190 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



1?S1SJS'1S'S. ^m^Sa 



DECEHBER 2S. 183«?. 



ART OF REMOVING ST A IMS FROM CLOTH. 



Tlie art requires, first a knowlerlge of tlie iliffer- 



cnt substances producing stains. Secondly of 



those substances liy which stains maybe reuiovfed. 

 And, thirdly — a knowledge of the original col- 

 oring matter of the article, of the action of the 

 substance upon it, and upon the stuff, and of those 

 those substances which will re-establish the faded 

 color. 



1. Among the most common stains are those of 

 grease and oils generally, acids, alkalies, iron, rust, 

 sweet fruits, &c. Some of these, such as grease 

 spots and stains of fruit, are easily known : while 

 some of the others are more difticnlt to be distin- 

 guished. These difficulties are, however, often in 

 a great measure overcoms by observing the chan- 

 ges which are effected i'l the color of the stuff. 



Acids, for instance are generally thus known : 



They redden black, brown ; and violet dyes and 

 all blue colors, except Prussian blue and Indigo. 

 Yellow oolors are generally rendered paler by 

 them, except the color of annatto, ^vIlieh becomes 

 orange. 



Alkalies generally cause red colors to become 

 violet, and blue to become green. Green svoolen 

 cloth is changed by them to yellow, yellow to 

 brown and annatto to a lively red. 



Sweat consists principally of water, with a small 

 quantity of muriate of soda, and acetic acid ; it 

 therefore produces nearly the same effects as the 

 acids generally. 



2. Grease and oil spots are removed by alka- 

 lies, soap, yolk of eggs, or by essential oils dissol- 

 ved in .alcohol. The most effectual mode of re- 

 moving grease spots from coarse articles, or those 

 where the color will not be injured by it, is by a 

 solution of pearlash. In finer stuffs, ammonia is 

 preferable, as it rapidly volatizes and is less liable 

 to injure the color. Grease spots on colored silk 

 are remove.l hy putting chalk dust upon them, 

 and suffering it to rewiain a few hours, until it has 

 absorved the grease. Oils and grease which vol- 

 atizes a temperature sufficiently low, may be ex- 

 pelled by applying heat. 



Stains of acids are destroyed by alkalies and by 

 acids. Caution is necessary in applying them, to 

 use BO greater quantity than is sufficient to neu- 

 tralize the staining substance, as too great a qnan. 

 tity might produce an opposite evil. They must 

 therefore be applied gradually, and in small quan- 

 tities at a time. For the same reason, ammonia 

 is found best for removing acids, and the vegeta- 

 ble acids are the best for removing alkalies, as 

 their action is more mild, and consequently there 

 is less danger of their injuring the texture'of the 

 cloth. 



Oxide or rust of iron, common ink spots are re- 

 moved by a solution of oxalic acid it dissolves the 

 iron without injuring in the least, the texture of 

 the stuff, and the yellow oxalate of iron which is 

 thus produced.and which is soluble, is readily re- 

 moved by washing or soaking in water. Ink 

 spots, (tanno gallate of iron,) upon the leaves of 

 printed books, engravings, prints, as the acid has 

 no action on the printer's ink, which is colored 

 with lamp black. Where ink spots have been 

 fresh, we have succeeded in restoring the paper 

 in a very few minutes, almost to its original white- 

 ness, with perfect ease by applying oxalic acid 

 and by subsequent washing, while not the slight- 

 est change was observed in the marks of the print. 



Old ink spots, and especially those of very black 

 ink are nxire difficult to remove. Stains of fruit 

 on white^stuffs. are readily removed by a diluted 

 solution of chlorine or of sulphuric acid. Sulpho- 

 rons acid is perhaps still better, being less liable 

 to injure the cloth : to apply it, the cloth is simply 

 moistened and exposed to the vapor of the burn- 

 ing Kulphur. VVljere it is practicable to use chlo- 

 rine in a gaseous state, it is preferable to a solu- 

 tion, there being less danger of injuring the cloth. 



Compound spots are more difficult to remove 



and they require different aiiplications according 

 to the respective natures of the component parts 

 of the substances causing the stain. Thus, for in- 

 stance, grease from a wheel work requires first 

 that the grease should be dissolved by an alkali, 

 and then the iron is removed by an oxalic acid. 



3. Where the stuffs are not white, but have 

 been colored by dies, those substances should be 

 employed to remove the stain, which will not 

 change the color of the dye. Or, if this cannot 

 be done, and the substance applied, alters the col- 

 or, a knowledge of those substances is necessary, 

 which will re-establish the color. If, for instance, 

 an alkali has been employed to remove an acid 

 from a violet blue or red cloth, and a yellow spot 

 remains, a solution of sulphate of iron or copper- 

 as must be used. Or where spots of ink or iron 

 would have been removed by oxalic acid, the col- 

 or may be restored by an alkali or solution of tin. 

 This branch of our subject is too extensive for 

 our present limits, and those who wish to pursue 

 the subject, we refer them to works ou dyein<>- 

 and that department of chemistry which relates 

 to it. 



