Our Deportment Part 48

TO CLEANSE THE HAIR AND SCALP.

Beat up a fresh egg and rub it well into the hair, or if more convenient, rub it into the hair without beating. Rub the egg in until a lather is formed, occasionally wetting the hands in warm water softened by borax. By the time a lather is formed, the scalp is clean, then rinse the egg all out in a basin of warm water, containing a tablespoonful of powdered borax: after that rinse in a basin of clean water.

HAIR WASH.

Bay rum six ounces, aromatic spirits of ammonia half an ounce, bergamot oil six drops. Mix.

TO MAKE THE HAIR GROW.

If the head be perfectly bald, nothing will ever cause the hair to grow again. If the scalp be glossy, and no small hairs are discernible, the roots or follicles are dead, and can not be resuscitated. However if small hairs are to be seen, there is hope. Brush well, and bathe the bald spot three or four times a week with cold, soft water; carbonate of ammonia one dram, tincture of cantharides four drams, bay rum four ounces, castor oil two ounces. Mix well and use it every day.

SEA FOAM OR DRY SHAMPOO.

Take a pint of alcohol, half pint of bay rum, and half an ounce of spirits of ammonia, and one dram of salts tartar. Shake well together and it is ready for use. Pour a quant.i.ty on the head, rub well with the palm of the hand. It will produce a thick foam, and will cleanse the scalp. This is used generally by first-cla.s.s barbers.

BARBER'S SHAMPOO.

To one pint of warm water add half an ounce of salts tartar. Cut up very fine a piece of castile soap, the size of two crackers, and mix it, shaking the mixture well, and it is ready for use.

CLEANING GOLD JEWELRY.

Gold ornaments may be kept bright and clean with soap and warm water, scrubbing them well with a soft nail brush. They may be dried in sawdust of box-wood. Imitation jewelry may be treated in the same way.

TO LOOSEN STOPPERS OF TOILET BOTTLES.

Let a drop of pure oil flow round the stopper and let the bottle stand a foot or two from the fire. After a time tap the stopper smartly, but not too hard, with the handle of a hair brush. If this is not effectual, use a fresh drop of oil and repeat the process. It is almost sure to succeed.

TO MAKE BANDOLINE.

Half a pint of water, rectified spirits with an equal quant.i.ty of water three ounces, gum tragacanth one and a half drams. Add perfume, let the mixture stand for a day or two and then strain.

Simmer an ounce of quince seed in a quart of water for forty minutes, strain, cool, add a few drops of scent, and bottle, corking tightly.

Iceland moss one-fourth of an ounce, boiled in a quart of water, and a little rectified spirit added, so that it will keep.

TO MAKE LIP-SALVE.

Melt in a jar placed in a basin of boiling water a quarter of an ounce each of white wax and spermaceti, flour of benzoin fifteen grains, and half an ounce of the oil of almonds. Stir till the mixture is cool.

Color red with alkanet root.

TO CLEAN KID BOOTS.

Mix a little white of egg and ink in a bottle, so that the composition may be well shaken up when required for use. Apply to the kid with a piece of sponge and rub dry. The best thing to rub dry with is the palm of the hand. When the kid shows symptoms of cracking, rub in a few drops of sweet oil. The soles and heels should be polished with common blacking.

TO CLEAN PATENT-LEATHER BOOTS.

In cleaning patent-leather boots, first remove all the dirt upon them with a sponge or flannel; then the boot should be rubbed lightly over with a paste consisting of two spoonfuls of cream and one of linseed oil, both of which require to be warmed before being mixed. Polish with a soft cloth.

TO REMOVE STAINS AND SPOTS FROM SILK.

Boil five ounces of soft water and six ounces of powdered alum for a short time, and pour it into a vessel to cool. Warm it for use, and wash the stained part with it and leave dry.

Wash the soiled part with ether, and the grease will disappear.

We often find that lemon-juice, vinegar, oil of vitriol and other sharp corrosives, stain dyed garments. Sometimes, by adding a little pearlash to a soap-lather and pa.s.sing the silks through these, the faded color will be restored. Pearlash and warm water will sometimes do alone, but it is the most efficacious to use the soap-lather and pearlash together.

TOOTHACHE PREVENTIVE.

Use flower of sulphur as a tooth powder every night, rubbing the teeth and gums with a rather hard toothbrush. If done after dinner, too, all the better. It preserves the teeth and does not communicate any smell whatever to the mouth.

HOW TO WHITEN LINEN.

Stains occasioned by fruit, iron rust and other similar causes may be removed by applying to the parts injured a weak solution of the chloride of lime, the cloth having been previously well washed. The parts subjected to this operation should be subsequently rinsed in soft, clear, warm water, without soap, and be immediately dried in the sun.

Oxalic acid diluted with water will accomplish the same end.

TO TAKE STAINS OUT OF SILK.

Mix together in a vial two ounces of essence of lemon and one ounce of oil of turpentine. Grease and other spots in silk must be rubbed gently with a linen rag dipped in the above composition. To remove acid stains from silks, apply with a soft rag, spirits of ammonia.

TO REMOVE STAINS FROM WHITE COTTON GOODS.

For mildew, rub in salt and some b.u.t.termilk, and expose it to the influence of a hot sun. Chalk and soap or lemon juice and salt are also good. As fast as the spots become dry, more should be rubbed on, and the garment should be kept in the sun until the spots disappear. Some one of the preceding things will extract most kinds of stains, but a hot sun is necessary to render any one of them effectual.

Scalding water will remove fruit stains. So also will hartshorn diluted with warm water, but it will be necessary to apply it several times.

Common salt rubbed on fruit stains before they become dry will extract them.

Colored cotton goods that have ink spilled on them, should be soaked in lukewarm sour milk.

TO REMOVE SPOTS OF PITCH OR TAR.

Sc.r.a.pe off all the pitch or tar you can, then saturate the spots with sweet oil or lard; rub it in well, and let it remain in a warm place for an hour.