WHEN THE HAND IS CLEAN IT NEEDS NO SCREEN. fully rubbed when dry with a woollen rag, gives a polish of great brilliancy, without the harshness of the drier varnishes. 343. MARBLE CHIMNEY-PIECES may also be rubbed with it, after cleaning with diluted muriatic acid, or warm soap and vinegar; but the iron or brass work connected with them requires other processes. 87 A dog's-eared carpet marks the sloven as well as the dog's-eared book. An English gentleman, travelling some years ago in Ireland, took a hammer and tacks with him, because he found dog's-eared carpets at all the inns where he rested. At one of these inns he tacked down the carpet, which, as usual, was loose near the door, and soon afterwards rang for his dinner. While the 344. POLISHED IRON WORK may be carpet was loose the door could not be preserved from rust by a mixture not opened without a hard push; so when very expensive, consisting of copal var- the waiter came up, he just unlatched nish intimately mixed with as much the door, and then going back a couple olive oil as will give it a degree of of yards, he rushed against it, as his greasiness, adding thereto nearly as habit was, with a sudden spring, to force much spirit of turpentine as of varnish. | it open. But the wrinkles of the carpet 345. CAST IRON WORK is best pre-were no longer there to stop it, and not served by the common method of rub-meeting with the expected resistance, bing with black lead. 346. IF RUST HAS MADE ITS APPEARANCE on grates or fire-irons, apply a mixture of tripoli, with half its quantity of sulphur, intimately mingled on a marble slab, and laid on with a piece of soft leather. Or emery and oil may be applied with excellent effect; not laid on in the usual slovenly way, but with a spongy piece of the fig-tree fully saturated with the mixture. This will not only clean but polish, and render the use of whiting unnecessary. 347. BRASS ORNAMENTS, when not gilt or lackered, may be cleaned the same way, and a fine colour given to them, by two simple processes. 348. The FIRST is to beat sal ammoniac into a fine powder, then to moisten it with soft water, rubbing it on the ornaments, which must be heated over charcoal, and rubbed dry with bran and whiting. 349. The SECOND is to wash the brass work with roche alum boiled in strong ley, in proportion of an ounce to a pint; when dry, it must be rubbed with fine tripoli. Either of these processes will give to brass the brilliancy of gold. 350. Carpets.-If the corner of a carpet becomes loose and prevents the door opening, or trips every one up that enters the room, nail it down at once. the unfortunate waiter fell full length into the room. It had never entered his head that so much trouble might be saved by means of a hammer and half a dozen tacks, until his fall taught him that makeshift is a very unprofitable kind of shift. There are a good many houses in England where a similar practical lesson might be of service. 351. Cleaning Carpets.-Take a pail of cold water, and add to it three gills of ox-gall. Rub it into the carpet with a soft brush. It will raise a lather, which must be washed off with clear cold water. Rub dry with a clean cloth. In nailing down a carpet after the floor has been washed, be certain that the floor is quite dry, or the nails will rust and injure the carpet. Fuller's earth is used for cleaning carpets, and weak solutions of alum or soda are used for reviving the colours. The crumb of a hot wheaten loaf rubbed over a carpet has been found effective. 352. Beat a Carpet on the wrong side first; and then more gently on the right side. Beware of using sticks with sharp points, which may tear the carpet. 353. Sweeping Carpets.-Persons who are accustomed to use tealeaves for sweeping their carpets, and find that they leave stains, will do well to employ fresh cut grass instead. It is better than tea-leaves for preventing 88 A WAITING APPETITE KINDLES MANY A SPITE. dust, and gives the carpets a very bright, fresh look. 354. A Half-worn Carpet may be made to last longer by ripping it apart, and transposing the breadths. 355. A Stair Carpet should never be swept down with a long broom, but always with a short-handled brush, and a dust-pan held closely under each step of the stairs. 356. Oil-Cloth should never be scrubbed with a brush, but, after being first swept, it should be cleansed by washing with a large soft cloth and lukewarm or cold water. On no account use soap or hot water, as either will bring off the paint. 357. Straw Matting may be cleaned with a large coarse cloth dipped in salt and water, and then wiped dry: the salt prevents the matting from turning yellow. 