Household Clcaniui 



309 



Finely washed whiting is one of the safest 

 plate powders. To prepare this, mix some 

 whiting up with water, and stir it well ; then 

 letting the whole remain a minute or two, 

 pour off the white fluid into another vessel, 

 and suffer the sediment of the part poured off 

 to settle. This sediment will, when dried, be 

 the fine washed whiting desired, all the coarse 

 gritty part having been left behind in the 

 first vessel. Whiting, in general, is fine 

 enough without being washed ; but this 

 operation secures it from containing any 

 particles of sand. It is by some persons ap- 

 plied in its dry state, and rubbed on with the 

 leather. Others mix it with water, and lay it 

 wet on the plate, and do not rub it off till it 

 is dry. 



Rotten stone, mixed with a little Florence 

 oil, is sometimes employed for rubbing away 

 the scratches which plate may accidentally 

 have received 3 but this must be used with 

 caution. 



XII. CLEANING PLATED WARES AND 

 BRITISH PLATE. 



Plated wares, and what is called British 

 plate, nickel silver, &c. As plated goods 

 consist of inferior metals coated with silver, 

 this coating is easily rubbed off; and hence, 

 in cleaning plated articles, the greatest care 

 is requisite not to wear off the silver coat'ng. 

 All violent rubbing should be avoided, to- 

 gether with the use, in cleaning it, of any in- 

 gredient which would wear the silver. "Wlien 

 tarnished, plated goods may be best cleaned 

 with fine washed whiting mixed with sweet 

 oil. Warm soap and water also may be safely 

 used. 



Of plated candlesticks, snuffer dishes, 

 salvers, &c., the edges and mouldings are 

 now frequently formed of silver alone. This 

 improvement has occasioned plated articles 

 to be much more durable, as it was at the 

 edges that the plating was first destroyed. 



The sulphur contained in the sulphuretted 

 hydrogen gas, which exist sometimes in small 

 ([uantity in the atmospheric air, is constantly 

 acting upon silver, and produces a tarnish. 

 On this account it is very desirable to keep 

 all such articles not in daily use covered with 



wash-leather, or with any soft material, to 

 keep them as much as possible from the 

 air. 



Amongst the careless practices to be con- 

 demned is that of scraping off, with a sharp 

 knife, wax or tallow adhering to plate. If in 

 this practice the surface be scratched, the 

 scratches cannot be removed, except by 

 rubbing off the silver around it until it is 

 levelled to the indentations ; hence the injury 

 to plated goods especially, in which silver is 

 merely a thin surface. Another careless mode, 

 and one equally destructive to the articles, is 

 that of exposing the candlesticks to the exces- 

 sive heat of fire in order to melt the adhesive 

 wax or tallow. The hollow pillars and j^edi- 

 ments of most candlesticks are filled with a 

 composition which gives them weight and 

 steadiness. The composition, with the 

 soldering which unites together the different 

 parts of candlesticks, is melted at the same 

 time that the wax or tallow is dissolved by 

 the fire, and thus the united parts are weak- 

 ened, if not entirely separated. It is a safer 

 plan to immerse in warm water the sockets 

 and nozzles of candlesticks, and to let them 

 He until the substances become softened by 

 this slight degree of warmth, when they may 

 be easily removed without injuring the sur- 

 face of the candlesticks. If this moderate 

 warmth be not sufficient to clear away the 

 wax, a little spirits of wine rubbed on it will 

 loosen it, and allow of its being entirely re- 

 moved. It must be remembered, that very 

 hot water will be as prejudicial to candlesticks 

 as a hot fire. It is requisite that the water 

 should not in temperature exceed that which 

 the hand can endure if held in it for a minu'ie 

 or more. After the wax or tallow is entirely 

 cleared away, the candlesticks must be wiped 

 with a duster very dry, and aftenvards polished 

 with the leather and fine whiting. 



For the cleaning of candlesticks two 

 leathers and a soft brush are requisite, as 

 well as for the cleaning of the plate used at 

 table. A small skin should be kept for 

 rubbing the articles with the whiting, a larger 

 one for polishing them aftenvards, and the 

 brush for removing the powder from the 

 mouldings, &c. 



