The Toilet of Flora

295. To refresh Tapestry, Carpets, Hangings, or Chairs

Beat the dust out of them on a dry day as clean as possible, and brush them well with a dry brush. Afterwards rub them well over with a good lather of Castile Soap, laid on with a brush. Wash off the froth with common Water; then wash the tapestry, &c. with Alum Water. When the cloth is dry, you will find most of the colours restored. Those that are yet too faint, touch up with a pencil dipped in suitable colours, and indeed you may run over the whole piece in the same manner with water colours, mixed with weak gum water, and, if well done, it will cause the tapestry, &c. to look at a distance like new.

296. To take Wax out of Silk or Camblet

Take Soft Soap, rub it well on the spots of wax, dry it in the sun till it grows very hot, then wash the spotted part with cold Water, and the wax will be entirely taken out.

297. To take Wax out of Velvet of all Colours except Crimson

Take a Crummy Wheaten Loaf, cut it in two, toast it before the fire, and while very hot, apply it to the part spotted with wax. Then apply another piece of toasted Bread hot as before, and continue to repeat this application till the wax is entirely taken out.

298. To wash Gold or Silver Work on Linen, or any other Stuff, so as to look like new

Take a pound of Ox-gall; Honey and Soap, of each three ounces; Florentine Orrice in fine powder, three ounces; mix the whole in a glass vessel into a Paste, and expose it to the sun during ten days; then make a decoction of Bran, and strain it clear. Plaster over with your bitter Paste, the places you want to clean, and afterwards wash off the Paste with the Bran-water, till the latter is no longer tinged. Then wipe with a clean linen cloth the places you have washed; cover them with a clean napkin, dry them in the sun, press and glaze, and the work will look as well as when new.

299. To take Spots out of Silken or Woollen Stuffs

Take a sufficient quantity of the finest Starch, wet it in an earthen pipkin with Brandy, rub a little on the spots, let it dry on them, and then brush it off; repeat this operation till the spots are wholly taken out. You must be careful to beat and brush well the place on which the Starch was applied.

300. To take Stains of Oil out of Cloth

Take Oil of Tartar, pour a little on the spot, immediately wash the place with warm Water, and two or three times after with cold Water, and the spot will entirely disappear.

301. To take Stains out of White Cloth

Boil an ounce of Alum in a gallon and a half of Water, for half an hour, then add a piece of White Soap, and half a ounce more of Alum, and after it has stood in cold infusion two days, wash with this mixture stains in any kind of white cloth.

302. To take Stains out of Crimson Velvet, and coloured Velvets

Take a quart of strong Lee made with Vine Ashes, dissolve in it half an ounce of Alum; and when the mixture has settled, strain it through a linen cloth. Then take half a drachm of soft Soap, and the same quantity of Castile Soap, a drachm of Alum, half a drachm of Crude Sal Armoniac, a scruple of common Salt, a little Loaf Sugar, Juice of Celandine, and the Gall of a Calf; mix the whole well, and strain off the Liquor. When you want to use it, take a little Brazil Wood Shavings with some Scarlet Flocks, boil them in this Liquor, and when strained off, it will be very good to take spots or stains out of crimson velvet or cloth. For velvets or cloths of other colours, you dye your Liquor of the proper colour, by boiling in it some Flocks of the same colour as the cloth you intend to clean.

303. A Soap that takes out all manner of Spots and Stains

Take the Yolks of six Eggs, half a table spoonful of bruised Salt, and a pound of Venetian Soap; mix the whole together with the Juice of Beet-roots, and form it into round balls, that are to be dried in the shade. The method of using this Soap is to wet with fair Water the stained part of the cloth, and rub both sides of it well with this Soap; then wash the cloth in Water, and the stain will no longer appear.

304. Another Method to take Spots or Stains out of White Silk or Crimson Velvet

First soak the place well with Brandy or Spirit of Wine, then rub it over with the White of a new-laid Egg, and dry it in the sun. Wash it briskly in cold Water, rubbing the place where the spot is, hard between the fingers; and repeat this operation a second and even a third time, if it has not previously succeeded.

305. A Receipt to clean Gloves without wetting

Lay the Gloves upon a clean board; and mix together Fuller's Earth and Powder of Alum very dry, which lay over them on both sides with a moderately stiff brush. Then sweep off the Powder, sprinkle them well with Bran and Whiting, and dust them thoroughly. If not very greasy, this will render them as clean as when new; but if they are extremely greasy, rub them with stale Crumb of Bread, and Powder of burnt Bones, then pass them over with a woollen Cloth dipped in Fuller's Earth or Alum Powder.

306. To colour Gloves

If you want to colour them of a dark colour, take Spanish Brown and Black Earth; if lighter, Yellow Ochre and Whiting, and so of the rest; mix the colour with Size of a moderate strength, then wet the Gloves over with the Colour, and hang them to dry gradually. Beat out the superfluous Colour, smooth them over with a sleeking stick, and reduce them to a proper size.

