130 
House & Garden 
Stains and Enamels 
(Continued from Page 68) 
Here Comes 
the Plumber! 
Your water pipes are causing trouble. 
Perhaps it is a leak in the ceiling or 
a pipe clogged with rust that leaves 
only a thin trickle of water. 
Anyway, you are in for it. Walls 
must be opened, floors ripped up to 
get at the leaky or clogged pipe. 
The plumber is not to blame. In¬ 
ferior, corrodible pipe lias failed. 
You can avoid al! this—easily. 
Anaconda Brass Pipe resists corro¬ 
sion and is good for a generation. 
It insures you against the plumbing 
troubles that require the repair man. 
It saves you the cost of his service. 
The added cost of an Anaconda 
Brass Pipe installation is negligible 
—only about $75 for a $15,000 
house. 
faces, and also for those who, while they 
like the grain of the wood, much 
prefer the effect of shellac or varnish. 
In order to use these modern stains 
successfully the wood must be properly 
prepared, and many manufacturers in¬ 
sist that the pores should be filled, 
which, they contend, gives a surface 
smooth, transparent and elastic. Also 
that it tends to bring out and empha¬ 
size the natural life and beauty of 
wood and that it is the only way to 
insure best results from the use of 
shellac, wax, varnish and other finish¬ 
ing materials. 
The stains that are used over these 
fillers are supposed never to obscure 
or cloud the wood grain, but to give 
a variety of soft, rich, artistic colors 
in various shades of brown, green, 
weathered and Flemish oak. If de¬ 
sired, the stains may be finished with 
varnish, shellac or wax, and used on 
a rich variety of woods; or to give the 
effect of the more durable woods to 
the cheaper qualities. For instance, 
birch may be stained to get the effect 
of mahogany, or fir to have the style 
of Flemish oak, or cypress to look like 
brown oak, or red wood like English 
oak, and so on, or their own qualities 
and characteristics may be brought out. 
Of course, the close-grained woods 
require no filling. They may be 
treated first with a white shellac, sand¬ 
papered to a smooth finish, followed 
by two or three coats of wood finish. 
The first two coats, rubbed with hair 
cloth or curled hair, and the last with 
pulverized pumice stone or crude oil. A 
dull finish would be followed by a 
treatment with polish applied with 
soft felt or flannel. We are warned 
that the first coat of shellac should 
never be omitted on pine, as it serves 
to kill the sap or pitch which might 
otherwise, in the course of time, ooze 
out and mar the finish. If the clear 
bright color of pine is desired, never 
apply a first coat of linseed oil as 
this tends to turn the wood dark. 
The use of enamels is so widespread 
in this country for furniture, wood¬ 
work, kitchen equipment, bathrooms, 
and cellars, that it seems superfluous 
to dwell upon it. The home builder 
today does not consider that a sani¬ 
tary house has been produced unless 
certain details of the decoration are 
done with enamel. This may be white 
or ivory, or various tints. It may be 
highly glossed, half polished or flat. 
To obtain a tint a pure tone color is 
ground in Japan and thinned down 
with a small quantity of turpentine, 
slowly added to the enamel until the 
desired color is obtained. When the 
outer coat of enamel is in color the 
under tint should be the same. These 
enamels may be used over iron, plaster, 
and almost every variety of wood, if 
the surface is properly prepared. Over¬ 
emphasis cannot be laid on the im¬ 
portance of the under coat, and the 
master painters affirm that the priming 
coat is the most important of all, not 
only the perfect laying of the coat, but 
the rubbing down between layers. 
On some of the extra fine enameling 
which is done in this country, even 
eight or nine coats, each one carefully 
prepared and laid on, are employed. 
In cold weather the room should be 
heated. If not, then the enamel should 
be warmed by placing it in a pail of 
hot water. The best work is done in 
a room having a temperature of not 
less than 75°. The use of thinners or 
the promiscuous use of turpentine 
should be avoided. If turpentine must 
be used, expose it half an hour before 
use in an open vessel to allow the most 
active of the gases to evaporate and 
then thin sparingly. There are an 
endless variety of colors to be had in 
enamels, just as there are for paints 
and stains, and also there are number¬ 
less varnishes and shellacs which carry 
colors inherent in their manufacture. 
The way in which to secure the full¬ 
est knowledge of stains, with or with¬ 
out varnish, of enamels, high gloss or 
flat finish, is to get the manufacturer’s 
booklets, which show you every variety 
of stain, varnish, enamel, in the exact 
colors which are sent out. Also the 
most minute information is given for 
the use of these materials for every 
purpose for which they might be 
desired. 
Isn’t it worth it? 
A REVIEW OF STAINS AND 
Write for our new booklet “Ten Years Hence” which 
tells how you can save on your plumbing. It is free. 
THE AMERICAN BRASS COMPANY 
GENERAL OFFICES. WATERBURY, CONN. 
MILLS AND FACTORIES 
Ansonia.Conn Torrington. Conn. Waterbury. Conn. Buffalo.N.Y Kenosha.Wis. 
OFFICES AND AGENCIES 
New York Philadelphia Boston Providence Pittsburgh 
Cleveland Cincinnati Detroit _ Chicago St Louis San Francisco 
ANACONDA AMERICAN BRASS LIMITED. NEW TORONTO. ONTARIO CANADA 
BRASS PIPE 
ENAMELS CATALOGS 
“Common Sense About Interiors” 
published by the Lowe Brothers Co., 
Dayton, Ohio, is a helpful little book¬ 
let of thirty-odd pages devoted to the 
treatment of floors, walls, woodwork 
and furniture. Directions are given 
that will make it a very simple matter 
for the householder to select the colors 
he wants to use, to prepare the sur¬ 
face he is going to stain or enamel, and 
to apply the various finishes. It is 
illustrated in color. It lays stress upon 
the importance of first getting the wood 
or the walls ready; for without this 
preparation no staining or enameling 
can be satisfactory in the end. 
“That Magic Thing Called Color” 
by Sylvester Earle, “Descriptive List 
of Architectural Finishes” “Liquid 
Velvet” published by the O’Brien Var¬ 
nish Company, South Bend, Ind. The 
first of these booklets, splendidly 
illustrated, is devoted to a discussion 
of the elemental of color harmony in 
the house. It has chapters on the 
harmony of color, the magic of color, 
the functions of color, and the home 
harmonious. In this latter chapter the 
various rooms are taken up in detail, 
and appropriate color schemes are 
suggested for each. It is chiefly con¬ 
cerned with the coloring of the walls 
by means of a flat wall enamel. The 
second booklet contains a very com¬ 
plete list of most of the various enamels 
and stains as well as varnishes and 
paints which are apt to be used in the 
house. “Liquid Velvet” shows samples 
of the various colors and tints obtain¬ 
able in this very attractive finish. 
“Do You Admire White Enamel” 
“Your Front Door—Is it Inviting” 
“Does Your Home Need Renovating” 
“The Luxury of Fine Floors” “Your 
Front Door” “Beautiful Floors” pub¬ 
lished by the Murphy Varnish Com¬ 
pany, Newark, N. J. Each of these 
single leaflets emphasizes the attractive¬ 
ness of various parts of the house being 
treated with what is one of the best 
grades of enamel on the market. They 
bring up the point that a good white 
enamel is not only a permanent and 
durable finish for interior woodwork 
but that its use brings a light and airy 
cheerfulness into the house. 
