American Woman's Home: Or, Principles of Domestic Science;: Being a Guide to the Formation and Maintenance of Economical, Healthful, Beautiful, and Christian HomesStowe, Harriet Beecher
Religion
American Woman's Home: Or, Principles of Domestic Science;: Being a Guide to the Formation and Maintenance of Economical, Healthful, Beautiful, and Christian Homes
Stowe, Harriet Beecher
Home economics
Varnished furniture should be rubbed only with silk, except
occasionally, when a little sweet-oil should be rubbed over, and wiped
off carefully. For unvarnished furniture, use bees-wax, a little
softened with sweet-oil; rub it in with a hard brush, and polish with
woolen and silk rags. Some persons rub in linseed-oil; others mix
bees-wax with a little spirits of turpentine and rosin, making it so
that it can be put on with a sponge, and wiped off with a soft rag.
Others keep in a bottle the following mixture: two ounces of spirits
of turpentine, four table-spoonfuls of sweet-oil, and one quart of
milk. This is applied with a sponge, and wiped off with a linen rag.
Hearths and jambs, of brick, look best painted over with black lead,
mixed with soft-soap. Wash the bricks which are nearest the fire with
redding and milk, using a painter's brush. A sheet of zinc, covering
the whole hearth, is cheap, saves work, and looks very well. A tinman
can fit it properly.
Stone hearths should be rubbed with a paste of powdered stone, (to be
procured of the stone-cutters,) and then brushed with a stiff brush.
Kitchen hearths, of stone, are improved by rubbing in lamp-oil.
Stains can be removed from marble, by oxalic acid and water, or oil
of vitriol and water, left on a few minutes, and then rubbed dry. Gray
marble is improved by linseed-oil. Grease can be taken from marble,
by ox-gall and potter's clay wet with soapsuds, (a gill of each.) It
is better to add, also, a gill of spirits of turpentine. It improves
the looks of marble, to cover it with this mixture, leaving it two
days, and then rubbing it off.
Unless a parlor is in constant use, it is best to sweep it only once
a week, and at other times use a whisk-broom and dust-pan. When a
parlor with handsome furniture is to be swept, cover the sofas, centre
table, piano, books, and mantelpiece with old cottons kept for the
purpose. Remove the rugs and shake them, and clean the jambs, hearth,
and fire-furniture. Then sweep the room, moving every article. Dust
the furniture with a dust-brush and a piece of old silk. A painter's
brush should be kept, to remove dust from ledges and crevices. The
dust-cloths should be often shaken and washed, or else they will soil
the walls and furniture when they are used. Dust ornaments and fine
books with feather brushes, used for no other purpose.
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