The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1888-07-07
CARE OF FURNITURE.
Helpful Hints and Suggestions for T1d
Housewives.

Helpful Hints and suggestions for Tidy
Housewives.
To keep the furniture looking well
and In good condition is within the
province of all housewives. In these
days there is little excuse for woman
allowing her furniture to look dilapi'
dated, for there are SO many things
that can be used to keep It looking
we'll. There is no necessity for having
brolsen-backed chair or rickety table,
since either can be so easily repaired.
It will take so little time to mend a
broken chair or table that the hardest
worked housewife can do 1t and scarce
ly miss the time so spent. All the
tools required for this work are bot
tie OF liquid glue and some strong cord.
Apply the glue to the broken parts
with brush that comes for that pur-
pose, bring them together, tie with the
cord to keep them in place, and put
away in cool place until the glue
hardens, which will take about a day.
When well hardened, any superiluous
glue on the outside of the break should
be wiped Off, and II the article is much
worn coat of varnish will make 1t al
most as good as new.
As old-fashioned furniture. more par
ticularly the table, is in such demand,
the fortunate possessor of such an arti-
Gle can, with little patience and time,
make an elegant piece of furniture. If
it is of vanished wood, and the surface
discolored, the most successful way OF
treating it is to first remove the var
nish, which can be done by rubbing it
over with alcohol until all is removed.
Then If the wood from which the arti-
Gle is made is oak, varnish it with
copal varnish, and it will be a stylish
piece of furniture for any room. Or,
If liked better, it may be stained in i'm
itation of any kind OF wood. To be
sure, it does not need to be of oak to be
tanned, as with few exceptions all
woods can be stained in imitation Of
the wood desired. AS red furniture is
so much in vogue, cherry is one of the
prettiect stains that can be used. Buy
the stain, which comes bottled all ready
Tor use, and apply to the wood as di-
rected. When the stain has thoroughly
dried in, go over the wood with copal
varnish. If instead of the varnish the
following oil is used as q finish, the
furniture will look much better. Take
linseed oil, and put it into glazed
piplin with as much alkanet root as it
will cover. Let boil gently and it will
become of strong red color; when
cool it will be fit for use. When APP
piled it should be well rubbed in until
dry polish results. This oil is ex-
cellent to keep red furniture in good
condition, but more particularly is it
applicable to stained wood. 1t can be
bottled ior use and applied whenever
needed.
Ink stains on mahogany or cherry
cause much annoyance to the house,
wife, as they seem to be so difficult to
remove. These may be taken out by
adding few drops of nitre to q tea
spoonful of water, dipping a feather
into the mixture and touching the spots
with it. When the stain disappears
rub the spot at once with cloth wet
with clear water, then dry and polish.
The washing and drying of the spot
after the removal of the stain is to pre-
vent u white mark appearing in its
place. When white spots appear on
mahogany they can be removed by rub
bing with alcohol. but do not apply the
alcohol to IL vanished surface unless
you wish the varnish removed. 1t will
take out the spot, but as the alcohol
acts as medium it will at the same
time soften the varnish so that the least
rubbing will take it off.
A good furniture dressing for use in
the household is made of one ounce of
turpentine and lump of asphaltum,
half the size of an egg; melt in a tin ON
tho stove, slowly, and when cool add
varnish until quite thin. Apply to the
furniture with varnish brush. After
cleaning Il room this dressing applied
to the furniture will keep it looking as
nice as any one could wish. Boston
Budget.