Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1888-06-07
CLEANING PAINT.
How to Do 1t Without InJuring the Ere
quently Delicate Surface.

How to Do 1t Without InJuring tho Free
quently Delicate Surface.
During the house-cleanlng season
the washing of the paint is of great
Importance to the housewife Where
cleanness is the only thing desired,
there are number of labor-saving
soap powders in the market that will
do the work well, with very little
hard work on the part of the house.
wife. but, unfortunately. the grea! er
| number of them contain soda. and are
for this reason injurious to the paint.
Soda Is an excellent thing to remove
| dirt, but with the dirt is too apt to
take the paint; therefore, if woman
wishes to keep her paint looking nice,
| she will not use soda as an assistant
in cleaning it. Another objection to
| the use of soda is that it Injuries the
hands, making them rough and sore
This objection is the worst, for
| with sore hands it IS any
thing but pleasant task to do
the Homework. To be sure. all
soaps to more or less extent contain
soda. but most good soaps, and none
but the best should be used in the
kitchen. contain such small proper
ton that there is little danger of their
doing much injury 10 either hands or
paint.
Begin work by busting all the lodges
over the windows and doors. then the
panels and castings of doors and win
dows. There are many kinds of cloths
used for washing paint, but there is
nothing that does the work as we'll as
old flannel Old WORKOUT underfan-
nels should be put aside especially for
this purpose. Always use two cloths.
one for washing. the other to wipe
dry. The wash-cloth should be OF
flannel. and the dryer either clean
white flannel Or clean crash. Old cot
ton cloth is often used to wipe dry,
and where crash or flannel is not at
hand, it does very we'll, but it is not as
good in any way as the other cloths.
and should never be used in prefer
ence. Have wooden skewer and a
small flannel cloth to go into crevices
and corners Have a pail half full of
warm water, and with the flannel
wash-cloth go over the paint, using
some good soap Don't wet the cloth
so it will run down on the paint
thereby leaving streaks that will be
very difficult to obliterate. Wet the
cloth and wiring out not too dry, but
just enough to keep the water from
dripping.
Do not wash too large a space at
time. or there will be a difference no.
ticed when the paint is dry. Wipe
each piece first with the wash-cloth,
wrung out dry as possible. then wipe
Immediately. being careful to wipe
well where the spaces join. so there
will not be any dark mark between.
Before cleaning the paint it is best to
have the floor washed up clean and
thoroughly dry, SO that when doing
the mop boards and lower part of
doors the cloth will not smut the paint
in consequence of coming in contact
with a dusty floor. Have an old
thick mat upon which to set your pail
and cloths when not in use, and
the floor will not be covered with
little puddles of water, as is usually
the case where the pail sits on the
floor When the paint is thoroughly
dry and clean. rubbing it over with
whiting on soft cloth will give it
nice polish. Delicate shades of paint
that are not much soiled may be
cleaned by using a little whiting in
the water. Grained wood can be
cleaned nicely with tea, having it of
medium strength and we'll strained.
This will not remove the gloss, which
the use of soap will surely do. Am
monia in the water should never be
used for cleaning paint for. although
excellent as a cleanser, it gives the sur
face of the paint a dull, dead look. as
it removes the polish. Where the
room is to be repainted, ammonia
water will remove the dirt quicker.
and with less labor, than any thing
else. and will be found excellent for the
purpose. Boston Budget