A manual of home-making

With some stains prompt treatment is necessary in order to save the article in question from beinj^ ruinedt and in most cases It is desirable, since all stains are rcinoved more easily when fresh. Changes in the character of the stain, brought about by dr>ing, exposure to air, washing, ironing, or in other ways, often make it necessary to use eheroieals in removing old stains, whereas in many cases much simpler methods are successful if the stains are treatt^ when fresh. The nature of a stain should he known, if possible, before it^ removal is attempted, since this deteiTQines the treatment to be adopted. Moreover, if an unsuitable stain-remover is used, the stain may he ''set^* so that its removal becomes dif- ficult or even impossible. For example, if hot water, which easily removes most fresh fruit stains^ is applied to stains con- taining protein, such as stains of milk, blood, eggs, or meat juice, it coagulates the albumin in the fibers of the cloth and makes it extremely difficult to remove. Similarly, soap, which aids in the removal of grease spots, sets many fruit stains. The kind of fabric upon which the stain occurs also should be known. The method of treatment adopted depends as much on flic nature, <;oIor, weave, finish, and weight of the fabric as on the kind of stain. Cotton and linen are destroyed by strong • Tliia rhaptpr contains almost the whole of Farmors* Bull. 861, Removal of Still nK from Clothing and Other Textiles, by Hari^ld L. Lang and Anna H, WhittdHt-y fit rhe U. H. Dr»pt. of Afrr. Since this by lie tin i^ tlie report of the mo«t ext4^nsive and earrfal work on stain rcniovul that has lx»eii done for the bonefit of housekeepers, it has been only slightly adapted for reprinting here. 282 STAIN REMOVAL 283 acids and attacked to some extent even by weaker ones. Con- m cent ratal acids, thorc^fore, should never be used ia removing st'iins from these fabries^ and when tttlute aeids are used they ■ should be nt'iilralized afterwards with a suitable alkali or^ removed by thorough rinsing; otherwise the acid may become concentrated on drying and destroy the fibers. Generally speaking, alkalis do not attack cotton or linen fabrics to the extent that acids do. However, long-continued or repeated exposure to alkalis, especially in hot solution, weakens the fi- bers. The damage to fabrics resulting from the careless use of strongly atkaline soaps, washing powders, w^ashing-soda, or Iye» is well known to the housekeeper. ■ Wool and silk, being more delicate than cotton and linen ^ re- quire more careful treatment. The use of ver>^ hot water must be avoided, since it turns both woo! an{l silk yellow, shrinks wool J and weakens silk and injures its finish. These materials _ also w^ill not stand much rubbing, as this felts together the ■ wool fil>ers and results in a shrinking or thickening of the ma- terial, while the silk fabrics, as a rule, are too delicate to stand much rubbing without breaking or sepai*ating the fibers. Both wool and silk are dissolved by strong alkalis and are injured even by washing-soda or strongly alkaline soap. The only alkalis which should be used in laundering or removing stains from wool and silk are the milder ones like borax or dilute solu- tions of ammonia. Acids, with the exception of nitric which weakens and turns the fibers yellow, do not attack wool and ■ silk readily, |