The REstjLTs or Science. — Were we to suf- 

 fer our reflections upon the results of science to 

 find written language, we should far transcend the 

 limits of our paper. The facts which have been 

 developed within a few years, under the galvanic 

 power of the human mind, would occu|)y whole 

 pages, and were we to proceed from facts to spec- 

 ulation, who could assign the limit to which we 

 might not reasonably advance. The discoveries 

 of science are ofi-times meteor-like, startingly 

 sudden and brilliant, but they do not like meteors 

 depart leaving the surrounding world in darkness, 

 but remain to gather new light, to increa.se their 

 body, to flame anew, and throw out continual cor- 

 ruscations. 



The student and man of learning may, in fol- 

 lowing the luminous course of science, proceed 

 from star to star, but more common observers can 

 only be taken as it were along the route, and won- 

 der that they are so rapidly advanced and so 

 greatly enlightened. Discoveries are continually 

 made to increase human comfort, dispense with 

 labor, to anticipate as it were the progress of time. 

 Man is made to assimilate to his Creator, by pen ■ 

 etrating more and more into the wonderful prin- 

 ciples upon which his works are constituted. 



And after all that yet has been done, there is a 

 feeling in the human mind, that we are yet but 

 upon the threshold of the great temple, filled 

 with the glories and mysteries of Him, who has 

 given us the privilege of aspiring to knowledge in 

 order that each advance may shew how much his 

 infinite wisdom has placed beyond us. 



We know there are sublimer mysteries which 

 the revelations already juade to human intellect 

 lead it to hope may one day be revealed to it. It. 

 is an evidence of the immortality of the mind, 



that Its aspirings have neither scope nor limit, and 

 that its most soaring flights but lead to discoveries 

 of new light and glory which increase its vfgor, 

 and still impel it onward. 



In connexion with this subject, we make the 

 following extract, which shew how much the or- 

 dinary processes of nature may be quickened bv 

 njeans of some chemical principles. When meii 

 of science shall increase and multitily the means 

 of investigation, we may imagine, what may yet 

 be developed : 



Elkctricity.— We noticed not long since, in 

 a Foreign Journal, a wager between a Lo«don 

 scientific gardener, and a celebrated cook, that the 

 former would produce a handsome salad and cress 

 from the seed, before the latter could cook in good 

 style, a leg of mutton to be eated with the salad. 

 I'he wager was soon won by the gardener. The 

 process was to immerse the seed for some time, 

 in oxymuriatic acid, then sow it in a light soil.' 

 letting it ke covered with a metallic cover, and' 

 bringing in contact with the whole, an electrical 

 machine. By the same agent, hens' eggs, which 

 require twenty or thirty days to hatch by animal 

 heat, have been hatched in a few hours. Water 

 apparently free from any animalculfg, in an hour 

 can be filled full of living insect.?. It has been 

 sus|)ected, that what is called electro-magnetism, 

 performed a prominent part in the formation and 

 growth of rnimal and vegetable matter, and these 

 experiments would seem to place the matter be- 

 yond a doubt. Should these results be confirmed 

 by further experiments, a new era in physiology, 

 both vegetable and animal may be considered as 

 commenced, and another step taken in drawing 

 the veil which shrouds the mysterious operations 

 in the inner courts of the temple of nature.— Gen- 

 esee Farmer. 



DiscoNTE.NT. — How universal is it. We nev- 

 er yet knew the man who would say, ' 1 am con- 

 tented.' Go where you will, among the rich and 

 poor, the man of competence, or the man who 

 earns his bread by the sweat ol his brow; you hear 

 the sound of murmuring and the voice of com- 

 plaint. The other day we stood by a cooper, who 

 was playing a merry tune with his adza. around a 

 cask, — ' ah,' sighed he, ' mine is a hard lot — for- 

 ever trotting round and rouiid like a dog, drivinff 

 away at a hoop. ' Heigho,' sighed a blacksmitir, 

 one hot day, as he wiped the drops of perspiration 

 from his brow, while the red hot iron glowed on 

 his anvil — 'this is a life with a vengeance I' ' Oh 

 tliat I were a carpenter,' ejaculated a shoemaker, 

 as he l)cnt over his lap stone, 'here am I, day af- 

 ter day, wearing my soul in making souls for oth- 

 ers, cooped up in this little 7 by 9 room.' ' I am 

 sick of this out door work,' says the carpenter 

 ' broiling under a sweltering sun, or exposed to 

 the inclemencies of the weather — if I were only 

 a tailor !' ' Last day of grace — banks won't dis- 

 count — customers wont't pay, what s^aW Idol' 

 grumbles the merchant. ' I had ratlier be a trut'k 

 horse, a dog, anything !' ' Happy fellows,' groans 

 the lawyer, as he scratches his head over some 

 perplexing case, or pores over some dry, musty 

 record, .4nd so through all the ramifications of 

 .society,all are complaining of their condition, find- 

 ing fault with their peculiar calling. If I were 

 only this or that, J should be content, is the uni- 

 versal cry — airy thing but what I am. So wags 



the world, so it has wagged, and so it will wag. 



Revieiv Sf Telegraph. 



