Enquire Within Upon Everything Part 204

2713. Wool (Drab).

Impregnate with brown oxide of iron, and then dip in a bath of quercitron bark. It sumach is added, it will make the colour a dark brown.

[NO LOCK WILL HOLD GAINST KEYS OF GOLD.]

2714. Wool (Green).

First imbue with the blue, then with the yellow dye.

2715. Wool (Orange).

Dye first with the red dye for cloth, and then with a yellow.

2716. Wool (Red).

Take four and a half pounds of cream of tartar, four and a quarter pounds of alum; boil the wool gently for two hours; let it cool, and wash it on the following day in pure water.

Infuse twelve pounds of madder for half an hour with a pound of chloride of tin, in lukewarm water; filter through canvas, remove the dye from the canvas, and put it in the bath, which is to be heated to 100 Fahr.; add two ounces of aluminous mordant, put the wool in, and raise to boiling heat.

Remove the wool, wash, and soak for a quarter of an hour in a solution of white soap in water.

2717. Wool (Yellow).

Dye with that used for calico, &c.

2718. Dyeing Bonnets.

Chip and straw bonnets or hats may be dyed black by boiling them three or four hours in a strong liquor of logwood, adding a little green copperas occasionally. Let the bonnets remain in the liquor all night, then take out to dry in the air. If the black is not satisfactory, dye again after drying. Rub inside and out with a sponge moistened in fine oil. Then block.

2719. To Dye Hair and Feathers Green.

Take of either verdigris or verditer one ounce; gum water, one pint; mix them well, and dip the hair or feathers into the mixture, shaking them well about.

2720. To Clean White Satin and Flowered Silks.

i. Mix sifted stale bread-crumbs with powder blue, and rub it thoroughly all over the article; then shake it well, and dust it with clean soft cloths. Afterwards, where there are any gold or silver flowers, take a piece of crimson ingrain velvet, rub the flowers with it, which will restore them to their original l.u.s.tre.

ii. Pa.s.s them through a solution of fine hard soap of a moderate heat, drawing them through the hand; rinse in lukewarm water, dry, and finish by pinning out. Brush the flossy or bright side with a clean clothes-brush, the way of the nap. Finish them by dipping a sponge into a size, made by boiling isingla.s.s in water, and rub the wrong side. Rinse out a second time, and brush, and dry near a fire in a warm room.

Silk may be treated in the same way, but not brushed.

2721. Cleaning Silk, Satins, Coloured Woollen Dresses, &c.

Four ounces of soft soap, four ounces of honey, the white of an egg, and a winegla.s.sful of gin; mix well together, and scour the article with a rather hard brush thoroughly; afterwards rinse it in cold water, leave to drain, and iron whilst quite damp.

2722. To Clean Black Cloth Clothes.

Clean the garments well, then boil four ounces of logwood in a boiler or copper containing two or three gallons of water for half an hour; dip the clothes in warm water and squeeze dry, then put them into the copper and boil for half an hour. Take them out, and add three drachms of sulphate of iron; boil for half an hour, then take them out and hang them up for an hour or two; take them down, rinse them thrice in cold water, dry well, and rub with a soft brush which has had a few drops of olive oil applied to its surface. If the clothes are threadbare about the elbows, cuffs, &c., raise the nap with a teasel or half worn hatter's card, filled with flocks, and when sufficiently raised, lay the nap the right way with a hard brush.

2723. To Clean Furs.

Strip the fur articles of their stuffing and binding, and lay them as nearly as possible in a flat position They must then be subjected to a very brisk brus.h.i.+ng, with a stiff clothes-brush; after this any moth-eaten parts must be cut out, and neatly replaced by new bits of fur to match.

Sable, chinchilla, squirrel, fitch, &c., should be treated as follows: Warm a quant.i.ty of new bran in a pan, taking care that it does not burn, to prevent which it must be actively stirred. When well warmed, rub it thoroughly into the fur with the hand. Repeat this two or three times: then shake the fur, and give it another sharp brus.h.i.+ng until free from dust.

White furs, ermine, &c., may be cleaned as follows:--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.

The light furs, in addition to the above, should be well rubbed with magnesia, or a piece of book muslin, after the bran process.

Furs are usually much improved by stretching, which may be managed as follows: To a pint of soft water add three ounces of salt, dissolve; with this solution, sponge the inside of the skin (taking care not to wet the fur) until it becomes thoroughly saturated; then lay it carefully on a board with the fur side downwards, in its natural position; then stretch as much as it will bear, and to the required shape, and fasten with small tacks. The drying may be accelerated by placing the skin a little distance from the fire or stove.

[GOLD IS NO BALM TO A WOUNDED SPIRIT.]

2724. Cleansing Feathers of their Animal Oil.

The following receipt gained a premium from the Society of Arts:--Take for every gallon of clean water one pound of quicklime, mix them well together, and when the undissolved lime is precipitated in fine powder, pour off the clean lime water for use. Put the feathers to be cleaned in another tub, and add to them a quant.i.ty of the clean lime water, sufficient to cover them about three inches when well immersed and stirred about therein. The feathers, when thoroughly moistened, will sink, and should remain in the lime water three or four days; after which the foul liquor should be separated from them, by laying them in a sieve.

The feathers should be afterwards well washed in clean water, and dried upon nets, the meshes of which may be about the fineness of cabbage nets. The feathers must be from time to time shaken on the nets, and, as they get dry, they will fall through the meshes, and must be collected for use. The admission of air will be serviceable in drying. The process will be completed in three weeks. When thus prepared, the feathers need only be beaten to get rid of the dust.

2725. To Clean White Ostrich Feathers.

Four ounces of white soap, cut small, dissolved in four pints of water, rather hot, in a large basin; make the solution into a lather, by beating it with birch rods, or wires. Introduce the feathers, and rub well with the hands for five or six minutes. After this soaping, wash in clean water, as hot as the hand can bear. Shake until dry.

2726. Cleaning Straw Bonnets.

They may be washed with soap and water, rinsed in clear water, and dried in the air. Then wash them over with white of egg well beaten, Remove the wire before was.h.i.+ng. Old straw bonnets may be picked to pieces, and put together for children, the head parts being cut out.

2727. To Bleach a Faded Dress.

Wash it well in hot suds, and boil it until the colour seems to be gone, then wash, and rinse, and dry it in the sun; if still not quite white, repeat the boiling.

2728. Bleaching Straw Bonnets, &c.