Whenever possible, stains should be removed when fresh. If the staining substance is allowed to dry on the cloth, its removal is always more difficult, and sometimes a neglected spot or stain cannot be removed without damage to the cloth.

The nature of the spot must be known before the best substance to dissolve and remove it can be chosen. To remove grease spots, solvents of grease should be chosen, though we may remove such spots sometimes by causing the grease to form an emulsion with soap and thus be removed, or the grease may be made into a soap with ammonia or washing soda and thus dissolved and removed in water. The first of the three methods is, as a rule, the best. Grease will dissolve readily in benzine, naphtha, gasoline, kerosene, ether, and chloroform and somewhat in turpentine and hot alcohol. Ether and chloroform are the best solvents, but they are more expensive and not much more effective than naphtha.

Caution! All of the solvents for grease are inflammable and some are explosive, so that they should never be used near a fire or light. Work with them should be done in the day time and preferably out of doors.

Grease Spots

Precaution!

In applying any of these solvents to grease spots in fabrics, a cloth should be placed underneath the stain to absorb the excess of liquid containing the dissolved grease. The spot should be rubbed from the outside towards the center until dry. This will tend to distribute the solvent and prevent the formation of a ring where the liquid stops. It is well to apply the solvent on the wrong side of the fabric. Old spots of any kind may require long treatment. For this a little lard may be rubbed into the spot and left for some time, then the whole may be dissolved by naphtha or washed out with soap or ammonia.

Spots of grease on carpet Qr heavy material may be treated with absorbents. Heat will assist by melting the grease. Fresh grease spots may often be removed by placing over the spot a clean piece of blotting paper and pressing the spot with a warm iron. French chalk or whiting may be moistened with naphtha and spread over the spot. When all is dry, brush off the absorbent. The absorption method may be used in many other cases, moistening with cleansing agent which will not harm the material treated.

Bluing spots may frequently be removed by soaking in strong ammonia water. Alcohol or ammonia will remove grass stains, and an old remedy is to smear the stains with molasses before the article goes into the wash. The acids in the molasses seem to have the desired effect on the grass stains.

Absorbents

Bluing Stains

Fresh stains of coffee, tea or fruit may be removed by hot water. Stretch the stained part over an earthen dish and pour boiling water upon the stain until it disappears. It is some times better to sprinkle the stain with borax and soak in cold water before applying the hot water. Old, neglected stains of coffee, fruits, cocoa, etc., will have to be treated with some bleaching agent. In many cases, it is not possible to remove them without severely damaging the cloth.

Mildew causes a spot of a totally different character from any we have considered. It is a true mold, and like all plants, requires warmth and moisture for its growth. When this necessary moisture is furnished by any cloth in a warm place, the mildew grows upon, the fibres. During the first stage of its growth, the mold may be removed, but in time, it destroys the fibres.

Strong soapsuds, a layer of soft soap, and pulverized chalk, or one of chalk and salt, are all effective if, in addition, the moistened cloth be subjected to strong sunlight, which kills the plant and bleaches the fibres. Bleaching powder or Javelle water may be tried in cases of advanced growth, but success cannot be assured.

Some of the animal and vegetable oils may be taken out by soap and cold water or dissolved in naphtha, chloroform, ether, etc. Mineral oil stains are not soluble in any alkaline or acid solutions. Kerosene will evaporate in time. Vaseline stains should be soaked in kerosene before water and soap touch them.

Paints consist mainly of oils and some colored earth. Spots of paint, then, must be treated with something that will take out the oil, leaving the insoluble coloring matter to be brushed off. Turpentine is most generally useful.

Spots of varnish or pitch may be dissolved by the use of the same solvents as paint. Alcohol is also one of the best solvents here.

Spots made by food substances are greasy, sugary, or acid in their nature. Whatever takes out the grease will generally remove the substance united with it, as the blood in meat juices. Sugar is dissolved by hot water, so sticky spots are best removed with this.

