To Bleach Cotton. — A very good way to bleach cotton-cloth is
to soak it in buttermilk for a few days. Another way is to make a
good suds ; put from one to two tablespoonfuls of turpentine into it
before putting the clothes in. Wash as usual, wringing from the boil
and drying without rinsing. By using one tablespoonful of turpen-
tine in the first suds on washing-days, it will save half the labor of
rubbing, and the clothes will never become yellow, but will remain a
pure white.
ScouRiNG-BALLS TO Remove Grease FROM Cloth. — Soft-soap and
Fuller's earth, of each half a pound ; beat them well together in a
mortar, and form into cakes. The spot, first moistened with water,
is rubbed with a cake and allowed to dry, when it is well rubbed
with a little warm water, and afterward rinsed or rubbed off clean.
302 THE hearthstone; or, life at home.
To Take Wax or Grease Out of Cloth. — Hold a red-hot iron
— a poker will do — within an inch of the cloth, and in a few minutes
the wax will evaporate, leaving a dark spot. Then fold heavy brown
paper and put it on both sides of the spot, and press with an iron.
If any stain remains, wipe it over with a piece of woollen cloth saturated
in benzine or alcohol.
To color drab, take willow-bark and a little copperas.
To color gray, put in some blue vitriol with the drab dye.
The glossy stiffness of a black hat is made with " milliner's glue."
It can be had at the drug stores.
Cotton rags can be colored a fast brown with a dye of butternut
bark, adding ^ pound of madder to a kettleful of dye. They will
not fade.
To Revive Old Kid Gloves, make a thick mucilage by boiling
a handful of flaxseed ; add a little dissolved soap✪ To Revive Old Kid Gloves ; then, when the
mixture cools, with a piece of white flannel wipe the gloves, previously
fitted to the hand ; use only enough to take off the dirt, without
wetting through the glove.
Bleaching Process. — Two pounds of sal-soda and half a pound
of chloride of lime. Put half a gallon of water to the lime and let
it stand all night. In the morning dissolve the soda in three and a
half gallons of water✪ Bleaching Process; add to the lime-water and strain. Immerse the
cloth in boiling suds ; then take out and put directly into the mix-
ture ; leave it in for half an hour, then rinse the muslin thoroughly
and lay upon the grass or snow, or hang upon a line in the sun. To
make it very white, dampen occasionally and leave it out for two or
three days.
Starch (very fine). — Two tablespoonfuls of starch wet in cold
water ; add one teaspoonful each of gum arabic, white wax and fine
salt; pour on one quart of boiling water; boil ten minutes, then
strain ; add two more tablespoonfuls of starch wet in cold water to
the strained starch. If any is left over it can be kept for next time ;
it will be good though thin as water. If a polishing iron is used after
the usual ironing the clothes will look like new.
THE LAUNDRY. 303
Page 197 · 2 recipe records on this page
Presented as published in 1883. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
To Bleach Cotton. — A very good way to bleach cotton-cloth is to soak it in buttermilk for a few days. Another way is to make a good suds ; put from one to two tablespoonfuls of turpentine into it before putting the clothes in. Wash as usual, wringing from the boil and drying without rinsing. By using one tablespoonful of turpentine in the first suds on washing-days, it will save half the labor of rubbing, and the clothes will never become yellow, but will remain a pure white.
Scouring-Balls TO Remove Grease FROM Cloth. — Soft-soap and Fuller's earth, of each half a pound ; beat them well together in a mortar, and form into cakes. The spot, first moistened with water, is rubbed with a cake and allowed to dry, when it is well rubbed with a little warm water, and afterward rinsed or rubbed off clean.
To Take Wax or Grease Out of Cloth. — Hold a red-hot iron — a poker will do — within an inch of the cloth, and in a few minutes the wax will evaporate, leaving a dark spot. Then fold heavy brown paper and put it on both sides of the spot, and press with an iron. If any stain remains, wipe it over with a piece of woollen cloth saturated in benzine or alcohol.
To color drab, take willow-bark and a little copperas.
To color gray, put in some blue vitriol with the drab dye.
The glossy stiffness of a black hat is made with " milliner's glue." It can be had at the drug stores.
Cotton rags can be colored a fast brown with a dye of butternut bark, adding ^ pound of madder to a kettleful of dye. They will not fade.
To Revive Old Kid Gloves, make a thick mucilage by boiling a handful of flaxseed ; add a little dissolved soap ; then, when the mixture cools, with a piece of white flannel wipe the gloves, previously fitted to the hand ; use only enough to take off the dirt, without wetting through the glove.
Bleaching Process. — Two pounds of sal-soda and half a pound of chloride of lime. Put half a gallon of water to the lime and let it stand all night. In the morning dissolve the soda in three and a half gallons of water; add to the lime-water and strain. Immerse the cloth in boiling suds ; then take out and put directly into the mixture ; leave it in for half an hour, then rinse the muslin thoroughly and lay upon the grass or snow, or hang upon a line in the sun. To make it very white, dampen occasionally and leave it out for two or three days.
Starch (very fine). — Two tablespoonfuls of starch wet in cold water ; add one teaspoonful each of gum arabic, white wax and fine salt; pour on one quart of boiling water; boil ten minutes, then strain ; add two more tablespoonfuls of starch wet in cold water to the strained starch. If any is left over it can be kept for next time ; it will be good though thin as water. If a polishing iron is used after the usual ironing the clothes will look like new.
Records on this page
To Revive Old Kid GlovesBleaching Process