from the wool all the dirt that will come out. A little paraffin, 1
tablespoonful to 3 gal. water, will aid in removing the impurities.
Continue to wash the skin in fresh suds till it is white and clean.
Then dissolve ½ lb. each of salt and alum in 3 pints boiling water,
put into it water enough to cover the skin, which should soak in the
solution 12 hours, and then be hung on a line to drain. When nearly
dry, nail it, wool side in, on a board, or the side of a barn, to
dry. Rub into the skin 1 oz. each of pulverised alum and saltpetre,
and if the skin is large double the quantity. Rub for an hour or two.
Fold the skin sides together, and hang the skin away for 3 days,
rubbing it every day or till perfectly dry. Then with blunt knife
clear the skin of impurities, rub it with pumice or rottenstone, trim
it into shape, and you have a door-mat that will last a lifetime.
If it is to be dyed, have a shallow vessel as large as the skin in
which to prepare the dye, so that the skin can be laid wool-side down
smoothly into the vessel that all parts may be equally immersed in
the dye. This should not be more than an inch deep, otherwise the
skin might be injured by the hot dye. After colouring, again stretch
the skin to dry, and then comb with a wool- or cotton-card.
_Glass Articles._--(_a_) Mirrors.--Wet the surface of the glass with
gin, to remove the stains. Then rub with a cloth dipped in powdered
blue. Polish with a silk handkerchief. Be very careful not to touch
the frames.
(_b_) Ditto.--To clean glass in frames, when the latter are covered
or otherwise so finished that water cannot be used, moisten tripoli
with brandy, rub it on the glass while moist, and when dry rub off
with a silk rag; to prevent the mixture injuring the cloth on the
frame, use strips of tin bent to an angle; set these on the frame
with one edge on the glass; when the frames are of a character that
will not be injured by water, rub the glass with water containing a
little liquid ammonia, and polish with moist paper.
(_c_) Ditto.--Take part of a newspaper, fold it small, dip it in a
basin of clean cold water, and when it is thoroughly wet squeeze it
out as a sponge, and then rub it hard over the face of the glass,
taking care that it is not so wet as to run down in streams. After
the glass has been well rubbed with the wet paper, let it rest a few
minutes and then go over it with a fresh dry newspaper, till it looks
clear and bright, which it will do almost immediately.
(_d_) Windows.--Procure a washleather of convenient size and some
“paper-hanger’s” canvas; 2 yd. divided into 3 pieces, will be a nice
size to work with. Have the cut sides hemmed, and they will last a
long while. When it is desired, use one; boil or soak for an hour
or so in a solution of soda and water to get out the “dress”; then
wring out, and rinse in as many courses of clean water as you like;
then partially dry (practice will enable you to judge), fold to a
convenient size, and it will be ready for use. The soda solution
will now be cool enough for the leather (if too hot it will shrivel
the leather); wash in the same manner, and wring superfluous
moisture out; then wash the glass thoroughly with it and plenty of
elbow-grease, and polish off with the canvas.
(_e_) Ditto.--One of the best materials is a mixture of calcined
magnesia with enough purified benzin to produce, when shaken up, a
thick milk. It should be kept in vessels provided with well-ground
glass stoppers. For use, a small quantity of the mixture is applied
to a muslin rag, or better, to a wad of cotton, and the windows are
rubbed with this. It may be very readily cleaned off without leaving
any deposit in the corners.
(_f_) Glass Globes.--Rub inside with a little wet pumice-powder on a
cloth, and in 2 minutes you would not know that they were not newly
purchased. The best way to cleanse dirty glass of all kinds is to
put a small quantity of spirits of salts (hydrochloric acid) into a
basin of water, and to place the dirty articles in the liquid for a
few minutes, when it will be found that the glass is clean, and only
requires drying. If very dirty, the globes may require to stay in the
liquid a little longer. This plan is very useful for cleaning the
pendant drops of glass chandeliers, water bottles, &c., as no soap
is required. Care must be taken not to drop the undiluted spirits of
salts on the clothes or hands.
