HOUSEHOLD HINTS. 



some time in copper vessels, the articles will be- 

 come poisonous. A German sauce-pan is best for 

 boiling milk in. This is an iron sauce-pan, glazed 

 with white earthenware, instead of being tinned, 

 the glaze preventing its tendency to burn. A stew- 

 pan made like it is also preferable to a copper 

 pan, since simple washing keeps it sweet and 

 clean. A method of glazing sauce-pans with 

 earthenware is now common in this country. 

 Zinc sieves are more easily kept clean than those 

 made of hair, will last longer, and not rust 



Dish-covers are cleaned with fine whiting and 

 sweet-oil, and polished with dry whiting-powder. 

 Britannia-metal teapots, &c. should be rubbed 

 with sweet-oil on flannel, then polished by the 

 hand with rotten-stone, and next washed with soap 

 and hot water, and finished with wash-leather and 

 whiting-powder. Pewter is scoured with fine 

 white sand and a lye made with wood-ashes, or 

 soda and water. A useful paste for tins, brasses, 

 and the like, is composed of fine emery, oil, 

 and crocus. The stone must be powdered, 

 and sifted through a muslin or hair sieve ; mix 

 with it as much soft soap as will bring it to the 

 consistency of putty ; to about half a pound of this 

 add two ounces of oil of turpentine. It may be 

 made up in balls or put in gallipots ; it will soon 

 become hard, and keep any length of time. The 

 articles to be polished should be first freed from 

 grease and dirt ; after which, moisten a little of 

 the paste with water, smear it over the metal, then 

 rub briskly with dry rag or wash-leather, and the 

 surface will soon bear a beautiful polish. 



Knives are best cleaned by rubbing on a flat 

 board on which is put finely powdered brick-dust. 

 Some recommend leather to be put on the board ; 

 this may prevent the knives from wearing, but it 

 is apt to deprive them of an edge fit for cutting. 

 Never put knives in hot water, for that loosens 

 the handles, and spoils the temper of the steel. 

 Machines for cleaning knives by the dozen are 

 common in hotels, and are very useful where 

 large numbers are used. 



Lamps. When lamps are foul inside, they 

 should be cleaned with hot water and pearl-ash, 

 and well rinsed, and set by the fire to dry before 

 the oil is again put in. Spirit-lamps should be 

 filled with great care, lest the spirit take fire ; 

 and unless the spirit of wine be pure, it will not 

 burn. The merits of different kinds of lamps are 

 considered in VoL I., pp. 491-2. 



Lamp-glasses. If the lamp-glasses be ground, 

 burnt spots upon them cannot be removed ; but 

 they may be cleaned from the effects of smoke by 

 washing with soap and water, and then rubbing 

 with a dry cloth. Grease may be removed with 

 Sherwood ale. The glasses should always be 

 ground on the outside. 



Furniture. Mahogany or other hardwood fur- 

 niture, whether ' French polished ' or varnished, is 

 best kept in good order by frequent rubbing with 

 soft dry cloths, as the pastes and oils generally 

 used tend to make it ' sticky,' and fill up the more 

 delicate carved portions. An occasional applica- 

 tion, however, of a reviver is in some cases 

 desirable, and therefore we give formulas for two 

 of the best. A good, furniture-oil consists of lin- 

 seed-oil 1 6 ounces, spirit of hartshorn I ounce, 

 muriate of antimony I ounce, spirit of wine 2 

 ounces, and vinegar 4 ounces ; and a furniture- 

 Paste is made of yellow wax dissolved by heat in 



sufficient turpentine to be, when cold, about the 

 consistence of honey. If it is desired to darken 

 the furniture, some alkanet root should be soaked 

 in the oil, or turpentine for a few hours, and 

 strained out. A little of either of those revive 

 is to be well rubbed on the furniture with a piece 

 of flannel, and polished off by a rapid circular 

 motion with a soft linen cloth. The paste requires 

 less work, and gives a more brilliant surface 

 which, however, is easily marked by the fingers! 

 and especially by hot dishes. The polish pr 

 duced by the oil, although not so high, is more 

 durable. 



To remove ink from mahogany make a satu- 

 rated solution of oxalic acid in water, and apply 

 it to the ink-spots with a feather. If the stain 

 is not removed in half an hour, the acid may be 

 applied a second or third time, and then washed 

 off with water. 



Bottles. Cut a raw potato into small pieces, and 

 put them in the bottle along with a table-spoonful 

 of salt, and two table-spoonfuls of water. Shake 

 all well together in the bottle till every mark is 

 removed, and rinse with clean water. This will 

 remove stains of wine, green marks of vegetation, 

 and other discolorations. Hard crust in bottles 

 may be cleaned off by rinsing with water and 

 small-shot. Take care to wash out all the shot 

 before putting the bottles aside. Stains in wine 

 decanters, &c. may easily be removed by a table- 

 spoonful of the solution of caustic potass, already 

 mentioned, and a thorough rinsing afterwards. 



Plate. Articles of plate, after being used, should 

 be washed in hot water ; or, if stained, they should 

 be boiled, and rinsed and dried before you attempt 

 to clean them. They should be carefully handled, 

 else they may receive deep scratches, which are 

 very difficult to remove. Besides, the object is 

 not merely to clean the plate, but to polish it, so 

 that it may appear almost as brilliant as when 

 it was received new from the silversmith. For 

 this purpose, quicksilver was formerly much used 

 in plate-powder, and it gave the silver great lustre, 

 which soon, however, disappeared, and the article 

 became tarnished and blackened. The only plate- 

 powders that should be used are 'jewellers' rouge' 

 and the finest whiting. This useful article, 

 prepared chalk, which is to be had of any iron- 

 monger or druggist, is simply ordinary whitening 

 or carbonate of lime, washed and freed from gritty 

 matter. 



Brushes, hard and soft, sponge, and wash-leather, 

 are requisite for cleaning plate : if the powder be 

 mixed with spirit of wine laid on with a sponge, 

 and rubbed off with wash-leather, all tarnish will 

 be removed. Salt stains (blackish spots) and sul- 

 phur-marks from eggs are more difficult to remove. 

 It is a good plan to boil a soft fine old cloth in 

 water with some prepared chalk dissolved in it, 

 and to dry the cloth, and use it for polishing. The 

 soft brush is for the same purpose, the hard brush 

 being for chased-work, edges, and crests, so that 

 not a portion of dry powder may remain in them. 

 Plate should in all cases be finished with a fine 

 dry wash-leather. Plated articles should be care- 

 fully wiped dry after washing them, else they will 

 rust or canker at the edges, where the silver first 

 wears off ; and on this account also they should 

 be cleaned as rarely as possible. German silver 

 may be cleaned in the same manner as plate. 



Embroidery and Gold-lace should be cleaned 



m 



