Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1881-04-08
Cleaning Paint, VRrnish, OiI.ClOth,
Mating, Etc.

If paint is quite dirty and greasy, warm wa
ter-not hot--with little ammonia will re-
move the grease, unless dropped on hot or
left unnoticed for q long 'tilne. Then, II
necessary, one must resort to the scrubbing-
brush and perhaps use n little soap. When
ammonia-or, as some think, soft soda-is
used the paint must be rnsed and wiped dry
Immediately, and only a small space washed
at time before rinsing This is a slow pro-
cess, and can in almost all cases be avoided
by removing any grease spot Immediately.
In cleansing grained wood, use clear warm
water and clean white cloth. Be careful
not to have the water hot, as that will leave
white spots. Wash only a small place at
time, and wipe dry as fast as spot is washed.
Wipe with clean white cloth. Colored cloths
stain the wood or give n dingy look to the
granting. Wet no more Mt q time than can be
dried Immediately as drops will settle on the
wood and make the whole look dull, old and
streaked il left to dry by the atmosphere. It
should be rubbed till perfectly dry, changing
the cloths as soon as wet.
If grained wood has been very much neg
lected, or left till greatly soiled with greasy
fingers or defaced by fy.specks, very little
hard soap must be put into the first water,
and that will necessitate even more careful
rinsing and drying. But, If possible, avoid
using the soap, even if it may require little
more time and labor to clean the wood for
soap furnishes the varnish, however skilIully
il may be applied. On no account put the
soap on the cloth
Ii at any time it is desirable to give pine
tables an oaken color, or the woodwork Of a
room, it can be done without calling in
painter. Wash the wood carefully in n solu-
ton of copperas dissolved in strong I've, in
the proportion Of a pound Of copperas TO
gallon Of I've. When the wood is dry after
having been thus thoroughly saturated with
this wash, oil it, and it will look fresh and
nice for year or two, when 1t can be restain-
| ed and again oiled Often, when not sub
| iected to hard usage, the color will remain un-
dimmed for several years, only requiring to
be oiled occasionally. The color may be put
on with a short brsted brush, or, the hands
being protected with thick buckskn gloves,
the wash may be applied with a cloth, which
| will saturate the wood more evenly. 1t will
blister the hands if they are not well protect
ed.
Oilcloths washed in hot water or soapsuds,
or with a brush, will look dngy when dry,
| and soon crack and peel of but when always
washed in lukewarm water, with a piece of
soft old flannel, and wiped perfectly dry each
time, they last much longer, and retain their
young looks down to old age, and 1t greatly
| improves their looks to use half milk and half
water SKINNED milk, if not sour, is Just rs
good AS new, aud it makes oilcloth look MS if
vanished. Neither soap, hot water nor brush
should ever be used ON it.
In cleaning mating, wash twice during the
summer with salt and water-a pint of salt to
| half pailful of warm soft water-and dry
quickly with clean soft cloth. Treated in
this way the mating will not grow yellow !;
or, il preferred, apply thin coat of yarnish
to the mating That will make it more dura-
bic, and greatly improve its appearance. II
vanished, it will not nee Washing. Now and
then wipe with wet cloth and dry quickly.
| Use white varnish on white mating. BE sure
and have the varnish thin, or the mating will
| crack.
1t often happens that the woodwork on
doors, particularly near the handles, will be-
come quite dirty and badly stained by the
frequent running back and forth of careless
children. In such cases It is sometimes found
impossible to remove the marks with cold wa
ter or without the use Of soap, however un-
desirable. If this occurs, throw two table
spoonfuls of powdered borax into a pail OF
hot water, and wash the paint with it. Dc
not use a brush, but, if found impossible to
remove the marks in this way, then soap must
be Tesorted to. Rub the soap on the cloth,
and then sprinkle over the soap dry powdered
borax, and rub the spots faithfully, rinsine
with plenty of water. BY washing woodwork
in this way, the paint will not be injured, and
the borax will keep the hands soft and white
Borax is not half as freely used in domestic
labor as it would be if all its usefulness were
better known. Its help in increasing til,
cleansing properties Of soap, and at the sam,
time correcting its corrosive tendency, is ont
of its most valuable properties.