HOUSEHOLD HINTS. 



Tests for Water. Mechanical impurities, or 

 such as are suspended in water, may be removed 

 by rest or filtration, as above described ; but 

 chemical impurities, or such as are dissolved, 

 pass through the filter, which has no power of 

 separating them. Lime, generally as carbonate 

 or sulphate, is detected by a white precipitate 

 being formed on the addition of oxalate of 

 ammonia. Chlorides produce a white precipitate 

 with nitrate of silver, and the presence of organic 

 matter is ascertained by the rapid disappearance 

 of the pink tint given to the water by the 

 addition of a few drops of a solution of per- 

 manganate of potass (Condy's fluid). The salts 

 of lime are not objectionable, except in so far 

 as they make the water hard ; but water con- 

 taining much chloride of sodium, or organic 

 matter, should be regarded with suspicion, and 

 avoided. Water that has been boiled in copper 

 vessels is sometimes impregnated with that metal. 

 Its presence may be detected by dipping the 

 polished blade of a knife into the liquid, when 

 the copper will be deposited in the form of a 

 yellowish stain on the steel. 



SMALL DOMESTIC MANUFACTURES. 



The attempt to make all sorts of articles for 

 domestic use is now far from economical, as the 

 time and expense bestowed upon them are often 

 of greater amount than what would buy the things 

 ready made from shops. We therefore confine 

 our directions to articles which may require to be 

 manufactured in families at a great distance from 

 towns, or for the families of emigrants in remote 

 settlements. 



Blacking for Shoes. There are many ways of 

 making this article, the chief ingredients employed 

 being ivory-black, vinegar or sour beer, sugar, a 

 little sweet-oil, and oil of vitriol. A good blacking 

 may be made as follows : Mix three ounces of 

 ivory-black, two ounces of treacle, a table-spoonful 

 of sweet-oil, one ounce of vitriol, one ounce of 

 gum-arabic dissolved in water, and a pint of 

 vinegar. 



Blacking for Harness. Melt two ounces of 

 mutton-suet with six ounces of bees-wax ; add 

 six ounces of sugar-candy, two ounces of soft 

 soap dissolved in water, and one ounce of indigo 

 finely powdered ; and when melted and well 

 mixed, add a gill of turpentine. Lay it on the 

 harness with a sponge, and polish off with a 

 brush. 



Paste is useful in a house for papering walls, 

 cupboards, boxes, labelling, &c. A very useful 

 composition of this sort is made of flour in the 

 usual way, but rather thick, with a little glycerine, 

 and a small quantity of carbolic acid. The use of 

 the glycerine is to keep it flexible, so as to prevent 

 its scaling off from smooth surfaces ; and that of 

 the carbolic acid, to act as an effectual check 

 against its fermentation. 



Waterproof Stuff for Shoes. In winter, or 

 during wet weather, shoes may be rendered dur- 

 able by applying to the soles and seams a com- 

 position made of the following materials : Half a 

 pint of unboiled linseed-oil, two table-spoonfuls of 

 turpentine, one ounce of bees-wax, and a quarter 

 of an ounce of Burgundy pitch. Melt the whole 

 together, and apply with a brush before the fire. 

 Repeat the application till the soles will absorb 



no more. Neats-foot oil alone will be found an 

 excellent preservative of shoes in wet weather. 

 Since the introduction of caoutchouc and gutta- 

 percha, shoes and goloshes, completely water- 

 proof, are made of these materials. 



Bottle-wax. A good kind of bottle -wax or 

 cement may be cheaply made as follows : Put 

 into an iron ladle half a pound of rosin, two 

 ounces of bees-wax, and when melted over the 

 fire, stir in Venetian red, lampblack, or other 

 colouring ; and apply while hot. If kept for 

 after-use, melt with a candle, as usual, when 

 applied. 



Potato-starch. Wash and peel a gallon of good 

 potatoes, grate them into a pail of water, stir fre- 

 quently, and let them settle. On the following 

 day the starch will be found at the bottom of the 

 pail ; then pour off the water, add fresh, stir as 

 before, and let it subside a second time ; pour 

 off the water as before, and dry the sediment in 

 the sun or a slow oven. 



Potashes. Settlers in the backwoods of America, 

 or other woody regions, have an opportunity of 

 manufacturing potashes, an article of great use 

 and considerable value. A vast quantity of this 

 substance is annually made in Canada, and ex- 

 ported to Great Britain. Potashes are made from 

 the ashes of burnt trees. In burning timber to 

 clear the land, the ashes are carefully preserved, 

 and put in barrels, or other vessels, with holes 

 in the bottom ; and water being poured over them, 

 a liquid or alkali is run off. This lye being boiled 

 in large boilers, the watery particles evaporate, 

 and leave what is called black salts, a sort of 

 residuum, which, when heated to a high degree, 

 becomes fused, and finally, when cool, assumes 

 the character of potash. With these potashes the 

 Canadians make their own soap : the lye of a 

 barrel of ashes, boiled along with ten pounds of 

 tallow, till it is of a proper consistence, produces 

 about forty pounds of very good soft soap. 



Ash-balls. This term is applied to the ashes of 

 various plants, especially ferns, moistened, and 

 made into lumps or balls. They are used as a 

 substitute for soap, and to clean painting. 



Dyes. Dyeing can rarely be well done at home, 

 and so we recommend that articles of value or 

 importance should be sent to the professional 

 dyer. Ribbons, however, or small articles of silk 

 or wool, may be dyed with Judsoris dyes (alcoholic 

 solutions of the coal-tar colours), that may be 

 obtained in a very convenient form for domestic 

 use. The article should be thoroughly freed from 

 grease by soap and water, and immersed in nearly 

 boiling water, to which has been added sufficient 

 of the dye to give the desired depth of colour (see 

 CHEMISTRY APPLIED TO THE ARTS). 



Bleaching small Articles. The principles and 

 practice of oleaching cotton, linen, and woollen on 

 a large scale, have been detailed in No. 22 ; we 

 here allude to minor articles, which maybe whitened 

 in the laundry or kitchen. Silk is bleached by 

 boiling it in white soap and water, to remove the 

 natural yellow varnish which covers it ; after 

 which it is subjected to repeated rinsings. Articles 

 that are required to be very white as gloves, 

 stockings, &c. are also submitted to the action 

 of sulphurous acid, or to the fumes of burning 

 sulphur. Straw is also bleached by the fumes of 

 sulphur ; hence arises the sulphurous smell emitted 

 by new straw hats and bonnets. 



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