WASHING, BLEACHING, &LC. 398 



and its economy. It is now employed in many households, 

 and its advantages are much extolled. 



The spots formed by all substances upon clothing, cannot 

 be removed by the application of alkaline solutions. In such 

 cases other agents must be employed. 



Cloths of silk or woollen cannot be bleached in the 

 manner here described, as the use of the alkaline solution 

 would weaken or destroy the fabric. It is very imjwrtant 

 to know the means of removing spots and grease from 

 clothing of all kinds, and the methods to be used must de- 

 pend upon the nature of the cloths and of the cause of the 

 stain. 



The substances by which spots are principally produced 

 are oil, grease, wax, sweat, ink, rust, the juices of red 

 fruits, &c. Scarcely any of these substances, when drop- 

 ped upon clothing, can be removed by washing alone, even 

 in the hottest water; but each one may be dissolved or 

 evaporated by certain agents. As I write for the inhabit- 

 ants of the fields, I shall speak only of the simplest of these 

 agents. 



A spot of wax may be entirely removed so as to leave no 

 mark, merely by bringing a heated iron so near it as to cause 

 it to melt and evaporate. 



Spots produced by any fat substance may be removed by 

 placing the cloth between two pieces of soft brown paper 

 and applying a warm iron, such as is used for ironing, 

 over the upper paper : the oil is liquified and absorbed by 

 the paper. As the fixed oils are volatilized with more dif- 

 ficulty, the operation of freeing cloth from spots produced 

 by them, is completed by the application of such solvents 

 as are suited to the purpose. The alkalies hold the first 

 rank in the class of bodies by which the oils may be 

 dissolved, as they unite with them and form soluble soaps ; 

 but the alkalies act upon the oils only when in a nearly 

 caustic state, and for this reason the use of them is con- 

 fined to a small number of fabrics, and certain other sub- 

 stances, which, though less active, will nevertheless combine 

 with oil, are preferred ; amongst these are soap, the white 

 clayey earths, the gall of animals, the yolks of eggs, ^c. ; 

 these last substances are often mixed and formed into solid 

 bodies designed for the sole purpose of removing grease from 

 garments. 



The volatile oils are likewise employed for the same 

 purpose, and they are also used for giving an agreeable 

 25* 



