hing: Infuse three gills of salt in four
quarts of boiling water; put in the calicoes, (which should be perfectly
clean; if not so, the dirt will be set.) Let the calicoes remain in till
the water is cold. I have never seen this tried, but I think it not
improbable that it may be an excellent way to set the colors, as rinsing
calicoes in cold salt and water serves to set the colors, particularly
of black, blue, and green colors. A little vinegar in the rinsing water
of pink, red, and green calicoes, is good to brighten the colors, and
keep them from mixing. All kinds of calicoes but black, look better for
starching, but black calicoes will not look clear if starched. On this
account potato water is an excellent thing to wash them, if boiled down
to a thick consistence, as it stiffens them without showing.

413. _Directions for Cleaning Silk Goods._

When silk cushions, or silk coverings to furniture, become dingy, rub
dry bran on it gently, with a woollen cloth, till clean. Remove grease
spots and stains as in direction No. 410. Silk garments should have the
spots extracted before being-washed--use hard soap for all colors but
yellow, for which soft soap is the best. Put the soap into hot water,
beat it till it is perfectly dissolved, then add sufficient cold water
to make it just lukewarm. Put in the silks, and rub them in it till
clean; take them out without wringing, and rinse them in fair lukewarm
water. Rinse it in another water, and for bright yellows, crimsons, and
maroons, add sulphuric acid enough to the water to give it an acid
taste, before rinsing the garment in it. To restore the colors of the
different shades of pink, put in the second rinsing water a little
vinegar or lemon-juice. For scarlet, use a solution of tin; for blues,
purples, and their shades, use pearl-ash; and for olive-greens, dissolve
verdigris in the rinsing water--fawn and browns should be rinsed in pure
water. Dip the silks up and down in the rinsing water: take them out of
it without wringing, and dry them in the shade. Fold them up while damp:
let them remain to have the dampness strike through all parts of them
alike, then put them in a mangler--if you have not one, iron them on the
wrong side, with an iron only just hot enough to smooth them. A little
isinglass or gum arabic, dissolved in the rinsing water of gauze shawls
and ribbons, is good to stiffen them. The water in which pared potatoes
have been boiled, is an excellent thing