34 
House & Garden 
THE CARE OF FURNITURE 
Some Simple Family Remedies for Home Treatment — 
The Value of Elbow Grease and Knowing How 
F URNITURE in these days may be said 
to suffer from two causes; too little 
care and too much furniture polish. Which 
is the worse evil is debatable; but I think 
simple neglect is on the whole preferable to 
well-meant but unskillful renovating. 
The delicate surface of a fine old piece of 
furniture was obtained by hard and per¬ 
sistent rubbing, not by the generous use of 
polish. The best form of furniture finish is 
that known as French polishing, which is 
nothing in the world but the process of rub¬ 
bing into the bare wood many coats of 
shellac varnish. To keep such a surface in 
good condition, not polish but hard rubbing 
is obviously the important thing. 
True, some form of polish or furniture 
cream is needed on most furniture in order 
to revive it, but very little should be per¬ 
mitted to remain on the surface. Its pur¬ 
pose is simply to supply those minute places 
where the oil or other liquid has been worn 
off, in this manner renewing the luster. 
Sometimes an oily rag will be suf¬ 
ficient for this, linseed or in some 
cases petroleum oil being used. 
In the first place, it is necessary 
to make the piece of furniture 
clean and free from dust, dirt or 
stain. Even this simple work must 
be done with care, so as not to 
scratch or mar the surface, which 
even a dry chamois skin will mar. 
Take a little furniture cream on 
a clean flannel rag, and rub gently 
with it, leaving only the merest 
film of the cream. Then with a 
clean, soft duster rub along the 
grain of the wood until your finger 
leaves no mark on the surface 
when you touch it. For the final 
polish use an old silk handker¬ 
chief that is perfectly clean. 
Such treatment at proper inter¬ 
vals will keep the finest furniture 
in good condition. Furniture that 
has been long neglected and is in a 
more or less damaged state will, 
of course, require special treat¬ 
ment—perhaps at the hands of a 
cabinet maker. Broken parts and 
damaged veneering he will have 
to mend, but spots and stains can 
be removed at home. 
Removing Spots 
The most common spots are 
white, caused by heat or alcohol. 
Table tops, for example, are fre¬ 
quently marred by hot dishes, and 
there are several remedies for this. 
The best I know of is simply to 
apply a bit of butter to a folded 
rag and with it rub the spot brisk¬ 
ly. Another good method is to 
hold a slightly heated iron over 
the spot, to soften up the varnish 
and bring back the luster, follow¬ 
ing this by rubbing with an oily 
rag. Rubbing quickly with grain 
alcohol will often remove a white 
spot that has been caused by hot 
dishes, but care must he taken in 
A. ASHMUN KELLY 
using it since alcohol is a strong solvent of 
varnish. After its application, linseed oil 
should be rubbed on. 
Spirits of camphor is a similar remedy, 
and is used in the same manner as alcohol. 
Camphorated oil, which is simply oil and 
camphor mixed, will serve a like purpose, 
and is a good cleanser and renovator as 
well. It will often prove useful to lay on the 
spot a mixture of sweet or cottonseed oil 
and salt, allowing it to remain for an hour 
or so, and then removing it completely with 
a damp cloth. 
Alcohol marks may be eradicated with 
dry powdered sal soda, sprinkled on the 
spot which first has been moistened with 
water. After a few minutes, rub the place 
with a rag wet with kerosene oil; then rub 
the whole surface with a wet rag and a 
little soda, finally polishing it clean and dry 
with a soft old cloth. When punch or lemon¬ 
ade has been spilled on a polished table top, 
wash it off immediately with a cloth dipped 
in warm water, then rub it dry and polish 
with a suitable reviver. 
White marks are usually difficult to re¬ 
move, and should any of these cures fail, 
I know of nothing to do but to send the piece 
of furniture to a wood finisher to have the 
upper coating taken off and renewed. A 
poor grade of varnish is sometimes respon¬ 
sible for white marks, though on good fur¬ 
niture this explanation is seldom the right 
one. Water affects poor varnish by uniting 
with the rosin that it contains, and wax 
finish is also affected by water. The only 
thing to do is to re-varnish or re-wax. 
Sometimes white marks on poor varnish 
may be taken off with a mixture of two 
ounces of oxalic acid and one ounce of 
butter of antimony trichloride. The acid 
is a bleacher, while the antimony is a good 
cleanser and enters into the composition of 
many wood polishes. 
If the furniture looks dull and dingy, the 
condition may be the result of coal gas, and 
may often be improved simply by 
wiping with a rag wet with ben¬ 
zine. In the course of the next 
hour make up some suds with 
Castile soap and wash the furni¬ 
ture with this, polishing it with 
a soft cloth after it has dried. 
Flannel is good for this work, and 
produces a fine polish. 
Various Methods 
The unsightly bloom often seen 
on furniture that has been highly 
polished may be removed by a 
preparation of strong cider vin¬ 
egar and water, in proportions of 
one tablespoonful of the former 
to about a quart of the latter. 
Rub the surface lightly with this, 
drying it with another piece of 
cheesecloth. Should this treat¬ 
ment fail the first time, repeat it in 
about a week. A practical work¬ 
man assures me that it will finally 
cure the bloom, and that the fur¬ 
niture will afterwards continue to 
show an excellent polish. 
Finger marks on a piano may 
be erased with a little vinegar, 
diluted until it merely tastes sour. 
In fact, acid is one of the best 
cleansers for furniture or any var¬ 
nished surface. Some people ad¬ 
vise a rag slightly dampened with 
alcohol for removing finger 
marks, but for the inexpert there 
is always danger of injuring the 
varnish or polish when alcohol is 
used, because of its solvent power. 
Bruises on furniture may be 
remedied with warm water,applied 
until the fractured or sunken parts 
swell somewhat. After the part 
is dry, lightly pass fine sandpaper 
over it. Then some stain must be 
applied, the color of the finish, 
also some stained putty to fill the 
part, if the bruise is a deep one. 
If the bruise is not had, yet ex- 
(Continued on page 62) 
A little oil and much elbow grease will keep the best of furni¬ 
ture in condition. If untiringly applied , they will eventually 
produce the fine patina for which furniture is treasured 
