SCOURING AND CLEANSING. The general principle of cleansing all spots, consists in applying to them a sub stance which shall have a stronger affini ty for the matter composing them, than this has for the cloth, and which shall render them soluble in some liquid men struum, such as spirits, impala, oil of tur pentine, &c. (See BLEACHING.) Alkalies would seem to be proper in this point of view, as they are the most pow erful solvents of grease ; but they act too strongly upon silk and wool, as well as change too powerfully the colors of dyed-stuffs, to be safely applicable in removing stains. The substances for this purpose are-1. Soap. 2. Chalk, fuller's earth, soap-stone or steatite (called in this country French chalk). These should be merely diffused through a little water into a thin paste, spread upon the stain and allowed to dry. The spot requires now to be merely brushed. 3. Ox-gall and yolk of egg have the property of dissolving fatty bodies with out affecting perceptibly the texture or colors of cloth, and may therefore be em ployed with advantage. The ox-gall should be purified, to prevent its green ish tint from degrading the brilliancy of dyed-stuffs, or the purity of whites. Thus prepared (see GALL), it is the most precious of all substances known for re moving these kind of stains. 4. The volatile oil of turpentine will take out only recent stains ; for which purpose it ought to be previoasly purified by dis tillation over quicklime. Wax, resin, turpentine,pitch, and all resinous bodies in general, form stains of greater or less adhesion, which may be dissolved out by pure alcohol. The juices of fruits, and the colored juices of all vegetables in general, deposit upon clothes marks in peculiar hues. Stains of wine, mulberries, black currants, morel:, 4, li quors, and weld, yield only to soaping with the hand, followed by with sulphurous acid ; but the 'latter process is inadmissible with certain col ored stuffs. Iron mould or rust stains may be taken out almost instantaneously with a strong solution of oxalic acid. If
the stain is recent, cream of tartar will remove it.
Compound Spots.—That mixture of rust of iron and grease called camboui,s i by the French, is an example of this kind, and requires two distinct opera tions ; first, the removal of the grease, and then of the rust, by the means above indicated.
Mud, especially that of cities, is a com pound of vegetable remains, and of fer ruginous matter in a state of black ox ide. Washing with pure water, followed if necessary with soaping, will take away the Vegetable juices ; and then the iron may be removed with cream of tartar which itself must, however, be wd. washed out. Ink stains, when recent, may be taken out by washing, first with pure water, next with soapy water, and lastly with lemon juice ; hut if old, they must be treated with oxalic acid. Stains occasioned by smoke, or by sauces browned in a frying-pan, may be sup posed to consist of a mixture of pitch, black oxide of iron, empyreumatic oil, and some saline matters dissolved in pyroligneous acid. In this case several reagents must be employed to remove the stains. Water and soap dissolve per fectly well the vegetable matters, the salts, the pyroligneous acid, and even the empyreninatie oils in a great mea sure ; the essence of turpentine will re move the rest of the oils and all the pitchy matter ; then oxalic acid may be used to discharge the iron. Coffee stains require a washing with water, with a careful soaping, at the temperature of 120° F., followed by sulphuration. The two latter processes may be repeated twice or thrice. Chocolate stains may be removed by the same means, and more easily.
As to those stains which change the color of the stuff, they must be corrected by appropriate chemical reagents or dyes. When black or brown cloth is red dened by an acid, the stain is best coun teracted by the application of water of ammonia. If delicate silk colors are in jured by soapy or alkaline matters, the stains must be treated with colorless vinegar of moderate force.