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House Cleaning: Oriental

Any of these methods is suitable for all forms of carpets or rugs of similar materials, as Oriental, Smyrna, and domestic rugs, art squares, and the like.

To Clean Oriental and Other Rugs. -Oriental rugs and other rugs having fast colors may be scrubbed with soap and water, or any of the above cleansing mixtures. Tack the rug on a bare floor, as a porch or piazza, and proceed as with a carpet. The following mixture is especially recommended for the best quality of rugs or carpets and other woolen fabrics: dissolve 8 ounces of good white soap in the same quantity of boiling water; add 10 ounces of aqua ammonia, 5 ounces of alcohol, 5 ounces of glycerin, and 4 ounces of ether or chloroform. Keep in a fruit jar or large glass bottle and cork tightly.

Use 1 tablespoonful of this preparation to a pailful of warm water, and apply with a stiff brush. Or for obstinate stains use a stronger solution.

To Wash Goatskin Rugs. - Wash goatskin rugs in gasoline, or in a mixture of gasoline and pure soapsuds made of hard white soap.

To Freshen Faded Carpets. After carpets have been cleaned and laid, the colors, if faded, may be freshened by sprinkling the carpet with strong salt water and sweeping hard.

Or dampen a cloth with ammonia and rub over the surface of the carpet.

Or put pint of turpentine in about 1½ gallons of water. Wring a cloth out of this solution and with it rub the carpet.

Or go over the carpet with a broom or whisk broom moistened with gasoline.

Or put 1 cupful of cold tea and 1 tablespoonful of turpentine in 2 quarts of warm water. Dip the broom in this before sweeping.

Or put 3 tablespoonfuls of turpentine and 4 of salt in 3 gallons of water, and moisten the broom with it.

Or put 1 gill of ox gall in 1 gallon of water and apply with a cloth wrung out so that it will not drip.

Or dissolve 1 teaspoonful of alum in 1 gallon of water.

Or apply to the patterns suitable dyestuffs or water colors mixed with gum arabic, following the outline of the design with a water-color brush.

Or any of the above may be applied with a clean mop if care is taken to wring it out so that it will be damp rather than wet. The above will not only brighten and set the colors of a carpet, restore faded colors, and prevent fresh colors from fading, but will also act as preventives against moths, and to some extent kill germs that may be present in the carpet.

To Clean Rag Carpets. --Shake and beat the carpet, drag it across the lawn a few times to remove dust by contact with the soft grass, and leave it spread on the grass or hung over a line during a gentle rain. Remove any grease spots with a suitable cleanser.

To Remove Grease from Carpets.- Substances recommended for taking grease out of a carpet are ammonia, saltpeter, ox gall, chloroform, ether, gasoline, fuller's earth, potter's clay, and various combinations of these.

To Remove Grease.-Apply gasoline, benzine, or naphtha with a sponge or stiff scrubbing brush.

Or, if the grease is fresh, cover the spot with a layer of French chalk or fuller's earth. Lay a piece of brown paper or blotting paper upon the chalk, and place on it a hot flatiron. Change the iron occasionally. The grease will be melted and absorbed by the chalk and powder.

Or apply pure ox gall with a stiff brush.

Or apply chloroform or ether with a toothbrush.

Or shave 2 ounces of hard white soap in 2 quarts of water. Add 2 ounces of aqua ammonia, 1 ounce of glycerin, and 1 ounce of ether; mix and apply with a stiff brush.

Or shave and dissolve 2 ounces of hard white soap in 1 quart of water.

Add 2 ounces of ammonia and 1 teaspoonful of saltpeter and apply with a brush. - To Remove Ink Stains. Cover quickly with dry salt or starch. Take this up with a spoon as it soaks up the ink, but do not rub or sweep it.

It will take up the surplus and prevent the spot from spreading. Leave the spot covered with dry salt and test to see the kind of ink spilled.

Put some of the ink on a piece of writing paper and allow it to dry.

Or, better, take some writing made with the same ink that has stood several days and test that. First apply water, and if the ink runs, after having been thoroughly dried, it is probably stylographic ink, made of coal-tar products, eosin or nigrosine. In this case you must not use buttermilk or any acid. Use instead an alkali, as potash lye or sal soda, diluted with water. If the dry ink does not run when touched with water, it is probably an iron-gall ink or logwood ink with or without aniline dyes. For these inks use dilute sulphuric acid, 1 part of acid to 10 parts of water.

If this takes out the color, restore it with aqua ammonia.

Or cover with fresh salt or starch, and moisten with buttermilk or salts of sorrel or tartaric acid, and let stand until dry. Repeat if necessary.

If the colors fade, apply aqua ammonia.

To Remove Kerosene. -To remove kerosene spilled on a carpet, cover the HOUSE CLEANING spot with blotting paper or brown paper and press with a hot iron. Repeat if necessary. Or cover with corn meal, starch, or salt, and let stand until dry.

To Remove Whitewash.-Scrub with soapsuds applied with a brush, and renew the color by applying aqua ammonia, vinegar, or other acid. To Remove Soot. -To remove soot which sometimes, in case of a defective flue or turning up a lamp too high, fills a room and falls on the carpet, sprinkle the floor liberally with corn meal and sweep carefully a little at a time, taking up the sweepings as you go and before they are trodden on. Continue to apply corn meal and sweep until the soot is all removed.