(_g_) Photographic Glass Plates.--One of the most powerful--if not,
indeed _the_ most powerful--detergents for refractory plates is the
mixture of sulphuric acid and bichromate of potash recommended by
Carey Lea some years ago. It is especially useful with glasses which
have been frequently used, or which from the nature of the treatment
they have undergone resist the action of both acids and alkalies
completely. Its utility is dependent upon the powerful action of
chromic acid upon organic matter, and we have never yet met with
a plate which did not succumb to its treatment. One precaution is
necessary in using it, however; it must be carefully removed from
the glass by copious washing as soon as possible after it has done
its duty. If allowed to soak for some time, as is frequently the
practice, the plates appear to absorb the solution (the penetrating
power of which is extraordinary), or an insoluble compound becomes
firmly attached to the surface and stedfastly refuses to be
displaced. Though generally invisible, it results in a peculiar
mottled appearance between the glass and the developed film which
entirely ruins the picture. We recently treated a number of plates
which had become useless from this cause with various detergents,
including acids as well as alkalies, but to no purpose; friction with
various abrading powers failed to remove the defect, and we were
well-nigh compelled to give it up. Remembering, however, that cyanide
of potassium has been utilised by carbon printers for the purpose of
reducing the strength of over-printed proofs--which it does by virtue
of its action upon the insoluble compounds of chromium--we resolved
to try its efficacy on our refractory plates, when all the mottling
disappeared as if by magic. Those amongst our readers who dare to
fly in face of all that has been lately written upon the dangers
attending cyanide and bichromate of potash have here a “wrinkle.”
Surely those who have dared bichromate will not fear the minor
dangers of cyanide. (_Brit. Jl. Phot._)
(_h_) Ditto.--A cream of tripoli powder and spirits of wine, with
a little ammonia added, is a very good solution for cleaning glass
plates. Old collodion is also very good; it should be thinned down
with an equal bulk of spirits of wine; add an excess of iodide of
potassium, and shake till the solution is saturated. Caustic potash
is very good; so is carbonate of soda. If the plates be new, and
covered with little gritty particles which do not come off on the
application of potash, they may be removed with nitric acid.
(_i_) Ditto.--Take a dilute solution of potash permanganate, and
pour on enough to wet the sides of the vessel to be cleaned. A film
of hydrated manganic oxide is deposited, which is then rinsed with
hydrochloric acid. Chlorine is formed, which acts in the nascent
state on the organic matter, which becomes readily soluble. The
permanganate solution can be used again and again till its oxidising
power is exhausted. (Walz.)
(_j_) Ditto.--Dissolve 15 gr. potassium iodide in 5 oz. water and 5
oz. alcohol, afterwards adding 3 gr. iodine and enough whiting or
rottenstone to make a creamy paste Rub a little of this on the glass
with a rag until clean, then polish with a cloth. (J. Hughes.)
(_k_) Glass Slides.--“I had tried previously to remove the hardened
balsam in many ways, and had succeeded fairly with a mixture of
prepared chalk, methylated spirit, and liquid ammonia, but found this
objectionable because it was such a dirty job. I now simply warm the
slides over a flame, and push off the covers into strong sulphuric
acid (oil of vitriol), and leave them therein for a short time; when
clean, drain off, and rinse with a little fresh acid, and finish
off by washing well in water. As much balsam as possible is removed
from the slides by scraping with a knife, and then sulphuric acid
is rubbed upon them with a glass rod. They are then well washed. If
necessary, a finishing touch may be given with a warm solution of
washing soda or methylated spirit and ammonia, to remove all trace
of grease. Sulphuric acid should be added to water, or water to
sulphuric acid, very gradually.” (Thos. H. Powell.)
(_l_) Removing Grease.--Dissolve soda carbonate in water, in the
proportion of 1 of the former to 10 of the latter, and let the liquid
boil in a clean untinned iron pot. Slake 8 parts quicklime in a
covered vessel and add the hydrate thus formed to the boiling liquid,
stirring it meanwhile. Great care must be exercised in using this
caustic solution, which must not be allowed to touch the hands; the
glass must therefore be dipped in it by the aid of tongs or pliers.
When the grease is dissolved, the glass is to be well brushed and
subsequently rinsed in water.
(_m_) Removing Paint Stains.--3 parts potash, 1 oz. caustic lime; lay
on with a padded stick and let remain some hours.
(_n_) Ditto.--Moisten with washing soda dissolved in warm water;
renew for ½ hour; wash off with clean water.
(_o_) Bottles.--If oily or otherwise greasy, they should not be
washed with water, but wiped with dry tow, or a dry dirty cloth, so
as to remove as much grease as possible. By changing the cloth for
one that is clean, the vessel can be wiped until all traces of grease
disappear.
(_p_) Ditto.--A strong solution of an alkali, such as pearlash, may
be used, whereby the removal of the grease is materially facilitated.
(_q_) Ditto.--If soiled by resin, turpentine, resinous varnishes,
&c., wash with a strong alkaline solution, and rub by means of the
wire and tow.
