441. To Refine Ox-gall for Fixing Chalk and Pencil Drawings, and Removing Grease

441.    To Refine Ox-gall for Fixing Chalk and Pencil Drawings, and Removing Grease. Allow fresh ox-gall to repose for 12 or 15 hours, decant the clear, and evaporate to the consistence of a thick syrup, in a water bath; then spread it thinly on a dish, and expose it before the fire, or to a current of dry air, until nearly dry. It will then keep for years in wide-mouthed bottles or pots, covered over with bladder. For use, a little is dissolved in water.

Or:- fresh gall, 1 pint; boil, skim, add pounded alum, 1 ounce; boil again until the alum is dissolved, and when sufficiently cool, pour it into a bottle, and loosely cork it down; in a similar manner boil and skim another pint of gall, and add to it 1 ounce of common salt; boil till dissolved, and cool and bottle as above. In three months decant the clear from both bottles, and mix them in equal quantities; the clear portion must then be separated from the coagulum by subsidence or filtration. It is employed by artists to fix chalk and pencil drawings before tinting them, and to remove the greasiness from ivory, tracing paper, etc.. It is also used to extract grease and oil from clothes: for the latter purpose it answers admirably.

442. To Clean Cloth Clothes

442.    To Clean Cloth Clothes. Dissolve 4 ounces washing soda in 1 quart boiling water; when dissolved, add to it 1 moderate sized fresh beef's gall; lay the garment to be cleaned on a clean table or board, and with a sponge or brush (a brush is the best) wetted in the liquid, rub well the grease spots first, and. afterwards the whole garment, frequently dipping the sponge or brush in the liquid; when sufficiently rubbed, rinse in cold water until the water is clear, then squeeze the water out thoroughly (but without twisting - if possible, use a patent wringer), shake well and hang in the air to dry. While drying, shake the garment occasionally and pull it into shape to prevent shrinking. When still slightly damp, press it on the wrong side with a warm iron, and then finish airing. Clothes cleaned in this way, if the directions be strictly followed, look almost equal to new. The use of the patent wringing machine is a great improvement in this operation, as it hastens drying, and prevents shrinking. The editor has used this receipt in his family for the last 15 years with the most satisfactory results. For dark-colored cloth garments, it is a common practice to add some fuller's earth to the mixture of soap and gall. When nearly dry, the nap should be laid right, and the garment carefully pressed, after which, a brush, moistened with a drop or two of olive oil, should be passed over it several times; this will give it a superior finish.

443. To Clean Woolen Clothes

443.    To Clean Woolen Clothes. Mix 1/2 ounce sulphuric ether and 1/2 ounce hartshorn (ammonia water) with 3 ounces water. Rub the article well with a sponge frequently wetted with the mixture, which will remove the dirt; then sponge with clean warm water; next lay a coarse towel, which has been saturated with hot water and wrung out, over the article, and press it with a hot iron; while the steam is still rising from the cloth, brush it down with a clothes brush.