Stains on floors, from _soot_ or _stove-pipes_, can be removed by washing the spot in sulphuric acid and water. Stains in colored silk dresses can often be removed by pure water. Those made by acids, tea, wine, and fruits can often be removed by spirits of hartshorn, diluted with an equal quantity of water. Sometimes it must be repeated several times.
=Tar=, =Pitch=, and =Turpentine= can be removed by putting the spot in sweet-oil, or by spreading tallow on it, and letting it remain for twenty-four hours. Then, if the article be linen or cotton, wash it as usual; if it be silk or worsted, rub it with ether or spirits of wine.
=Lamp-Oil= can be removed from floors, carpets, and other articles by spreading upon the stain a paste made of fuller’s earth or potter’s clay, brushing off and renewing it, when dry, till the stain is removed. If gall be put into the paste, it will preserve the colors from injury. When the stain has been removed, carefully brush off the paste with a soft brush.
=Oil-Paint= can be removed by rubbing it with _very pure_ spirits of turpentine. The impure spirits leave a grease-spot. _Wax_ can be removed by scraping it off, and then holding a red hot poker near the spot. _Spermaceti_ may be removed by scraping it off, then putting a paper over the spot, and applying a warm iron. If this does not answer, rub on spirits of wine.
=Ink-Stains= in carpets and woolen table-covers can be removed by washing the spot in a liquid composed of one tea-spoonful of oxalic acid dissolved in a tea-cupful of warm (not hot) water, and then rinsing in cold water. When ink is first spilled on a woolen carpet, pour on water immediately, and sop it up several times, and no stain will be made. Often on other articles, a stream of cold water poured on the _under side_ of the ink-spot will so dilute the ink that it can be rubbed out in cold water.
=Stains on Varnished Articles=, which are caused by cups of hot water, can be removed by rubbing them with lamp-oil, and then with alcohol. Ink-stains can be taken out of mahogany by one tea-spoonful of oil of vitriol mixed with one table-spoonful of water, or by oxalic acid and water. These must be brushed over quickly, and then washed off with milk.