How To Remove Ink Stains

Ink stains may be removed from a mahogany table by putting a few drops of spirits of nitre into a teaspoonful of water, and touching the part stained with a feather dipped into the mixture; immediately the ink stain disappears, the place must be rubbed with a rag wet with cold water, or there will be a white mark, which will not easily be removed. Ink stains on silver or plated articles may be removed immediately and effectually without doing any injury to the things, by making a little chloride of lime into a paste with water and rubbing the stains until they disappear, and afterwards washing the article with soap and water. Ink stains may be removed from colored table covers by dissolving a teaspoonful of oxalic acid in a teacupful of hot water and rubbing the stained part well with the solution. Ink stains may be taken out of anything white by simply putting a little powdered salts of lemon on the stain, damping it, allowing it to remain about five minutes, and then washing it out with soap and water, when the stain will disappear.

Ink may be removed from boards by applying some strong muriatic acid or spirits of salt with a piece of rag and afterwards well washing the place with water.

How To Remove Stains From Wood

To half a pint of soft water put an ounce of oxalic acid and half an ounce of butter of antimony; shake it well, and when dissolved it will be very useful in extracting stains, as well as ink from wood, if not of too long standing.

How To Clean Velvet

Velvet requires very careful manipulation, as it loses its fine appearance if wrung or pressed when it is wet. To remove dust:- Strew very fine dry sand upon the velvet, and brush in the direction of the lines until all the sand is removed. The brush must be clean. To remove dirt:- Dissolve ox-gall in nearly boiling clean water, and add some spirits of wine. Dip a soft brush into this solution and brush the dirt out of the velvet. It may require repeated brushing. After this, hang it evenly up to dry. For finishing, apply a weak solution of gum by means of a sponge to the reverse side of the velvet.

How To Remove Paint Or Stain From Wood

Dissolve potash in water, making a strong solution, with this wash the surface of the work, allowing it to soak a few minutes. If the paint cannot then be scraped off, give the wood another application, and repeat until the paint is removed. Afterward, wash the surface with clean water sufficiently to ensure the removal of all the potash.

How To Remove Varnish From Wood

a strong application of ordinary spirits of camphor will remove almost any kind of polish or varnish. Give the spirit time to evaporate before re-polishing, or it will injure the new polish.

The solution of potash, mentioned above, will also remove varnish.

Tests For Gilding

If a gilt surface be touched with a drop of chloride of gold or nitrate of silver solution, the former will produce a brown, the latter a grey spot if the coating be an alloy, but will have no effect upon pure gold. For gilt paper, moisten with a drop of chloride of sulphur, which will immediately produce a dark brown margin if the covering is not pure gold. Metallic spangles shaken in close flasks with chloride of sulphur, suffer no change if gold, otherwise they gradually darken; but if under slight pressure, as in hermetically sealed tubes, gold spangles disappear in a short time by conversion into chloride of gold.

Anti-Attrition

This mixture is made of one part of plum-o or blacklead ground very fine, and four parts of hog's lard or grease, mixed well together. It prevents the effects of friction much better than oil or other grease, and is very useful for the turner, and will be found to make the lathe work much easier, as well as to be a great saving in oil, which with constant use grows stiff, and sensibly impedes the motion; while this preparation, once applied, will last a long time without requiring renewal.

How To Remove Grease from Cloth

Drop on the spot some oil of tartar, or salt of wormwood, which has been left in a damp place till it turns into a fluid; then immediately wash the place with lukewarm soft water, and then with cold water, and the spot will disappear.

This will be found very useful, as it frequently happens that the cloth of the card tables, and the inside flaps of secretaries, are spotted and greasy. By proceeding as above, every spot of grease will be completely taken out.