HINTS ON HOUSECLEANING
SOAP BOILING, ETC.
House cleaning should commence at the top of the house and work downwards. In this case it may be undertaken by spells, with intervening rests.
After the floors are cleaned, the walls and ceilings claim attention.
A very beautiful whitening for walls and ceilings may be made by shaking the best lime in hot water, covering up to keep in the steam, and straining the milk of lime through a fine sieve; add to a pailful half a pound of common alum, two pounds of sugar, three pints of rice-flour made into a thin, well-boiled paste, and one pound of white glue dissolved slowly over the fire. It should be applied with a paint-brush when warm.
Paint should be cleaned by using only a little water at a time and changing often; a soft flannel cloth or sponge is better than cotton or a brush; a piece of pine wood with a sharp point should be used for the corners. Where the paint is stained with smoke, some ashes or potash lye may be used. A soft linen towel should be used for wiping dry. Glass should not be cleaned with soap; a little paste of whiting and water should be rubbed over, and with another cloth it should be rinsed off, and the glass polished with a soft linen or old silk handkerchief. Alcohol or benzine is a good thing to clean glass, and clean paper is probably better than any cloth, sponge or towel; dry paper leaves an excellent polish. Marble may be cleaned with a mixture of two parts of common soda, one part of pumice stone, and one of chalk, finely powdered and tied up in a fine muslin rag; the marble is wetted with water, the powder shaken over it, and it is rubbed with a soft cloth until clean, then washed in clean water and dried with a soft linen or silk handkerchief. No soap or potash should be allowed on marble. A good furniture polish is made by melting two ounces of beeswax, one ounce of turpentine, and one dram of powdered rosin together, with a gentle heat, and rubbing on when cold, with a soft flannel cloth, and polishing with a soft linen or silk cloth. If for mahogany, a little Indian red may be used. Cracks in furniture may be filled with putty, mixed with Indian-red or burnt umber, to get the desired shade. When dry it will take an equal polish with the wood.
HARD SOAP FOR HOUSEHOLD PURPOSES. AGREEABLE AND CLEAN
To seven pound of tallow, or other clean grease, use three pounds of rosin, add six gallons of water to this, and stir in two pounds of potash; boil this together for five hours, then turn the soap, while hot, into a washtub and let it stay all night; when cool cut into bars, and lay on a board to harden. This quantity should be sufficient for a family of four persons for one year.
WASHING MIXTURE
An excellent and harmless washing mixture may be made by cutting up a large bar of soap and dissolving it with two ounces of borax in a half gallon of water. Boil the mixture till the soap is soft, and put it away to be used when required. There is nothing in it to take the color out of goods, and it saves labor and soap.
FRUIT STAINS
Fruit stains may often be removed from clothing by plunging the latter into boiling water, letting it remain immersed for a few minutes, and then washing it out in the ordinary way.
TO PREVENT GOODS FROM FADING
Drop into a pail of water a teaspoonful of sugar of lead, and let it dissolve. Soak the goods in this mixture for half an hour before washing them in the ordinary manner.
IVIES FOR INSIDE DECORATIONS
It is not generally known that the various evergreen ivies will grow and flourish to perfection in the shade, and that, therefore, any room may be most charmingly decorated with them. Such is the fact, however. Put the plants in large pots, filled with rich and mellow garden soil kept at a suitable regulation of moisture; and you will have no trouble about the matter. The vines may be trained on wire trellises fastened to the wall or ceiling; or upon any other convenient arrangement. In a treatise on this subject the Rural New Yorker says:
“It may also be stated that the room decorated with ivy should not be kept too warm, but at a moderate temperature; such as is most healthful for a person is the best. No one need to fear to make the room unhealthy by introducing the ivy in abundance; for plants purify the air, and it is only when we introduce those emitting strong odors that anything but beneficial effects result. As all ivies succeed well in the shade, they are more suitable for the purpose herein designated than almost any other kind of plant.
“There is also another plant largely used for this purpose, which is not a true ivy, although known as German ivy (Senecio scandens). It grows even more rapidly than any of the true ivies (Hedera), and we have seen a small plant grow so fast that it encircled quite a large room in a few weeks. It thrives well in the shade, and the leaves resemble somewhat the common English ivy, but are of a lighter and more cheerful green color. This and a great variety of ivies are grown for sale by our florists.”