From
Drycleaning, Scouring, Dying of Garments, Furs and Rugs
By William T. Brannt
1911
GLOVE cleaning is done largely by hand, but in recent years machines have been introduced to reduce the manual labor as far as possible. It should be borne in mind that the majority of white gloves now worn are alum-tanned; and as this tannage is very soluble in water, the use of the latter or liquids containing it should be avoided. In cleaning gloves by hand, various appliances are required, such as vessels for holding the benzine, glove sticks, brushes, glove hands or trees, and cloths for rubbing. The vessels for holding the benzine should be of zinc, or tinned or galvanized iron, and each should be fitted with a tight-fitting, self-closing lid. Satisfactory results are obtained with a rectangular vessel constructed with a lid fitted with a chain of such length that the lid will not open so far as to remain open when the hand is removed. By this means the loss of benzine by evaporation is minimized, and with it the risk of fire. The glove stick consists of a round tapered stick of hard wood, and about 18 inches in length. The smaller end takes the 'finger of the glove, and the degree of taper is such that the wrist is on the thicker portion, which is about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Glove sticks are also made with a small rounded end to take the finger, and a broader flat portion to take the wrist. . The brushes should be of the best black bristle fastened into the back with strings. The use of wired brushes should be avoided as the bristles are cut through and readily come out. Glove hands or trees for shaping the gloves are made or- hard wood with four pieces to take the fingers, the thumb being shaped by the operator. It is general to employ glove. hands with slots between the fingers to accommodate nickel slides which fold the sides of the fingers into the slots, shaping the groves in the same manner as new ones. In cleaning gloves, the kind of glove, whether kid, Suede, chamois, or buckskin, has to be taken into consideration. The last three varieties may be cleaned by putting them on the hand or a glove-tree and rubbing them with bread crumbs or a stiff brush dipped in a mixture of dry fuller's earth and powdered alum. Cleaning kid gloves. The gloves should first be sorted according to color, the white ones, which form as a rule by far the larger portion, being separated from the grays, brown and blacks, For gloves much soiled by perspiration a mixture of 50 parts benzine and 25 parts each of ether and chloroform is used. Benzine may be saved by cleaning the gloves, previous to washing with benzine, in a bath of 1/2 pint of skim milk to which about 10 drops of ammonia have been added, or in a bath of 1 3/4 oz. of filtered-quillaia bark decoction and I quart soft " water, to which 25 drops of ammonia have been added. The latter process is, however, unsuitable for white and light-colored ball gloves. it leaving behind a yellowish tinge. To restore luster, white and light-colored gloves are rubbed with white talcum powder, while colored talcum powder is used for "colored gloves. Water stains are removed from white kid gloves by soaking in benzine soap solution and subsequent vigorous brushing; The benzine frequently dissolves much of the dye from colored gloves, and makes them pale and patchy in color, if it does not whiten them entirely. The only remedy in this case is to dye the gloves. Another method occasionally employed is to soak colored gloves in a mixture of sweet oil with 12 times its volume 0f benzine for about half an hour, and then to rub dry. This is certainly attended, with less risk to the color, but it makes the leather hard and brittle. An excellent method of cleaning white gloves is as follows: Soak the gloves in benzine. If there are rust or ink stains they are removed before soaking. To remove rust stains, damp them with a wet, pointed stick, and then pat them with a cloth dipped in weak hydrochloric acid. As soon as the stain has disappeared, rinse the place and dry it with a white cloth. The treatment must be executed as quickly as possible and the wetting must be confined to the stained part. It is also essential to remove the acid completely the moment it has done its work. Ink stains are treated in the same way, but as much of the ink as possible should be removed by rubbing with a damp cloth. The soaking and washing should be done in a dry, warm room, which must not be heated by steam, or have steam escaping in it. After a brief soaking, each glove is wrung, put on a glove- tree and carefully brushed allover with a hard brush which resembles a large tooth-brush. During the process the brush is dipped alternately in alcohol and in zinc white. The two make a paste on the brush which penetrates the pores of the leather and brings away all dirt and perspiration. Places stiffened by perspiration, such as the finger-tips and the part of the glove covering the. ball of the thumb, are specially treated afterwards by rubbing them, using the forefinger and thumb of each hand. This treatment effects a radical cure, and the places become soft and white again. The gloves are then rinsed in clean benzine. This is then squeezed out, and the leather is nourished with a fat bath for about half an hour. The benzine makes the leather brittle, and benzine soap acts far more vigorously in the same direction, so that its use should be avoided. The fat bath is made by dissolving 2 Ibs. of lanolin and 4 lbs. of Vaseline in 10 quarts of benzine over a water- bath. This is diluted for use with 10 times its volume of benzine. Oils, must not be used as they turn rancid and impart a bad smell to the leather. The bath in use is kept in a vessel with a tight-fitting lid, and is reinforced from the stock solution as required. Care must be taken that the sediment from the stock solution does not get into t~ bath. When a fresh stock is made the benzine is distilled off from the sediment from the old solution. After about half an hour in the fat bath the gloves are taken out one by one and well squeezed. They are then at once dusted over with powdered talcum, unless there are still dirty spots which must first be rubbed with zinc white on the glove-tree by means of a medium hard brush. All this and the powdering with talcum must also be done on the glove-tree before the glove is dry. Then put it on a stretcher and polish it by hard rubbing with a clean white linen cloth. The talcum is applied with a linen rag rolled up and tied at the ends of the roll, and dipped into a box of the powder. Chamois gloves are washed in lukewarm soap water to which a few drops of ammonia have been added, Soak the gloves in the bath for some time, and promote the loosening of the dirt by squeezing and kneading. Then rinse in clean water, and draw the gloves through a weak soap bath to keep them' soft after drying. This treatment restores "nourishment" to the leather. The soap bath should, however, not be too strong, otherwise the leather becomes smeary. The gloves are then thoroughly wrung and rubbed between the hands so that the water still remaining in them is uniformly distributed in order to prevent stains from wringing. They are then drawn smooth, stretched with the glove stretcher, and dried in the air, but not in the sun, nor at too high a temperature. Wringing should not be done lengthwise but in the direction of the width; place the fingers over the palm of the glove. Colored Chamois gloves have to be re-dyed after washing, they losing much of their dye during the process.