307. To wash Point Lace

Draw the Lace pretty tight in a frame, then with a lather of Castile Soap a little warm, rub it over gently by means of a fine brush. When you perceive it clean on one side, turn it, and rub the other in the same manner; then throw over the Lace some Alum-water, taking off the Suds, and with some thin Starch go over the wrong side of the Lace; iron it on the same side when dry, and raise the flowers with a bodkin.

308. To clean Point Lace without washing

Fix the lace in a frame, and rub it with Crumb of stale Bread, which afterwards dust out.

309. To wash black and white Sarcenet

Lay the silk smooth upon a board, spread a little Soap over the dirty places, make a lather with Castile Soap, and with a fine brush dipped in it, pass over the silk the right way, viz. lengthways, and continue so to do till that side is sufficiently scowered. Then turn the silk, scower the other side in the same manner, and put the silk into boiling Water, where it must lie some time; afterwards rince it in thin Gum Water; if white silk, add a little Smalt. This being done, fold the silk, clapping or pressing out the water with your hands on a dry Carpet, till it become tolerably dry; if white, dry it over the Smoak of Brimstone till ready for smoothing, which is to be done on the right side with an Iron moderately hot.

310. A Soap to take out all Kinds of Stains

Boil a handful of Strawberries or Strawberry Leaves in a quart of Water and a pint of Vinegar, adding two pounds of Castile Soap; and half a pound of Chalk in fine powder; boil them together till the water has evaporated. When you use it, wet the place with the sharpest Vinegar or Verjuice, and rub it over with this Soap; dry it afterwards before the fire or in the sun.

311. An expeditious Method to take Stains out of Scarlet, or Velvet of any other Colour

Take Soapwort, when bruised strain out its Juice, and add to it a small quantity of black Soap. Wash the Stain with this Liquor, suffering it to dry between whiles; and by this means, in a day or two the Spots will disappear.

DIFFERENT WAYS OF PREPARING SNUFF

312. Method of making Snuff

First strip off the Stalks and large fibres of the Tobacco, then spread the Leaves on a mat or carpet to dry in the sun, afterwards rub them in a mortar, and sift the powder through a coarse or fine sieve, according to the degree of fineness you would have your snuff; or grind the Tobacco Leaves, prepared in the manner before directed, in a snuff-mill, either into a gross or fine powder, according as you press close or ease the mill-stone.

313. Method of cleansing Snuff in order to scent it

Fix a thick linen cloth in a little tub that has a hole in the bottom, stopped with a plug that can easily be taken out, to let the water run off when wanted. This cloth must cover the whole inside of the tub, and be fastened all round the rim. Put your Snuff in it, and pour on the Water. When it has been steeped twenty-four hours, let the Water run out, and pour on fresh; repeat this operation three times, if you would have the Snuff thoroughly cleansed, and every time squeeze the Snuff hard in the cloth, to discharge the Water entirely from it. Then place your Snuff on an ozier hurdle covered with a thick linen cloth, and let it dry in the sun; when it is thoroughly dry, put it again into the tub, with a sufficient quantity of Angelic, Orange Flower, or Rose-water. At the expiration of twenty-four hours take the Snuff out of the water, and dry it as before, frequently stirring it about, and sprinkling it with the same sweet-scented Water as was used at first. The whole of this preparation is absolutely necessary to render Snuff fit to receive the scent of Flowers.

If the Snuff is not required to be of a very excellent quality, and you are unwilling to waste more of it than can possibly be avoided, wash it only once, and slightly cleanse it. This purgation may the better suffice, if while drying in the sun, you take care to knead the Snuff into a cake several times, and often sprinkle it with some sweet-scented Water.

314. Method of scenting Snuff

The Flowers that most readily communicate their flavour to Snuff are Orange Flowers, Jasmine, Musk Roses, and Tuberoses. You must procure a box lined with dry white paper; in this strow your Snuff on the bottom about the thickness of an inch, over which place a thin layer of Flowers, then another layer of Snuff, and continue to lay your Flowers and Snuff alternately in this manner, until the box is full. After they have lain together four and twenty hours, sift your Snuff through a sieve to separate it from the Flowers, which are to be thrown away, and fresh ones applied in their room in the former method. Continue to do this till the Snuff is sufficiently scented; then put it into a canister, which keep close stopped.

315. Or,

Put your Flowers that are placed over each layer of the Snuff, between two pieces of white paper pricked full of holes with a large pin, and sift through a sieve the Snuff that may happen to get between the papers. To scent the Snuff perfectly it is necessary to renew the Flowers four or five times. This method is the least troublesome of the two.

A very agreeable scented Snuff may be made with Roses, by taking Rose-buds, stripping off the green cup, and pistil that rises in the middle, and fixing in its place a Clove; being careful not to separate the Leaves that are closed together. The Rose-buds thus prepared, are to be exposed to the heat of the sun a whole month, inclosed in a glass well stopped, and are then fit for use.