(_r_) Ditto.--If the alkali fail to act, a little sulphuric acid
may be employed with advantage. The latter acid will also be found
advantageous in removing pitch and tar from glass vessels. Nitric or
sulphuric acid may be employed to clean flasks which have contained
oil.
(_s_) Ditto.--“To clean a silver-bottle, pour in a strong solution of
potassium cyanide; shake a few times, pour out, and rinse with water
2 or 3 times, and your bottle is perfectly clean. Keep the solution,
and filter and strengthen when required. By doing this you can sun
your bath better in 2 hours than in a week’s exposure in the dirty
black bottles photographers appear to delight in.” (_Phil. Phot._)
(_t_) Ditto.--Alexander Müller, of Berlin, after speaking of the
various methods in vogue for cleaning glass vessels, as, for example,
sand (which is objectionable, as it scratches glass), shot (good,
but should be followed by a wash of dilute nitric acid, to get rid
of lead), brushes, copper scale (also good, but requires subsequent
rinsing with some dilute acid), bits of paper or linen, wood ashes,
salt (especially rock-salt), gypsum and marble-dust (very good),
ground bones (likewise excellent), he concludes as follows:--Chisel
or tongue-shaped pieces are cut from thick pieces of indiarubber, and
a sharp brass or platinum wire is fixed into the thick end to serve
as a handle. With this washer and its flexible handle, we are able to
“lick” out, to a certain extent, any kind of a bottle. For beakers
and capsules, we greatly prefer it to the hair pencil and feather
commonly used; for, owing to their fibrous structure, the precipitate
gets entangled in them, while they also lose some of their
nitrogenous particles, which would affect the accuracy of careful
nitrogen determinations, as, for example, in water analyses. Finally,
to clean glass or porcelain vessels from the greatest variety of
adherent organic substances, he recommends a mixture of bichromate of
potassium and sulphuric acid as superior to ether, alcohol, benzine,
&c.
(_u_) Bottles which have contained petroleum, wash with thin milk
of lime, which forms an emulsion with the petroleum, and removes
every trace of it; by washing a second time with milk of lime and a
small quantity of lime chloride, even the smell may be so completely
removed as to render the vessel, thus cleansed, fit for keeping beer
in. If the milk of lime be used warm, instead of cold, the operation
is rendered much shorter. (_Ding. Pol. Jl._)
(_v_) Decanters.--There is often much difficulty experienced in
cleaning decanters, especially after port wine has stood in them for
some time. The best way is to wash them out with a little pearlash
and warm water, adding a spoonful or two of fresh slaked lime if
necessary. To facilitate the action of the fluid against the sides of
the glass, a few small cinders may be used.
(_w_) Ditto.--Soak the decanters for some hours in warm soda and
water; if there is much cutting on the outside, a brush will be
necessary to remove the dirt and stains from the crevices. Cut a
potato into small dice, put a good handful of these into the decanter
with some warm water, shake the decanter briskly until the stains
disappear; rinse in clean cold water, and let them drain until dry.
Vinegar and sauce cruets can be cleaned in the same way.
_Gloves._--Kid. (_a_) Make a strong lather with curd soap and warm
water; lay the glove flat on a board, the bottom of a dish, or other
unyielding surface; dip a piece of flannel in the lather and well rub
the glove with it till all the dirt is out, turning it about so as
to clean it all over. Dry in the sun or before a moderate fire. When
dry they will look like old parchment, and should be gradually pulled
out and stretched. (_b_) Have a small quantity of milk in a cup or
saucer, and a piece of brown Windsor or glycerine soap in another
saucer. Fold a clean towel or other cloth 3 or 4 times thick, and
spread the glove smoothly on the cloth. Dip a piece of flannel in the
milk, and rub it well on the soap. Hold the glove firmly with the
left hand, and rub it with the flannel towards the fingers. Continue
this operation until the glove, if white, appears of a dirty yellow;
or, if coloured, until it looks dirty and spoiled, and then lay it
to dry. Gloves cleaned by this method will be soft, glossy, and
elastic. (_c_) French method: Put the gloves on your hands and wash
them in spirits of turpentine until they are quite clean, rubbing
them exactly as if washing your hands; when finished, hang them in a
current of air to dry and to take off the smell of the turpentine.
(_d_) Eau de Javelle, 135 parts; ammonia, 8; powdered soap, 200;
water, 150. Make a soft paste, and use with a flannel.
Washleather. (_e_) Take out the grease spots by rubbing with magnesia
or with cream of tartar. Then wash with soap dissolved in water as
directed for kid gloves, and afterwards rinse, first in warm water
and then in cold. Dry in the sun, or before the fire.
