GeneralCleaning

The following articles ('Cleaning' and 'Laundering') have been copied directly from the 1927 Butterick
book, 'The Art of Dress Making'. I omitted a few things, like some of the methods that include chemicals
that are not readily available any more.
Some chemicals like oxalic acid are available online for fairly cheap via www.chemicalstore.com.

Cleaning can frequently be done at home with very little trouble and expense. The simplest way to clean
woolen goods is to wash them in warm soap-suds or with the soap bark. Select any pure, mild soap in
either cake or flaked form and dissolve it in hot water, whisking it into foamy suds. Then add cool water
until it is barely lukewarm. Place the material in the solution and gently squeeze it between the hands or
press with a vacuum cup "pouncer". Rinse in another suds or in clear water and gently squeeze out the
surplus water. Do not wring.

Silks
For silks, mix six ounces of strained honey and four ounces of a pure soap with one pint of pure alcohol
or a good substitute.
Lay each piece of silk flat on a table or marble, and with a brush cover the silk with the mixture, first on
one side, then on the other. Brush the silk as little as possible and always straight up and down. Dip the
silk in several tepid rinsing waters, the last one mixed with a little honey. Do not wring the silk, b but hang
it up, and when half dry iron with a cool iron on the wrong side.

Black silk can be freshened by sponging with strong black coffee, or with a glove-water made by boiling
an old black kid glove in water for some time.
A good method of cleaning black silk is to sponge the silk on both sides with one half teaspoonful of
household ammonia to a quart of water, and then iron on the wrong side with a pieces of muslin between
the silk and the iron.
Ribbons may be cleansed in the same way and rolled smoothly over a bottle or round stick to dry.

Velvet
Velvet is cleaned by steaming. First brush the velvet thoroughly with either a soft or a stiff brush until all
dust and line are removed. It is better to use a soft brush if the velvet is not too dirty.
The pile may be raised by holding the velvet tightly over a pan of boiling water or over an inverted iron.

Laces
For black laces, an old fashioned cleaning mixture is made by boiling an old black kid glove in a pint of
water until half the water has evaporated. Strain, and, if necessary, add a little cold water. After brushing
the lace, dip it up and down in the liquid. Then roll it over a bottle or pin smoothly over a covered board
to dry.
White laces may be washed in a suds of pure soap, then thoroughly rinsed and pinned over a covered
board to dry. Some laces will stand ironing on the wrong side. Let the lace partially dry, and iron over
several thicknesses of flannel.

Removing Spots
Grease spots on woolen or silk may be removed by naphtha, gasoline, ether or chloroform.
A good mixture for removing grease spots is made from equal parts of alcohol, benzin, and ether.
Lay the material, right side down, on a piece of clean blotting paper or brown wrapping paper. Rub
around and around the spot with a piece of the same material which has been dipped in the cleaning
fluid. Be careful to approach the spot gradually and keep rubbing around the edge of the spot which is
damp with the cleaning fluid so that no ring forms. If you do not approach the spot gradually, the grease
will spread over a large surface. Ether and chloroform are less liable to leave a ring than gasoline or
naphtha.
Grease can also be removed from silk or woolen materials by spreading French chalk over the spot and
allowing it to stand for some time. This absorbs the grease. Shake the chalk off the garment and if it
leaves a mark dissolve the remaining particles with benzin or ether, being careful to Rub around the edge
of the spot which is damp with these fluids until they have completely evaporated, to prevent a ring from
forming. Powdered French chalk or Fuller's earth may be used by placing the powder over the stains and
holding over a heated iron. The heat will dissolve the grease and the powder will absorb it.
Grease can be removed from most materials by placing the material, right side down, over a piece of
brown wrapping paper and pressing over the wrong side of the material with a hot iron. The heat of the
iron drives the grease from the material into the paper, because grease has a tendency to go from a
warm spot to a cooler one.
To remove grease from white goods, wash with soap. Colored cottons or colored woolens may be washed
with lukewarm soap lyes.

Machine oil stains.- Washing with cold water and a pure soap will remove most stains of machine oil. If
they are especially difficult to remove, moisten borax and rub it on the stain form the outside toward the
center, taking care not to spread the oil. Pour cold water though the material.
Blood Stains may be taken out by washing with soap and tepid water. They may also be removed by
covering the spot with wet laundry starch and allowing it to stand. Afterward it should be washed.
To remove fresh ink.- Fresh ink can be removed from almost any material by stretching it tightly over a
bowl or deep vessel and pouring boiling water through the spot with force from a height. Or, if still moist,
rub either salt, meal flour or sugar, and wash in cold water.
In white materials squeeze lemon-juice over the post and cover with salt. Then place the article in the sun
for a while and wash. The process may be repeated if necessary, until the ink spot is entirely removed.
To remove copy or India ink from white materials-make a strong solution of oxalic acid and cold water.
Soak the spot for a few moments in the oxalic acid and then soak it in ammonia. If necessary, repeat until
the stain disappears. Rinse thoroughly in cold water.
To remove fruit stains.- Make a solution of oxalic acid and water, using about ten grains of the acid to a
half pint of water. Wet the article in hot water and then apply the solution of oxalic acid to the spot. Rinse
it well after the spot has been removed.
To remove iron rust from white materials.- Lay the article in the sun and apply oxalic acid to the spot with
your fingers wet with water. When the spot is removed, rinse the garment thoroughly. Also was your
hands well after using the acid. It is practically impossible to remove iron rust from colored fabrics, as the
acid used in removing the spot takes out the color so that the remedy is worse than the rust.
Mildew is the hardest of all stains to remove, and cannot always be taken out successfully. Salts of lemon
or any of the mediums used for ink and iron rust may be tried. For silk only, dip a flannel in alcohol and
rub briskly, first on one side and then on the other.
Paint, when fresh, can be removed with turpentine or benzin. Or, it may be rubbed with equal parts of
turpentine and alcohol. Turpentine mixed with a little ammonia is also good. Wash off with soap suds or
benzin.
To remove chewing gum hold the underside of the garment over a hot iron until the gum is melted. Then
wipe it off with a rag wet with pure alcohol or a substitute.