Household Clean in' 



311 



the kettle on every side cannot easily be re- 

 moved. 



The outside of metallic kitchen utensils 

 kitchen-maids pride themselves often on keep- 

 ing highly polished. That they are bright to 

 look upon is very agreeable, especially as it 

 aiiay be inferred that the inside of the vessels 

 corresponds in cleanliness with that of their 

 exterior. But this pride will be carried too 

 far, if it cause the metal to be worn off with 

 needless rubbing, or retard, by the time it 

 occupies, more important business in the 

 kitchen. The soot adhering to the back and 

 sides of the kettles and saucepans ought to be 

 brushed or scraped off, and the fronts, lids, and 

 spouts polished daily ; but to polish the whole 

 exterior surface of vessels daily used over 

 smoky fires would be waste of time. 



The outside of copper coal - skuttles are 

 best cleaned with a polishing paste bought 

 at the oil shops in London, and similar to 

 the composition with which the brass-work 

 on harnesses and carriages is cleaned. The 

 same composition may be easily made of 

 one ounce of spirits of hartshorn, half-a-pint 

 of vinegai", one ounce of rotten stone, and 

 one ounce of soft soap. The soap and 

 rotten stone are to be mixed first together; 

 the vinegar and hartshorn must be after- 

 wards added. 



Iron coal hods may be occcasionally 

 done over with a black varnish, which may 

 be purchased at the oil shops, and which 

 will make them last twice as long. 



Steel knives and forks are cleaned on 

 either ash or deal boards, and sometimes with 

 boards covered with buck leather, but these 

 are now pretty generally superseded by the 

 india-rubber boards as being less likely to 

 wear away the steel of the articles rubbed 

 on them. The leather and india-rubber which 

 covers knife-boards should be prepared by 

 having a coating of mutton-fat melted and 

 laid on it with a piece of flannel. 



The dust of a Flanders' brick, or, better 

 . still, a mixture of emery powder and crocus, 

 which forms the substance known as knife- 

 cleaning powder, is then sprinkled over 

 .the leather and rubbed well in ; and the 

 grease, when a knife is passed over it, ceas- 



ing to come through, is the test of the leather 

 being fit for use. 



An uncovered board should have very little 

 brickdust or powder sprinkled over it at once, 

 lest, in rubbing the knives over it, distinct and 

 visible scratches should be given to them. 

 Knife-cleaning is, in fact, done by scratching 

 the surface, but in so fine, regular, and uniform 

 a manner as to brighten the whole surface. 



The height of the knife-board is another 

 point to be noticed. It should be such as to 

 allow the cleaner to incline his body to- 

 wards it. Holding a knife in each hand — 

 their backs towards each other — the cleaner 

 should stand in front of the board, and, laying 

 each blade upon it, he should bear equally on 

 both, and rub them backwards and forwards, 

 first on one side and then on the other, until 

 a clean bright surface be restored to each. 

 It is easier to clean two together than one 

 alone. To give a good edge to the knives, 

 the cleaner must scarcely let the blades touch 

 the boards while he expandes his arms, but 

 must bear upon them more forcibly in drawing 

 them together again. The edge given by this 

 mode is better than that brought by the steel 

 sharpener. 



Forks are quickly cleaned by running the 

 prongs several times into a tub filled with a 

 mixture of gravel, brickdust, or sand and hay 

 or moss, kept a little damp and pressed firmly 

 down. When clean, the prongs will require 

 polishing with a thin bit of stick shaped like 

 a knife and covered with leather. Knife- 

 boards are often spoiled by the backs of 

 knives and forks being cleaned upon them. 

 This might be prevented, if a thong of buck 

 leather were nailed at one end of the board, 

 and the loose end held in the hand while 

 the forks were rubbed up and down until 

 perfectly clean and polished. It is also 

 desirable to have a thick square brush nailed 

 to the board, over which both knives and 

 forks are passed, in order to remove the dust 

 partly from them, but which must be more 

 eftectually done by the use of the knife-cloth. 



In some houses machines are used for clean- 

 ing knives, by which, in ten minutes, as many 

 would be done as would in the common way 

 occupy the cleaner for one hour ; but the ad- 