Buckskin.--(_f_) To ¼ lb. Paris white add the same quantity of
scraped pipeclay and 3 oz. best isinglass; boil all well down,
stirring the while. Put the compound on thick, and, when dry, beat
it well out by clapping your hands together, &c.; then carefully
iron the gloves with a hot smoothing-iron. (_g_) When dirty, wash
3 times in clean warm (not hot) “soap lather.” Put a little blue
in, wring them well, then put them in as good a form as you can--as
nearly what they should be when dry as practicable. When nearly dry,
but sufficiently damp to form to the hand, put them on; if difficult
to get on, damp a little; then press or push them off, and when dry
(from the fire) they will be as good as new, and white and clean,
and not mark anything. (_h_) 1 oz. gum arabic to 1 lb. white lead
(powder), free from lumps, to be well dissolved and strained through
muslin; afterwards mix your lead stiff and put it by until perfectly
hard. Be very careful not to leave water in the box or sponge after
using. (_i_) Take ½ lb. prepared chalk, ½ lb. prepared alum, 3 cakes
pipeclay, ½ oz. oxalic acid, ½ oz. isinglass, 1 oz. powdered pumice,
1 tablespoonful starch, 6 tablespoonfuls sweet oil, 2 oz. white soap.
To be mixed in boiling water; the oxalic acid and prepared alum to be
added last.
All gloves are better and more shapely if dried on glove trees or
wooden hands.
_Hands._--The hands are apt to be stained or tainted by contact with
many substances in everyday use. The following are most common.
Tar. (_a_) Rub with fresh orange or lemon peel.
(_b_) Mix together pulverised extract of liquorice and oil of aniseed
to the consistency of thick cream; rub on thoroughly with the hand,
then wash off with soap and warm soft water.
Disagreeable Odours. (_c_) Ground mustard, mixed with a little
water, is an excellent agent for cleansing the hands after handling
disagreeably or strongly odorous substances, such as cod-liver oil,
musk, valerianic acid and its salts. Scale-pans and vessels may also
be readily freed from odour by the same method. (Schneider.)
(_d_) All oily seeds, when powdered, answer for this purpose.
Flax-seed meal, for instance, removes odours as well as mustard.
The use of ground almond-cake as a detergent is well known. The
explanation of this action is somewhat doubtful, but it is not
improbable that the odorous bodies are dissolved by the fatty oil of
the seed, and emulsionised by the contact with water. In the case of
bitter almonds and mustard, the development of ethereal oil, under
the influence of water, may perhaps be an additional help to destroy
foreign odours. The author also mentions that the smell of carbolic
acid may be removed by rubbing the hands with damp flax-seed meal,
and that cod-liver-oil bottles may be cleansed with a little hot
sesamé or olive oil. (Huber.)
Silver Nitrate. (_e_) Wash in solution of 10 parts potassium iodide,
1 iodine, 1 ammonia, in 100 water. (Liesegang.)
(_f_) Wash in strong solution of cupric chloride, and, about a minute
later, in soda hyposulphite. (Underwood.)
Nitric Acid. (_g_) Wash immediately and put on some lime chloride.
(_h_) On the stain or stains place sufficient caustic soda (the
usual reagent strength) with the end of the stopper (if the stain
is all covered it will do); gently rub it with any solid for a few
seconds, then wash it off; then gently rub the spot with a finger
nail, when it will come off almost completely; put on a little dilute
hydrochloric acid, when the spot will disappear entirely. If not,
repeat the whole process, which will be sure to remove it without the
least injury to the hand.
(_i_) Wash the hands in a solution of soda-ash and bleaching powder,
add the solution of soda-ash to the bleaching liquor as long as a
precipitate forms, then wash; the remaining stains will wear off in
time. Wash in this daily till the stains are completely removed.
Potassium Bichromate. (_k_) Rub the stains with a solution of
sulphurous acid, and subsequently wash with distilled or soft water.
(_l_) To a warm, strong solution of soda hyposulphite add a small
quantity of sulphuric acid; this may then be used on the stains with
similar effect. (_Photo. News._)
_Ivory and Bone Articles._--(_a_) Spirit of turpentine is very
efficacious in removing the disagreeable odour and fatty emanations
of bones or ivory, while it leaves them beautifully bleached. The
articles should be exposed in the fluid for 3 or 4 days in the sun,
or a little longer if in the shade. They should rest upon strips
of zinc, so as to be a trifle above the bottom of the glass vessel
employed. The turpentine acts as an oxidising agent, and the product
of the combustion is an acid liquor which sinks to the bottom, and
strongly attacks the ivory if allowed to touch it.