To make Snuff scented with a thousand Flowers, take a number of different Flowers, and mix them together, proportioning the quantity of each Flower, to the degree of its perfume, so that the flavour of no one particular Flower may be predominant.

316. Perfumed Snuff

Take some Snuff, and rub it in your hands with a little Civet, opening the body of the Civet still more by rubbing it in your hands with fresh Snuff; and when you have mixed it perfectly with the Snuff, put them into a canister. Snuff is flavoured with other perfumes in the same way.

317. Or,

Perfume your Snuff by mixing it well with the hands, in a heated iron or brass mortar, besmeared with a few grains of Ambergrise.

318. Snuff after the Maltese Fashion

Perfume with Ambergrise, in the manner already described, some Snuff previously scented with Orange Flowers. Then grind in a mortar a little Sugar with about ten grains of Civet, and mix by little and little with about a pound of the foregoing Snuff.

319. The Genuine Maltese Snuff

Take Roots of Liquorice, and Roots of the Rose-bush, peel off their outer skin, dry them, powder them, and sift the powder through a fine sieve, then scent them according to your fancy, or in the same manner as French Snuff, adding a little White Wine, Brandy, or a very little Spirit of Wine, and rubbing the Snuff well between your hands.

320. Italian Snuff

Put into a mortar, or other convenient vessel, a quantity of Snuff already scented with some Flower, pour on it a little White Wine, and add, if agreeable, some Essence of Ambergrise, Musk, or any other Perfume you like best; stir the Snuff and rub it well between your hands. Scent Snuff in this manner with any particular flavour, and put the different scented Snuffs in separate boxes, which are to be marked, to prevent mistakes.

321. Snuff scented after the Spanish Manner

Take a lump of double-refined Sugar, rub it in a mortar with twenty grains of Musk; add by little and little a pound of Snuff, and grind the whole with ten grains of Civet, rubbing it afterwards well between your hands.

Seville Snuff is scented with twenty grains of Vanilloes only. Keep your Snuff in canisters closely stopped, to prevent the scent from exhaling.

As Spanish Snuff is very fine and of a reddish colour, to imitate it nicely, take the best Dutch Snuff, well cleansed, granulated, and coloured red; beat it fine, and sift it through a very fine lawn sieve. After it has been cleansed according to the foregoing directions, it is fit to take any scent whatever.

There is no risk in using a sieve that retains the scent of any Flower, to perfume your Snuff with the flavour of Musk, Ambergrise, or any other Perfume. On the contrary, the Snuff receives the Perfume the more readily, and preserves its flavour the longer on that account.

322. Method of dying Snuff Red or Yellow

Take the size of a nut or two of Yellow or Red Ochre, and to temper the colour mix with it a little White Chalk. Grind these colours on a marble, with a little less than half an ounce of Oil of Sweet Almonds, and moisten with as much Water as the colour will take up, till it becomes a smooth Paste. Then mix it with a thin Mucilage of Gum Tragacanth to a proper consistence, and put it into an earthen dish, stirring into it about a pint more of Water. Afterwards take any quantity of cleansed Snuff you please, throw it upon the colour, and rub it well between your hands. When the Paste is thoroughly tinged with the colour, leave it till next morning to settle, then spread it thin on a cloth to dry, and place it in the sun, stirring it about every now and then that it may dry equally. When dry, gum it with a very thin Mucilage of Gum Tragacanth made with some sweet-scented Water. To gum the Snuff as equally as possible, wet the palms of your hands with this Gum Water, and rub the Snuff well between them. Afterwards dry it in the sun, and sift the colour that does not adhere to it through a very fine sieve. The Snuff is then properly prepared to receive any flavour you choose.

323. Herb Snuff

Take Sweet Marjoram, Marum Syriacum Leaves, and Lavender Flowers dried, of each half an ounce, Asarabacca Leaves, a drachm. Rub them all into a powder.

324. Or,

Take Betony Leaves and Marjoram, of each half an ounce; Asarabacca Leaves, a drachm. Beat them together into a powder.

325. Or,

Take Marjoram, Rosemary Flowers, Betony, and Flowers of Lilies of the Valley, of each a quarter of an ounce; Nutmegs, a drachm and a half; Volatile Salt, forty drops. Powder, and keep the mixture in a phial, close stopped.

326. Or,

Take Flowers of Lavender, and Clove-july-flowers, of each a quarter of an ounce; Lilies of the Valley, Tiel-tree Flowers, Flowers of Sage, Betony, Rosemary, and Tops of Marjoram, of each half a drachm; Cinnamon, Aloes-wood, Yellow Sanders, and White Helebore-root, of each a drachm; Oil of Nutmegs and Oil of Lemons, of each three drops; mix them into a powder.

A pinch or two of any of these Snuffs may be taken night and morning medicinally, or at any time for pleasure. Used externally, they are serviceable for weak eyes and many disorders of the organs of sight and hearing. They also relieve headaches, giddiness, palsies, lethargies, besides a variety of other complaints; and are, though agreeable and simple, far superior to what is sold under the name of Herb Snuff.

FINIS