Important: Safety Warning
This page describes trade processes that use dangerously toxic materials such as cyanide solutions, mercury amalgams, or strong acids. These processes require training, equipment, and precautions far beyond what the text describes.
This page directs the use of hazardous substances — such as benzine, gasoline, lye, or strong acids — for household tasks. These materials are highly flammable, corrosive, or poisonous, and the practices described have caused fires, burns, and poisonings.
This information has been left in for historical purposes but should not be acted upon.
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, and 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 pearlash water, and then in fair water. Colored cotton goods, that have common ink spilt on them, should be soaked in lukewarm, sour milk.
Directions for Cleaning Silk Goods. When silk cushions, or silk coverings to furniture, become dingy, .
MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES. rub dry bran on it gently, with a woollen cloth, till clean. Remove grease spots and stains as in directions at top of p. 40. 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 pearlash; 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.