(_b_) Make a thick puddle of common whiting in a saucer. Brush well
with a tooth-brush into the curved work. Brush well out with plenty
of clean water. Dry gently near the fire. Finish with a clean dry
hard brush, adding one or two drops (not more) of sweet oil.
(_c_) Mix about a tablespoonful of oxalic acid in ½ pint boiling
water. Wet the ivory over first with water, then with a tooth-brush
apply the acid, doing one side at a time, and rinsing; finally dry in
a cloth before the fire, but not too close.
(_d_) Take a piece of fresh lime, slake it by sprinkling it with
water, then mix into a paste, which apply by means of a soft brush,
brushing well into the interstices of the carving; next set by in a
warm place till perfectly dry, after which take another soft brush
and remove the lime. Should it still remain discoloured, repeat the
process, but be careful neither to make it too wet nor too hot in
drying off, or probably the article might come to pieces, being most
likely glued or cemented together. If it would stand steeping in
lime water for 24 hours, and afterwards boiling in strong alum water
for about an hour and then dried, it would turn out white and clean.
Rubbing with oxide of tin (putty powder) and a chamois leather, will
restore a fine gloss afterwards.
(_e_) Well clean with spirits of wine, then mix some whiting with a
little of the spirits, to form a paste, and well brush with it. It
is best to use a rubber of soft leather where there are no delicate
points; put a little soap on the leather, and dip into the paste
and rub the ivory until you get a brilliant polish, finish off with
a little dry whiting; the leather should be attached to flat wood
surface, and rub briskly.
(_f_) When ivory ornaments get yellow or dusky-looking, wash them
well in soap and water, with a small brush to clean the carvings, and
place them while wet in full sunshine; wet them 2 or 3 times a day
for several days, with soapy water, still keeping them in the sun;
then wash them again, and they will be beautifully white.
(_g_) Rub with soda bicarbonate applied on a tooth-brush dipped in
warm water.
_Leather Goods._--(_a_) Carriage tops that have faded and become
grey can be restored by washing with a solution composed of 4 oz.
nut-galls, 1 oz. each of logwood, copperas, clean iron filings, and
sumach berries; put all but the iron filings and copperas in 1 qt.
best white wine vinegar, and heat nearly to boiling point; then add
the copperas and iron filings; let stand for 24 hours, and strain off
the liquid; apply with a sponge. This is equally good for restoring
black cloths.
(_b_) Enamelled leather tops that have been soiled by dust and rain
should be washed with soft water and Castile or crown soap. Apply
the water with a sponge and then scrub with moderately stiff brush;
cleanse with clean water and dry with a “shammy.” Never apply any
kind of oil or top dressing without first cleaning the leather.
(_c_) Mouldy Leather.--Remove the surface mould with a dry cloth, and
with another cloth apply pyroligneous acid.
(_d_) Russet Leather-covered Mountings.--Remove all stains and dirt
by rubbing the leather with a cloth and a little oxalic acid, and
restore the colour and finish by the use of salts of lemon (tartaric
acid) applied with a woollen cloth. Rub the leather until a good
polish is produced.
(_e_) Rubber-covered Mountings.--Rub the covered as well as the
metallic parts with a “shammy” and a little tripoli, and finish with
a clean woollen cloth.
(_f_) Chamois-leather.--Make a solution of weak soda and warm water,
rub plenty of soft-soap into the leather, and allow it to remain
in soak for 2 hours, then rub it well until it is quite clean.
Afterwards rinse it well in a weak solution composed of warm water,
soda, and yellow soap. If rinsed in water only, it becomes hard
when dry, and unfit for use. The small quantity of soap left in the
leather allows the finer particles of the leather to separate and
become soft like silk. After rinsing, wring it well in a rough towel,
and dry quickly; then pull it about and brush it well, and it will
become softer and better than most new leathers.
(_g_) Morocco Leather.--Strain well over a board, and scour with
stiff brush, using tepid water and soft-soap, made slightly acid
with oxalic acid; when done, unstrain the leather, and dry in a cool
place; do not saturate the leather, but keep the board inclined; when
dry, rub a little oil lightly over the surface with a rag.
(_h_) Saddles.--If much soiled, wash the leather with a weak solution
of oxalic acid and water, and, when dry, with the watery portion of
beef blood. The latter can be preserved by adding a little carbolic
acid, and keeping it in a bottle tightly corked.
(_i_) Brown saddles may be cleaned to look as well as new by the use
of tepid water and crown soap; if the latter cannot be had, use pure
Castile soap.