360. Ottomans and Sofas, whether covered with cloth, damask, or chintz, will look much the better for being cleaned occasionally with bran and flannel. 361. Dining Tables may be polished by rubbing them for some time with a soft cloth and a little cold-drawn linseed oil. 362. A Mahogany Frame should be first well dusted, and then cleaned with a flannel dipped in sweet oil. 363. To Clean Cane-bottom Chairs.-Turn up the chair bottom, &c., and with hot water and a sponge wash the canework well, so that it may become completely soaked. Should it be very dirty you must add soap. Let it dry in the open air, if possible, or in a place where there is a thorough draught, and it will become as tight and firm as when new, provided it has not been broken. 364. Alabaster.-For cleaning it there is nothing better than soap and water. Stains may be removed by washing with soap and water, then whitewashing the stained part, letting it stand some hours, then washing off the whitewash, and rubbing the stained part. 358. Method of Cleaning Paper-Hangings.-Cut into eight half quarters a quartern loaf, two days old; it must neither be newer nor staler. With one of these pieces, after having blown off all the dust from the paper to be cleaned, by the means of a good pair of bellows, begin at the top of the room, holding the crust in the hand, and wiping lightly downward with the crumb, about half a yard at each stroke, till the upper part of the hangings is completely cleaned all round. Then go round again, with the like sweeping stroke downwards, always commencing each successive course a little higher than the upper stroke had extended, till the bottom be finished. This operation, if carefully performed, will frequently make very old paper. look almost equal to new. Great caution must be used not by any means to rub the paper hard, nor to attempt cleaning it the cross or horizontal way. The 367. Glass Vessels, and other dirty part of the bread, too, must be utensils, may be purified and cleaned each time cut away, and the pieces re- by rinsing them out with powdered newed as soon as it may become neces-charcoal. sary. 359. Rosewood Furniture should be rubbed gently every day with a clean soft cloth to keep it in order. 365. To Clean Marble.-Take two parts of common soda, one part of pumice stone, and one part of finely powdered chalk; sift it through a fine sieve, and mix it with water; then rub it well all over the marble, and the stains will be removed; then wash the marble over with soap and water, and it will be as clean as it was at first. 366. Glass should be washed in cold water, which gives it a brighter and clearer look than when cleansed with warm water. 368. Bottles.-There is no easier method of cleaning glass bottles than putting into them fine coals, and well shaking, either with water or not, hot SOME HOURS WE SHOULD FIND FOR THE PLEASURES OF THE MIND. 89 or cold, according to the substance that them lightly over with powdered rottenfouls the bottle. Charcoal left in a bot-stone wet to a paste with a little cold tle or jar for a little time will take away water, then polish them with a clean disagreeable smells. cloth. 369. Cleaning Japanned Waiters, Urns, &c.-Rub on with a sponge a little white soap and some lukewarm water, and wash the waiter or urn quite clean. Never use hot water, as it will cause the japan to scale off. Having wiped it dry, sprinkle a little flour over it; let it rest a while, and then rub it with a soft dry cloth, and finish with a silk handkerchief. If there are white heat marks on the waiters, they will be difficult to remove; but you may try rubbing them with a flannel dipped in sweet oil, and afterwards in spirits of wine. Waiters and other articles of papier mache should be washed with a sponge and cold water, without soap, dredged with flour while damp, and after a while wiped off, and then polished with a silk handkerchief. 370. Papier Mache articles should be washed with a sponge and cold water, without soap, dredged with flour while damp, and polished with a flannel. 371. Brunswick Black for Varnishing Grates. - Melt four pounds of common asphaltum, and add two pints of linseed oil, and one gallon of oil of turpentine. This is usually put up in stoneware bottles for sale, and is used with a paint brush. If too thick, more turpentine may be added. Cost: asphalte, 1s. per pound; linseed, 6d. per pint; turpentine, 8d. per pint. 372. Blacking for Stoves may be made with half a pound of black lead finely powdered, and (to make it stick) mix with it the whites of three eggs well beaten; then dilute it with sour beer or porter till it becomes as thin as shoe-blacking; after stirring it, set it over hot coals to simmer for twenty minutes; when cold it may be kept for use. 374. Where Painted Wainscot or other woodwork requires cleaning, fuller's earth will be found cheap and useful; and on wood not painted it forms an excellent substitute for soap. 375. Boards, to Scour.