The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-09-30
CARE. OF
: FURNITURE
Ways II Which Il May Be
Treated to Preserve
A Its Beauty

DIOlSeS anu btdihSs w
beautiful tones and ever
changing lights and shadows. fine fur
nlturc is an absolute JOY TO those on
the alert for wood effects. on tho other
hand, to tho eye OF tho careful observer
II may become o constant annoyance
and this from nothing else than pusc
neglect. Furniture. however we'll do
signed and made. however valuable
from association, is ruined In appear.
ance by dirt. scratches. stains, ink
marks, white water marks and the like.
Every ono knows or ought to know
that these are remediable defects. But
not every one knows how TO cure them.
All can learn, however, and am going
to give in this story the results OF my
own and other peoples experience In
keeping good furniture In condition
and restoring TO beauty that which has
been neglected.
Supposing the furniture to be sound
and clean. as things go, the ordinary
maids idea of cleaning is to give a
good rub up or TO use some kind Of
polishing paste or liquid. After this
treatment the furniture win LOOK
bright for awhile unless ono should
peer into the corners and find the
white dust hiding in crevice3 and por-
tions of holdings or carved work
Ali rubbing and polishing are labor In
the wrong place unless tho FIRST proc
ess of cleaning has been thore ughiy
carried out. There are many ways of
doing this. Some housekecpers use
cold tea vinegar and water in equal
~ ~ Ne
though my preference Is for the cold
tea, which seems TO cleanse moro Of
fectually than anything else. What
ever is used. II must not be swabbcd
all over the piece of furniture as if O
ships deck were being treated TO It's
morning bath, but with soft clean
cloths, dampenod with tho tea or what
ever is u-ed, and then rubbed all over
the surface and dried carefully at once.
The crevices and crannies are best
reached by tiny pad OF cotton on tho
end OF an orange stick or an old pen
holder II there Is much dirt to van
duish. II means very hard work. much
rubbing. much renewing of the tea
water Thus free tho article from
dirt and greaslness and subsequent poll
ishing VIII be an easier task and the
maj result a very great satisfaction.
Slight scratches may he removed By
being anointcd with linseed oil (bolledy
at night and then rubbed next day
with linseed oil and turpentino IN
equal proportions. II they are YER
deep they require professional treat
ment.
When the surface has not been
scratched, but bruised or indented. the
bruised part can be dampened with
warm water first and then a pad OF
brown paper folded many times, so
that IL conducts heat only slowly to
the wood below. is laid on the part to
be restored. tho paper being soaked
thoroughly in warm water before ap-
plication Now comes the critical part
of the operation. for an iron, warm,
but decidedly not hot, must be held
over the damp paper. The pressure
must not be hard, but the iron should
be kept In position until all moisture
has been evaporatcd. II this is done
directly bruise is observed, one ap-
plication is almost sure to raise the
surface of the wood up again, but old
bruises require several Treatments.
Immediate removal of Ink stains Is tho
obvious first aid to the injured wood,
but thore are stains of this nature that
are never detected until they have at
tanned a good old age. and then they
need careful management. A small
quantity of nitcr applied with cam
els hair brush will remove very OBJ
stinato aud hardened Ink stains six
drops OF the inter To "A tcgspoonful OF
water Is sufficient. applied until the
ink has dissolved aud disappeared.
Then rub the place with damp cloth
and polish with q soft duster
Worms In wood are almost imp0ssI- :
bic to cure, but they may be kept down
by the use of parafin applied to the
holes by a small brush. Badly worm
eaten furniture should be drenchcd
with paraiiin out OF doors Still. this l.,
dangerous process. and the best
method. after all. Is to get II treated
by a professional OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
that or get rid OF 1t.
To restore very badly neglected fur
niture. especially of the inlay variety,
the first process is to remove all the
polish with methylated spirit Next
rub with fine sandpaper until the
original wood is reached. have an
old bureau that for yeaSs Inhabited
tho attic and looked In its dlsgraced
state as IL II were ornamentec with dim
black scrolls. After II was treate 3
with methylated spirit and sandpaper
the lovely old tints of satin inlay were
found. and when polishing was done
the ramshaclsle looking inhabitant OF
the lumber room came down to bo ad
mired and loved In place of honor,
but It Involved much hard work. THE
polishing was done by wiping tho
whole surface with boiled linseed oil
In which little mastic varnish had
been dissolved each night and rubbing
II In and polishing ~ off each day for
a long time. Doubtless a professional
man would have done IT in shorter
time and by some occult method OF
his own. but no shop polished bureau
could have made the owner pur with
satisfaction as did this restored dere-
lict, and l can only end this story by
advising owners of similarly neglected
| treasures to go and do lfIxawiea