56: 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



add some fuller's-earth to the mixture 

 of soap and gall. When nearly dry, 

 the nap should be laid right, and 

 the article carefully pressed, after which 

 a brush, moistened with a drop or 

 two of olive oil, is passed several times 

 over it, which will give it a superior finish. 

 Cloth may also be cleaned in the dry 

 way, as follows : First, remove the spots, 

 us above, and, when the parts have dried, 

 strew clean, damp sand over it, and beat 

 it in with a brush, after which brush the 

 article with a hard brush, when the sand 

 will readily come out, and bring the dirt 

 with it. Black cloth which is very rusty, 

 should receive a coat of reviver after 

 •drying, and be hung up until the next 

 day, when it may be pressed and finished 

 off as before. Scarlet cloth requires con- 

 siderable caution. After being thoroughly 

 rinsed, it should be repeatedly passed 

 through cold spring water, to which a 

 tablespoonful or two of solution of tin 

 has been added. If much faded, it 

 should be dipped in a scarlet dye-bath. 

 Buff cloth is generally cleansed by cover- 

 ing it with a paste made with pipe-clay 

 and water, which, when dry, is rubbed 

 and brushed off. 



CLOTH, Renovation of. — The article 

 undergoes the process of scouring before 

 described, and, after being well rinsed 

 and drained, it is put on a board, and the 

 thread-bare parts rubbed with a half- worn 

 hatter's card, filled with flocks, or with a 

 teazle or a prickly thistle, until a nap is 

 raised. It is next hung up to dry, the 

 nap laid the right way with a hard brush, 

 . and finished as before. When the cloth 

 is much faded, it is usual to give it a dip, 

 as it is called, or to pass it through a 

 . dye-bath, to freshen up the color. 



CLOTH, To Revive the Color of Black. 



If a coat, clean it well, then boil from 

 two to four ounces of logwood in your 

 copper, or boiler for half an hour; dip 

 your coat in warm water, and squeeze it 

 as dry as you can ; then put it into the 

 copper and boil it for half an hour. Take 

 it out, and add a piece of green copperas, 

 about the size of a horse-bean; boil it 

 Another half hour, then draw it, and hang 

 at in the air for an hour or two ; take it 

 sdown, rinse it in two or three cold 

 •waters; dry it, and let it be well brushed 

 -with a soft brush, over which a drop or 



two of the oil of olives has been rubbed, 

 then stroke your coat regularly over. 



CRAPE, To Restore. — Skimmed milk 

 and water, with a little bit of glue in it, 

 made scalding-hot, is excellent to restore 

 rusty Italian crape. It clapped and 

 pulled dry like muslin, it will look as 

 good as new ; or, brush the veil till all 

 the dust is removed, then fold it length- 

 wise, and roll it smoothly and tightly on 

 a roller. Steam it till it is thoroughly 

 dampened, and dry on the roller. 



DYEING, General Principles of.— 

 Dyeing is a chemical process, and the 

 mode of its performance depends upon 

 the substance operated on. Thus, it is 

 found that the process by which wool is 

 dyed black would only impart a rusty 

 brown to linen. Wool unites with almost 

 all coloring matters with great facility, 

 silk in the next degree, cotton less easily 

 than silk, and linen with even more 

 difficulty. Preparatory to the operation 

 of dyeing, each of these substances under- 

 goes a species of preparation to free the 

 fibres from adhering foreign matter, as 

 dirt, grease, etc., which would prevent 

 the absorption of the aqueous fluid to be 

 afterwards applied, as well as impair the 

 brilliancy of the edge. Wool is cleaned 

 or scoured by means of a weak alkaline 

 lye, soap and water, or putrid urine; the 

 latter being very generally used for this 

 purpose. Silk is cleaned from the natural 

 varnish that covers it, by boiling with 

 white soap and water. Cotton and linen 

 are cleaned with alkaline lyes of more or 

 less density. The substances so prepared 

 are ready to undergo the various opera- 

 tions of dyeing. 



Among the various coloring materials 

 employed by dyers, some impart their 

 tints to different substances by simple im- 

 mersion in their infusions or decoctions, 

 and have hence been called substantive 

 colors; but by far the greater number 

 only impart a fugitive dye, unless the 

 fibres of the stuff have been previously 

 filled with some substance which has a 

 strong affinity for the latter on the one 

 hand, and the coloring material on the 

 other. The substances applied with this 

 intention are called "mordants," and 

 generally exercise the double property of 

 fixing and striking the color Thus, if 

 calico be dyed with a decoction of mad- 

 der, it will only receive a fugitive and 



