Stains - Iron-mould - Mildew - Recipe for Scorch Mixture - Lime Mixture - Paraffin Washing - Alum Water - Melted Soap.

Tea And Coffee Stains

These should be attended to while wet. Spread the stained part over a basin, and pour boiling water through until the mark has disappeared.

Borax or salts of lemon will remove dry tea stains; but some teas, if once allowed to dry, become fixed dyes.

Wine And Fruit Stains

While wet, sprinkle salt on the spot and pour boiling water through, or soak the stain for a few minutes in boiling milk. Salts of lemon will be found effectual for old stains.

Iron-Mould

Pour boiling water through the yellow mark, lay on it a pinch of salts of lemon, then pour boiling water through again; repeat this, as an old mark is usually very obstinate. Salts of sorrel or oxalic acid may be used in the same way.

WET INK-MARKS ON WHITE MATERIALS should be rubbed with salt and a piece of lemon as soon as the ink is soaked up. Rinse quickly, and repeat if necessary.

Wet Ink On Coloured Materials

The freshly made ink stain may be removed by dipping and gently rubbing in milk that has been boiled, but is somewhat cooled, changing the milk as soon as it becomes inky.

Paint Stains

If on white cotton, it should at once be boiled, with melted soap and a little paraffin put in the water. If on coloured material, the spots should be rubbed with paraffin or turpentine.

Mildew

Rub the spots with soap, then cover with scraped chalk, and allow the material to bleach on the grass, sprinkling it with water as it dries.

Mixture For Removing Scorch-Marks

Two ounces of washing soda, 2 ounces of fuller's earth, one onion, and 1/2 pint of vinegar.

Peel, slice, and pound the onion, mix it with the other ingredients; boil ten minutes, strain, and keep closely corked.

Spread a little on the scorched part; when dry, spread more until the mark disappears,

Liquor To Remove Any Stains On White Materials

Quarter of a pound chloride of lime, 1 ounce of washing soda, 1 quart of boiling water. Mix these ingredients together, strain and bottle.

Use in the proportion of 1 tablespoonful to 4 of water, dipping the stain in the liquid. It must be washed off immediately, as it is very injurious to fabrics.

Paraffin Washing

The value of paraffin as a detergent in laundry work was discovered many years ago by accident. As the clothes are put dry into the boiler, the preliminary steeping, washing, and first rinsing are dispensed with, thus saving time, soap, and labour. On the other hand, the smell is so persistent that rinsing through many waters and drying in the air are essential. There is also the danger of some accident, owing to the inflammability of the oil; and the water in the copper must be changed very frequently, and time allowed for a fresh supply to reach boiling-point. These drawbacks appear to neutralize the advantages.

Method

Partly fill the copper with water, and shred thinly into it 1/2 lb. of yellow soap. When the water is boiling fast, add 1 1/2 tablespoonsful of paraffin, put in the linen, and boil fast for half an hour. Fast boiling is essential, as otherwise the greasy scum adheres to the clothes. Rinse in several waters, and dry in the open air.

Alum Water

In order to render cotton draperies, window-curtains, and children's clothes non-inflammable, they should be rinsed in a solution of two ounces of alum to one gallon of water.

Melted Soap For Soap Lather

Shred the soap in very thin slices, just cover with water, and place the pan on the stove till the soap is quite dissolved, and a clear yellow liquid produced. A little of this added to water, and beaten with the hand, instantly produces a lather. Any scraps of soap from the bedrooms may thus be utilized. A large quantity should not be made, as it loses strength if kept many days.