But another Mode may be subst.i.tuted, which has less the appearance of a hard varnish, and may always be applied so as to restore the pristine beauty of the furniture by a little manual labour. Heat a gallon of water, in which dissolve one pound and a half of potash; and a pound of virgin wax, boiling the whole for half an hour, then suffer it to cool, when the wax will float on the surface. Put the wax into a mortar, and triturate it with a marble pestle, adding soft water to it until it forms a soft paste, which, laid neatly on furniture, or even on paintings, and carefully rubbed when dry with a woollen rag, gives a polish of great brilliancy, without the harshness of the drier varnishes.

367. Marble Chimney-Pieces.

Marble chimney-pieces may also be rubbed with it, after cleaning the marble with diluted muriatic acid, or warm soap and vinegar; but the iron or bra.s.s work connected with them requires other processes.

368. Polished Iron Work

may be preserved from rust by an inexpensive mixture, consisting of copal varnish intimately mixed with as much olive oil as will giye it a degree of greasiness, adding thereto nearly as much spirit of turpentine as of varnish.

369. Cast Iron Work

is best preserved by the common method of rubbing with black-lead.

370. Rust.

If rust has made its appearance on grates or fire-irons, apply a mixture of two parts of tripoli to one 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 fig wood fully saturated with the mixture. This will not only clean but impart a polish to the metal as well.

371. Bra.s.s.

Bra.s.s Ornaments, when not gilt or lacquered, may be cleaned in the same way, and a fine colour given to them, by two simple processes.

372. First Bra.s.s Process.

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.

373. Second Bra.s.s Process.

The second is to wash the bra.s.swork with roche alum boiled in strong ley, in proportion of an ounce to a pint; when dry, rub it with fine tripoli. Either of these processes will give to bra.s.s the brilliancy of gold.

374. 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. 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 carpet was loose the door could not be opened without a hard push; so when the waiter came up, he just unlatched the door, and then going back a couple of yards, he rushed against it, as his habit was, with a sudden spring, to force it open.

But the wrinkles of the carpet were no longer there to stop it, and not meeting with the expected resistance, 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.

375. 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.

Before 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.

376. Carpet-Beating.

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.

377. Sweeping Carpets.

Persons who are accustomed to use tea-leaves for sweeping their carpets, and find that they leave stains, will do well to employ fresh cut gra.s.s instead. It is better than tea-leaves for preventing dust, and gives the carpets a very bright, fresh look.

378. Making a Carpet Last Longer.

A half-worn carpet may be made to last longer by ripping it apart, and transposing the breadths.

379. Sweeping a Stair-Carpet.

A stair carpet should never be swept down with a long broom, but always with a short-handled brush, a dust-pan being held closely under each step of the stairs during the operation of sweeping.

380. Cleaning Oilcloth.

Oilcloth 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 injure the paint, and in time remove it.

381. Cleaning Straw Matting.

Straw matting may be cleaned with a large coa.r.s.e cloth dipped in salt and water, and then wiped dry. The salt prevents the matting from turning yellow.

[EAT NOT TO DULNESS--DRINK NOT TO ELEVATION.]

382. Method of Cleaning Paper-Hangings.

Cut into eight half quarters a quartern loaf, two days old; it must be neither 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, and, holding the crust in the hand, wipe 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 care must be taken not to rub the paper hard, nor to attempt cleaning it the cross or horizontal way.

The surface of the bread, too, must be always cut away as soon as it becomes dirty, and the pieces renewed as often as may be necessary.

383. Cleaning Rosewood Furniture.

Rosewood furniture should be rubbed gently every day with a clean soft cloth to keep it in order.

384. Cleaning Ottomans and Sofas.

Ottomans and sofas, covered with cloth, damask, or chintz, will look better for being cleaned occasionally with bran and flannel.