Part 33 (1/2)

When new beds are covered with cases, the moth will sometimes eat through without its being discovered. Covers also prevent the air from sweetening the feathers, and when new they should never be covered unless in use. When beds are slept on, it is best to have a thick cotton sheet, or if it is cold weather, a blanket between the under sheet and the bed, and have them washed and aired occasionally.

To Clean Silver.

Wash the silver in soda water, rub it with whiting, and polish it with a piece of dry buckskin. Embossed silver requires a stiff brush. Another way is to let the silver lay in chalk and water for an hour, then take it out, and wipe it dry on flannel; polish it with a piece of buckskin.

Britannia Ware.

First wash it clean in soap-suds, then rub it with a woollen cloth and whiting, and polish off with dry buckskin.

Bra.s.s.

First rub the bra.s.ses with turpentine, vinegar or whiskey, then with rotten-stone and a woollen cloth, and polish off with a piece of soft leather.

For bra.s.ses that have been long out of use, chalk and vinegar may be used.

To Clean Stoves or Grates.

Have the stove slightly warm, and if there is rust on it rub it off with a dry brush; mix some black lead or British l.u.s.tre with boiling water, rub it on a small part of the stove at a time, and polish it with a stiff brush. If the stove needs but little cleaning, wet the spots with water, dust a little lead on the brush and rub it quickly. The black lead should be washed off several times a year, and then renewed. Sheet iron stoves should be rubbed with a woollen cloth, as a brush is apt to streak. The lead may be mixed with the white of an egg in cold water.

Alum water is good to mix l.u.s.tre; it prevents the stove from rusting.

To polish the hearth of a Franklin stove, rub it over with a piece of grindstone, or use coa.r.s.e sand with the sole of a shoe; when it begins to look bright, polish it with pumice stone.

Cement to Mend Cracks in Stoves.

Take two parts of ashes, three of clay, and one of sand; mix them well together with water, and put it on when the stove is cold. It is also good to stop a leak in a roof.

Fire-proof Cement.

Slack a peck of lime in boiling water; put into it three pounds of salt, three of brown sugar, and one of alum; mix them well together, and color it with lamp-black or ochre. This has been recommended to put on the roof of a building that is exposed to fire.

To Take Spots out of Mahogany.

Put a piece of paper on the spot, and hold a warm iron over it, then rub it with a waxed cloth. If furniture is hurt with flies, it should be well washed with a cloth, and rubbed with a cork and a waxed cloth.

Varnished furniture should be first rubbed with sweet oil, and then with a waxed cloth.

To Take Grease out of Floors.

Mix clay or fullers' earth with ley, and put a thick coat on the grease spot; sc.r.a.pe it off every few days, and put on more. To put soft soap on the place, and rub it over with a hot iron, will take out the grease.

Wash for Hearths.