455. To Clean White Satin Shoes

455.    To Clean White Satin Shoes. "White satin shoes may be cleaned by rubbing them with stone blue and flannel, and afterwards cleaning them with bread.

456. To Clean Black, and Other Silks, with old Kid Gloves

456.     To Clean Black, and Other Silks, with old Kid Gloves. Cut up a black kid glove in small pieces and pour a pint of boiling water over it. Cover it and let it stand all night where the water will keep warm if possible. In the morning let it boil up, strain it, and add 1 dessert-spoonful of alcohol. Keep it warm while sponging the silk on the right side and iron immediately on the wrong side. For light silks use white or light kid gloves. It will do without the alcohol, but is better with it.

457. To Clean Black Silks

457.    To Clean Black Silks. Steep a few hours in cold water. Then put 1/4 a pint of the Black Reviver in 1/2 a gallon of water, and a cupful of ox-gall. Make hot, and sponge the silk. Dry and smooth with an iron. {See next receipt).

Rusty black silk may be cleaned in the same way. Some persons clean black silk by rubbing it with a flannel dipped in gin.

458. Black Reviver, to Restore the Color of Black Silk, Cloth or Leather

458.    Black Reviver, to Restore the Color of Black Silk, Cloth or Leather. Take of blue galls, bruised, 4 ounces; logwood, copperas, iron filings free from grease, and sumach leaves, each 1 ounce. Put all but the iron filings and copperas into 1 quart good vinegar, and set the vessel containing them in a warm water bath for twenty-four hours, then add the iron filings and copperas and shake occasionally for a week. It should be kept in a well-corked bottle. It may be applied to faded spots with a soft sponge. It is good also to restore the black color of leather when it turns red, the leather being previously well cleaned with soap and water.

459. To Restore Black Silk

459.    To Restore Black Silk. To oxgall, add boiling water sufficient to make it warm, and with a clean sponge rub the silk well on both sides; squeeze it well out, and proceed again in like manner. Rinse it in spring water, and change the water till perfectly clean; dry it in the air, then dip the sponge in glue-water, and rub it on the wrong side; pin it out on a table, and dry before a fire.

460. To Clean Silks, Satins, Colored Woolen Dresses, etc.

460.    To Clean Silks, Satins, Colored Woolen Dresses, etc.. 4 ounces of soft soap, 4 ounces of honey, the white of an egg, and a wine-glassful of gin; mix well together, and scour the article (which must be unpicked, and laid in widths on a kitchen table) with a rather hard brush, thoroughly; afterwards rinse it in cold water, leave to drain, and iron whilst quite damp, with a piece of thin muslin between it and the iron, or it will be marked on the ironed side. The silk, when laid on the table, must be kept quite smooth, so that every part may come under the brush.

White silk requires a little blue in the water. This receipt is an excellent one.