When new beds are covered with cases, the moth will sometimes eat through without its being discovered. Covers also prevent the air from sweetening the feathers, and when new they should never be covered unless in use. When beds are slept on, it is best to have a thick cotton sheet, or if it is cold weather, a blanket between the under sheet and the bed, and have them washed and aired occasionally.
To Clean Silver.
Wash the silver in soda water, rub it with whiting, and polish it with a piece of dry buckskin. Embossed silver requires a stiff brush. Another way is to let the silver lay in chalk and water for an hour, then take it out, and wipe it dry on flannel; polish it with a piece of buckskin.
Britannia Ware.
First wash it clean in soap-suds, then rub it with a woollen cloth and whiting, and polish off with dry buckskin.
Bra.s.s.
First rub the bra.s.ses with turpentine, vinegar or whiskey, then with rotten-stone and a woollen cloth, and polish off with a piece of soft leather.
For bra.s.ses that have been long out of use, chalk and vinegar may be used.
To Clean Stoves or Grates.
Have the stove slightly warm, and if there is rust on it rub it off with a dry brush; mix some black lead or British l.u.s.tre with boiling water, rub it on a small part of the stove at a time, and polish it with a stiff brush. If the stove needs but little cleaning, wet the spots with water, dust a little lead on the brush and rub it quickly. The black lead should be washed off several times a year, and then renewed. Sheet iron stoves should be rubbed with a woollen cloth, as a brush is apt to streak. The lead may be mixed with the white of an egg in cold water.
Alum water is good to mix l.u.s.tre; it prevents the stove from rusting.
To polish the hearth of a Franklin stove, rub it over with a piece of grindstone, or use coa.r.s.e sand with the sole of a shoe; when it begins to look bright, polish it with pumice stone.
Cement to Mend Cracks in Stoves.
Take two parts of ashes, three of clay, and one of sand; mix them well together with water, and put it on when the stove is cold. It is also good to stop a leak in a roof.
Fire-proof Cement.
Slack a peck of lime in boiling water; put into it three pounds of salt, three of brown sugar, and one of alum; mix them well together, and color it with lamp-black or ochre. This has been recommended to put on the roof of a building that is exposed to fire.
To Take Spots out of Mahogany.
Put a piece of paper on the spot, and hold a warm iron over it, then rub it with a waxed cloth. If furniture is hurt with flies, it should be well washed with a cloth, and rubbed with a cork and a waxed cloth.
Varnished furniture should be first rubbed with sweet oil, and then with a waxed cloth.
To Take Grease out of Floors.
Mix clay or fullers" earth with ley, and put a thick coat on the grease spot; sc.r.a.pe it off every few days, and put on more. To put soft soap on the place, and rub it over with a hot iron, will take out the grease.
Wash for Hearths.
Mix red ochre in milk, and put it on the hearths with a brush.
Blacking for Boots and Shoes.
Take one ounce of vitriolic acid, one wine-gla.s.s of olive oil, two ounces of ivory black, an ounce of gum arabic, a quart of vinegar, and a tea-cup of mola.s.ses; put the vitriol and oil together, then add the ivory black and other ingredients; when all are well mixed, bottle it.
To Make Boots and Shoes Water-proof.
Take one pint of linseed oil, one ounce of Burgundy pitch, two of beeswax, and two of spirits of turpentine; melt them carefully over a slow fire. With this you may rub new or old shoes in the sun, or at a short distance from the fire, and they will last longer, never shrink, and keep out water.
To Make Blacking for Morocco Shoes.
Pound some black sealing wax, and put in a bottle with half a pint of alcohol; shake it frequently, and when it is dissolved, you may rub it on morocco shoes when they are scaled or defaced, and they will look almost like new; dry it on in the sun.
To Grease Eggs for Winter.
In the spring when eggs are plenty and cheap, it is very well to put up several hundred, to use in the winter, when it is very difficult to get them, even in the country.
Grease each egg with sweet lard, and as you do so, lay them in a keg or jar, or old tin vessels that are out of use; put them in a dry closet and keep them covered over; if they are put in the cellar, they are liable to mould, which spoils them entirely. Do not put in any cracked ones, or they will injure the rest. In this way they have been known to keep a year, and were nearly as good for puddings, or batter cakes, as fresh eggs. They do not do to boil, or make pound or sponge cake, as they lose part of their lightening property.
To Keep Eggs in Lime Water.
Pour two gallons of hot water on a pint of lime and half a pint of salt; put the eggs in a jar or keg, and when it is cold, pour it over them, and put them in a cellar to keep; be sure that there are no cracked ones. Eggs may be kept a month or longer, spread out separately on dishes, so as one will not lay on another. They will keep best in a dark closet.
To Clean Soiled Eggs.
When eggs are discolored from laying on the ground, wash them first in strong vinegar, and then in cold water, and wipe them dry on a soft towel.
Chloride of Lime.
A few spoonsful of chloride of lime dissolved in some water in a bowl or saucer, is very useful to purify the apartment of an invalid, or in any case where there is an unpleasant smell, of any kind. It is a cheap article, and should always he kept convenient where there is sickness in the house.
To Take Lime out of Cloth.
Lime spots on woollen clothes may be effectually removed, by putting a little strong vinegar on the part, which completely neutralizes the lime, and does not usually effect the color; but it will be safest to wash it over with a cloth dipped in water, and rub it till nearly dry.
Hartshorn and alcohol mixed together are very useful in taking spots out of cloth or merino, applied with something that will not leave lint.
To Take Wax or Spermaceti out of Cloth.