Evening star., 1923-03-16

y ARNISH. shellac. wax, oil and
paint are used IN finishing
" floors and vary not only i'll
appearance, but III the way
they wear and the amount of labor
needed to apply and keep them in
order. Wax and varniSh are more
suitable to use in living room, dining
room and bedroom. while oil and
paint being less likely to be dam
aged by water. are better for kitchen,
pantries and other places where water
is likely TO be spilled
Before beginning to treat Il floor
IN any way it Is Il good plan to go
over all the woodwork in Il room with
varnish. unless you intend to use
white paint or enamel to match the
furniture in the room. 4 complete e
undercoating Of paint must be applied
before putting on enamel. THIS outer
coat of enamel is given as a surface
finish.
If your floors are more or less old
and have cracks, first give them d
smooth. sanitary surface by filling up
the cracks. then apply your varnish
sor other finishing. Don't forget. when
vanishing or staining floor, to be-
gin work OH the side farthest from
the room. or YOU viii find yourself
obliged to track over the wet floor to
get out
Floors that have been varnished
will retain their color and brightness
better If no water is used on them
hut if very dirty they can be wiped
with a cloth or mop wrung out of
warm. sOapy water, wiped dry at once.
shen polished with an oiled cloth. A
slightly worn vanished floor can
he q
scratches with a soft cloth dampened
with linseed oil, or. if necessary, they
may be sandpapered out and a fresh
coat of varnish applied. If var
nished floor is badly worn the best
way to renew it Is to first remove
all the old finish possible and start
anew. IT is most satisfactory to have
the scraping done by an expert who
has the right tools and knows just
how to treat different woods.
fresh coat of paint may be APP
piled to a floor that has previously
been painted but has become sha bly,
or if YOU prefer, the paint may be
entirely removed and the floor finish
cd in some other way if liked better
A soiled waXed floor can easily be
renovated If the floor is not in
bad condition. rubbing with IL cloth
satuated with turpentine or gasoline
will brighten it. then a fresh coat of
wax can be applied.
FresheninE Up Furniture.
When looking over the furniture
that is to go back into a finished
room, scarcely a piece will be found
that could not be improved by either
stain, oil, or varniSh. The same is
also true in regard to the woodwork
in a room, including doors and mold
ings. They Hill probably need
freshening up to match the floors.
To many people the smell of paint
and Varnlsh is very objectiona Bile.
vet it is not always possible to be
away from home when renovating is
being carried on. When painting is
being done in a house, special at
tention should be paid to ventilation.
Fresh air from the outside will more
quickly deodoriZe paint than anything
else. Pals of water placed in rooms
which have been newly painted will
clear the air quickly of the offensive
smell. To get the best effect, fresh
water should be put into the pals
every half hour. If hay can be OBJ
tanned, this is d splendid thing for
removing paint odor. A handful put
into dish of water will clear away
the smell with astonishing rapidity.
Never use soda to clean painted
woodwork. and only Il very little
soap. Do not put anything moist on
paint until il has first been thorough
ly busted. If you do. some ugly
smears will be likely to remain. In
stead of trying to wash pencil marks
away, first rub them very gently
with a dry crust of bread before ap-
plying water. An easy way to
clean dark colored paint on doors Is
to take IL pail of clean warm water
and pour a. little paraffin into 1t and
then wash the paint all over, working
downwards, with piece of old Turk
ish toweling. Then dry with a piece
of clean cloth and polish with a sub
stantial duster. To attempt to clean
such paint by hard rubbing is a mis-
take. II does not need it, and will
only be rubbed away.
Floor Coverings and Their Care.
Smoothly finished floors and re-
movable rugs are the pride of the
housewife. The appearance of floor