colors which are produced by means of iron, archil, and astringent substances, is to turn them red. They render yellows more pale, except those produced by annotto, which they turn to an orange color. merely using a little lemon juice. The part should be again thoroughly rinsed in clear warm water (without soap), and dried.

Many other stains may be taken out by dipping the linen in sour butter-milk, and drying it in a hot sun. Then wash it in cold water, and dry it, 2 or 3 times a day. 366. To Remove Acid Stains from Alkalies turn scarlets, and all reds produced by Brazil or logwood, to a violet color; they turn green (upon woolen cloths) to yellow, Linen, &c. These may be removed by the and they give a reddish cast to the yellow following methods: Wet the part and lay on produced by annotto. The effect of the it some salt of wormwood (carbonate of perspiration is the same as that of the alkalies. potassa); then rub it, without diluting it with Spots occasioned by acids are removed by more water. alkalies, and vice versa. (See last receipt.) Or: Tie up in the stained part some pearlash; then scrape some soap into cold soft water to make a lather, and boil the linen till the stain disappears. 367. To Remove Acid Stains from Chloroform will restore the color of garments, where the same has been destroyed by acids.

When acid has accidentally or otherwise destroyed or changed the color of the fabric, ammonia should be applied to neutralize the acid. A subsequent application of chloroform restores the original color.

Spots produced by hydrochloric or sulphuric acid can be removed by the application of concentrated ammonia, while spots from nitric acid can scarcely be obliterated. 362. To Restore Colors that have been Injured by the use of Re-Agents.

The colors of cloths are often injured by the re-agents made use of in order to restore them effectively; when such is the case we must Garments. not only understand the general principles of the art of dyeing, but the nature and composition of the particular dye that was originally employed for dyeing the cloth whose color is to be restored, and thus enabled to modify the means accordingly. Thus, when, after using an alkali to remove an acid spot upon brown, violet, or blue cloth, &c., there remains a yellow spot, the original color is again produced by means of a solution of tin. A solution of the sulphate of iron restores the color to those brown cloths which have been dyed with galls. Acids give to yellow cloths which Garments. Spots produced by alkalies, have been rendered dull or brown by alkalies, such as soap-boiler's lye, soda, ammonia, etc., their original brightness. When black cloths can generally be made to disappear completedyed with logwood have any reddish spots ly by the prompt application of dilute acetic occasioned by acids, alkalies turn such spots acid and a good deal of water. (See No. 360.) to a yellow color, and a little of the astringent 369. To Remove Claret or Port Wine principle makes them black again. A solu- Stains. Apply a little table salt to the spot tion of 1 part of indigo in 4 parts of sulphuric stained, and also moisten it with sherry. acid, properly diluted with water, may be. After washing, no trace of the stain will be successfully employed to restore a faded blue left. The acid contained in claret decomposes color upon wool or cotton. Red or scarlet the salt, and sets free chlorine (bleaching colors may be restored by means of cochineal, gas), which removes the vegetable coloring and a solution of muriate of tin, &c. (See matter of the wine. If the stain is from port, No. 113.) sherry should be added, as it also contains 368. To Remove Alkali Stains from