Ink spots are perhaps the worst that can be encountered, because of the great uncertainty of the composition of inks of the present day. When the character of an enemy is known, it is a comparatively simple matter to choose the weapons to be used against him, but an unknown enemy must be experimented upon and conquest is uncertain.

Indelible inks formerly owed their permanence to silver nitrate. Now many are made from aniline black solutions and are scarcely affected by any chemicals. The silver nitrate inks become dark in the sun by a photographic process. Many silver salts, and some salts of other metals, change in color in a bright light.

Paint

Ink Spots

Indelible Ink

Silver nitrate inks may be removed by bleaching powder solutions. The chlorine in this replaces the nitric acid forming white silver chloride. This will darken if not at once removed, but will dissolve in strong ammonia water or a solution of hyposulphite of soda. This last salt, much used by photographers, commonly called "hypo," will often dissolve the stain of indelible ink without the use of the bleaching fluid and is less harmful to the fibres. Some inks contain carbon in the form of lamp black which is not affected by any chemicals which can be used.

The old fashioned black ink is a compound called the gallo-tannate of iron. It is made by adding a solution of sulphate of iron to a water solution of nut galls. A little gum solution is added to make the ink. of better consistency. This kind of ink is removed by the addition of a warm solution of oxalic acid or muriatic acid drop by drop, and this finally well rinsed out. Of course some materials will be injured by the acids, so this method must be used with caution. Lemon juice and salt will sometimes remove the spot and is safe. Cover the spot with salt, wet with lemon juice, and spread in the sun. Bleaching powder solution and acid will frequently destroy any ink stain of long standing which acids alone will not affect.

Some ink stains are removed when fresh by clear, cold, or tepid water - skimmed milk is safe and often effective. If the stain is allowed to soak in the milk until the milk sours, the result is often better. Sometimes the ink will dissolve out if a piece of ice is laid on the spot and blotting paper under it. The blotting paper absorbs the water and should be often changed.

Ink on heavy materials like carpets and draperies may be treated with some absorbent to keep the ink from spreading. Bits of blotting paper, cotton batting, meal, flour, sawdust, etc., may be used and removed as long as any ink is absorbed, then go over the spot repeatedly with a lemon freshly cut, and finally rinse with cold or tepid water. If an ink stain has worked through varnish into the wood, turpentine will usually remove the spot.

Of late colored inks are generally prepared from aniline colors. These are made from substances produced in the distillation of coal tar. The colors are soluble in water, and by dissolving them and adding to the mixture some thickening substance, different colored inks are produced. They are rather difficult to remove successfully, but bleaching powder solution will frequently destroy them.

The red iron-rust spots must be treated with acid. These are the results of oxidation - the union of the oxygen of the air with the iron in the presence of moisture. The oxide formed is deposited upon the fabric which furnishes the moisture. Ordinary "tin" utensils are made from iron coated with tin, which soon wears off, so no moist fabric should be left long in tin unless the surface is entire.

Ink on Carpets

Colored Inks

Iron Bust

Iron-rust is, then, an insoluble oxide of iron. The chloride of iron is soluble and so hydrochloric acid is used to remove the rust. The best method of applying the acid is as follows: Fill an earthen dish two-thirds full of hot water and stretch the stained cloth over this. Have near two other dishes with clear water in one and ammonia water in the other. The steam from the hot water will furnish the heat and moisture favorable for chemical action. Drop a little hydrochloric (muriatic) acid on the stain with a medicine dropper. Fig. 19. Let it act a moment, then lower the cloth into the hot water. Repeat till the stain disappears. Rinse carefully in the clear water and, finally, immerse in the ammonia water, that any excess of acid may be neutralized and the fabric protected.

Salt and lemon juice are often sufficient for a slight stain, probably because a little hydrochloric acid is formed from their union.

Salt and Lemon Juice

Ink stains on colored goods are often impossible to take out without also removing part of the dye. The ink must be washed out in cold water before it dries; any slight stain remaining can, perhaps, be removed with a weak acid like lemon juice without harming the color.