SUNDRY APPLICATIONS OF CASEIN. 



147 



PAINT REMOVER. 



Of late the practice of removing paint by burning is falling 

 into desuetude. At the same time, the caustic alkali prepar- 

 ations sold for this purpose are attended with numerous 

 drawbacks, the ordinary substances of this class having to 

 be applied several times over, owing to their tendency to run 

 down from the smooth surface of the paint, so that their 

 action is delayed. This tendency, however, may be pre- 

 vented by mixing the alkali with a very thin solution of 

 casein, in the proportion, say, of 5 parts of caustic soda, 10 

 of water and 1 of casein solution. The caustic soda is first 

 dissolved in the water, and the casein solution is added until 

 the preparation is of workable consistency. For use, the 

 mass is stirred up well, laid on with a brush, and washed off, 

 along with the remains of the paint, in about one to two 

 hours' time. To enable this preparation to keep for some 

 considerable time, it may receive an addition of per cent, 

 of carbolic acid and a few drops of some ethereal oil, such as 

 oil of cloves, rosemary, etc. 



BEUSE'S SHOE POLISH. 



Shoe polish may be made to give a greatly improved gloss 

 by the addition of a solution of casein, prepared by boiling in 

 water with borax or soda. At the same time the addition of 

 iron resinate imparts the property of staining the leather a 

 deep black, instead of merely forming a black coating. 



The iron resinate is prepared by adding an aqueous solu- 

 tion of green vitriol (ferrous sulphate) to a resin soap obtained 

 by boiling resin with soda. The other ingredients of the 

 polish are as usual : ivory black, syrup or dextrose, fat or oil. 

 A blue-black sheen may be imparted to fine polish by the 

 addition of a little Paris blue dissolved in water. 



The following is a typical recipe for these polishes : 