-Lime, one part; sand, three parts; soft soap, two parts. Lay a little on the boards with the scrubbing brush, and rub thoroughly. Rinse with clean water, and rub dry. This will keep the boards of a good colour, and will also keep away vermin. 376. Charcoal.-All sorts of glass vessels and other utensils may be purified from long retained smells of every kind, in the easiest and most perfect manner, by rinsing them out well with charcoal powder, after the grosser impurities have been scoured off with sand and potash. Rubbing the teeth and washing out the mouth with fine charcoal powder, will render the teeth beautifully white, and the breath perfectly sweet, where an offensive breath has been owing to a scorbutic disposition of the gums. Putrid water is immediately deprived of its bad smell by charcoal. When meat, fish, &c., from intense heat, or long keeping, are likely to pass into a state of corruption, a simple and pure mode of keeping them sound and healthful is by putting a few pieces of charcoal, each about the size of an egg, into the pot or saucepan wherein the fish or flesh is to be boiled. Among others, an experiment of this kind was tried upon a turbot, which appeared to be too far gone to be eatable; the cook, as advised, put three or four pieces of charcoal, each the size of an egg, under the strainer, in the fish kettle; after boiling the proper time, the turbot came to the table sweet and firm. 377. To Take out Stains from 373. To Clean Knives and Mahogany Furniture.-Stains and Forks.-Wash the blades in warm spots may be taken out of mahogany (but not hot) water, and afterwards rub furniture with a little aquafortis or 90 LET THE TICKING CLOCK GUIDE THE BOILING CROCK. oxalic acid and water, rubbing the part by means of a cork, till the colour is restored; observing afterwards to wash the wood well with water, and to dry and polish as usual. 378. To take Ink-Stains out of Mahogany.-Put a few drops of spirits of nitre in a teaspoonful of water, touch the spot with a feather dipped in the mixture, and on the ink disappearing, rub it over immediately with a rag wetted in cold water, or there will be a white mark, which will not be easily effaced. cloth, as washing them will take off the bronzing. 386. To clean Brass Ornaments.- Wash the brasswork with roche alum boiled to a strong ley, in the proportion of an ounce to a pint. When dry, it must be rubbed with fine tripoli. 387. For Cleaning Brasses belonging to mahogany furniture, either powdered whiting or scraped rottenstone, mixed with sweet oil and rubbed on with a buckskin, is good. 388. Brasses, Britannia Metal, Tins, Coppers, &c., are cleaned with a mixture of rotten-stone, soft soap, and oil of turpentine, mixed to the consistency of stiff putty. The stone should be powdered very fine and sifted; and a quantity of the mixture may be made sufficient to last for 379. To remove Ink-Stains from Silver.-The tops and other portions of silver inkstands frequently become deeply discoloured with ink, which is difficult to remove by ordinary means. It may, however, be completely eradicated by making a little a long while. The articles should first chloride of lime into a paste with water, and rubbing it upon the stains. Chloride of lime has been misnamed “The general bleacher,” but it is a foul enemy to all metallic surfaces. 380. To take Ink-Stains out of a Coloured Table-Cover.Dissolve a teaspoonful of oxalic acid in a teacup of hot water; rub the stained part well with the solution. 381. To take Ink out of Boards. Strong muriatic acid, or spirits of salts, applied with a piece of cloth; afterwards well washed with water. be washed with hot water, to remove grease; then a little of the above mixture, mixed with water, should be rubbed over the metal; then rub off briskly with dry, clean rag or leather, and a beautiful polish will be obtained. 389. To preserve Steel Goods from Rust.-After bright grates have been thoroughly cleaned, they should be dusted over with unslacked lime, and thus left until wanted. The coils of piano wires, thus sprinkled, will keep from rust for many years. Tableknives which are not in constant use ought to be put in a case in which 382. Oil Grease may be removed sifted quicklime is placed, about eight from a hearth by covering it imme-inches deep. They should be plunged diately with thick hot ashes, or with to the top of the blades, but the lime burning coals. 383. Marble may be Cleaned by mixing up a quantity of the strongest soap-lees with quicklime, to the consistence of milk, and laying it on the marble for twenty-four hours; clean it afterwards with soap and water. 384. Silver and Plated Ware should be washed with a sponge and warm soapsuds every day after using, and wiped dry with a clean soft towel. 385. Bronzed Chandeliers, Lamps, &c., should be merely dusted with a feather-brush, or with a soft should not touch the handles. 390. Iron and Steel Goods from Rust.-Dissolve half an ounce of camphor in one pound of hog's lard; take off the scum: mix as much black lead as will give the mixture an iron colour. Iron and steel goods, rubbed over with this mixture, and left with it on twenty-four hours, and then dried with a linen cloth, will keep clean for months. Valuable articles of cutlery should be wrapped in ZINC FOIL, or be kept in boxes lined with zinc. This is at once an easy and most effective method. DINNER TO A MINUTE, AND ALL READY TO BEGIN IT. 391. Iron Wipers. - Old soft towels, or pieces of old sheets or tablecloths, make excellent iron wipers. 392. To Clean LookingGlasses. First wash the glass all over with lukewarm soapsuds and a sponge. When dry, rub it bright with a buckskin and a little prepared chalk finely powdered. 91 also be observed that some species require more care and attention than others, as every person must have observed that china-ware in common use frequently loses some of its colours. 396. THE RED, especially of vermillion, is the first to go, because that colour, together with some others, is laid on by the Chinese after burning. 397. THE Modern Chinese PORCELAIN is not, indeed, so susceptible of this rubbing or wearing off, as vegetable reds are now used by them instead of the mineral colour. 398. MUCH OF THE RED now used in China is actually produced by the anotto extracted from the cuttings of scarlet cloth, which have long formed an article of exportation to Canton. 393. To Clean Mirrors, &c.If they should be hung so high that they cannot be conveniently reached, have a pair of steps to stand upon; but mind that they stand steady. Then take a piece of soft sponge, well washed, and cleaned from everything gritty, just dip it into water and squeeze it out again, and then dip it into some spirit of wine. Rub it over the glass; dust it over with some powder blue or whiting 399. IT OUGHT to be taken for sifted through muslin; rub it lightly granted that all china or glass-ware and quickly off again with a cloth; is well tempered: yet a little careful then take a clean cloth, and rub it well attention may not be misplaced, even again, and finish by rubbing it with a on that point; for though ornamental silk handkerchief. If the glass be very china or glass-ware is not exposed to large, clean one-half at a time, as other- the action of hot water in common wise the spirit of wine will dry before domestic use, yet it may be injudiciously it can be rubbed off. If the frames are immersed therein for the purpose of not varnished, the greatest care is cleaning; and as articles intended necessary to keep them quite dry, so as solely for ornament are not so highly not to touch them with the sponge, as annealed as others, it will be proper this will discolour or take off the gild-never to apply water beyond a tepid ing. To clean the frames, take a little temperature. raw cotton in the state of wool, and rub 400. AN INGENIOUS and simple mode the frames with it; this will take off all of annealing glass has been some time the dust and dirt without injuring the in use by chemists. It consists in gilding. If the frames are well var- immersing the vessel in cold water, nished, rub them with spirit of wine, gradually heated to the boiling point, which will take out all spots, and give and suffered to remain till cold, when them a fine polish. Varnished doors it will be fit for use. Should the glass may be done in the same manner. be exposed to a higher temperature Never use any cloth to frames or draw-than that of boiling water, it will be ings, or unvarnished oil paintings, when necessary to immerse it in oil. cleaning and dusting them. 401. To take Marking-Ink 394. China and Glass-Ware. out of Linen.-Use a saturated solu-The best material for cleansing tion of cyanuret of potassium applied either porcelain or glass-ware, is with a camel-hair brush. After the fuller's earth: but it must be beaten marking ink disappears, the linen should into a fine powder, and carefully be well washed in cold water. cleared from all rough or hard particles, which might endanger the polish of the brilliant surface. 395. In CLEANING porcelain, it must 402. To take Stains of Wine out of Linen.-Hold the articles in milk while it is boiling on the fire, and the stains will soon disappear. |