POLISHES

Polishes For Aluminum.

II.—Aluminum is susceptible of taking a beautiful polish, but it is not white like that of silver or nickel, rather slightly bluish, like tin. The shade can be improved. First, the grease is to be removed from the object with pumice stone. Then, for polishing, use is made of an emery paste mingled with tallow, forming cakes which are rubbed on the polishing brushes. Finally, rouge powder is employed with oil of turpentine.

Polishes For Bars, Counters, Etc.

I.—	Linseed oil	8 ounces
	Stale ale	8 ounces
	Hydrochloric acid	1 ounce
	Alcohol, 95 per cent	1 ounce
	White of 1 egg.

Mix. Shake before using. Clean out the dust, dirt, etc., using an appropriate brush, or a bit of cloth wrapped around a stick, then apply the above, with a soft brush, or a bit of cotton wrapped in a bit of silk—or, in fact, any convenient method of applying it.

II.—	Japan wax	1 av. ounce
	Oil of turpentine	3 fluidounces
	Linseed oil	16 fluidounces
	Alcohol	3 fluidounces
	Solution of potash	1 ¹/₂ fluidounces
	Water to make 32 fluidounces.

Dissolve the wax in the turpentine, add the other ingredients, diluting the potash solution with the water before adding to the other ingredients, and stir briskly until well mixed.

Polishes For Brass, Bronze, Copper, Etc.

Objects of polished copper, bronze, brass, and other alloys of copper tarnish through water and it is sometimes necessary to give them again their bright appearance. Pickle the articles in an acid bath; wash them next in a neutral bath; dry them, and subsequently rub them with a polishing powder. Such is the general formula; the processes indicated below are but variants adapted to divers cases and recommended by disinterested experimenters:

Sharp Polishes.

I.—	Quartz sand, powdered and levigated	20 parts
	Paris red	30 parts
	Vaseline	50 parts
	Mix intimately and make a pomade.
II.—	Emery flour, finest levigated	50 parts
	Paris red	50 parts
	Mutton suet	40 parts
	Oleic acid	40 parts
III.—	Levigated emery powder	100 parts
	Anhydrous sodium carbonate	5 parts
	Tallow soap	20 parts
	Water	100 parts

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Copper Articles.

Bronze Articles.

Highly Oxidized Bronzes.

Polishes For Floors.

I.—Throw a handful of permanganate potash crystals into a pail of boiling water, and apply the mixture as hot as possible to the floor with a large flat brush. If the stain produced is not dark enough, apply one or two more coats as desired, leaving each wash to dry thoroughly before applying another. If it is desired to polish the surface with beeswax, a coat of size should be applied to the boards before staining, as this gives depth and richness to the color. After 3 or 4 days, polish well with a mixture of turpentine and beeswax. A few cents will cover the cost of both size and permanganate of potash.

II.—	Potash	1 part
	Water	4 parts
	Yellow beeswax	5 parts
	Hot water, a sufficient quantity.

Emulsify the wax by boiling it in the water in which the potash has been dissolved; stir the whole time. The exact amount of boiling is determined by the absence of any free water in the mass. Then remove the vessel from the fire, and gently pour in a little boiling water, and stir the mixture carefully. If a fat-like mass appears without traces of watery particles, one may know the mass is in a fit condition to be liquefied by the addition of more hot water without the water separating. Then put in the water to the extent of 200 to 225 parts, and reheat the compound for 5 to 10 minutes, without allowing it to reach the boiling point. Stir constantly until the mixture is cool, so as to prevent the separation of the wax, when a cream-like mass results which gives a quick and brilliant polish on woodwork, if applied in the usual way, on a piece of flannel rag, and polished by rubbing with another piece of flannel.

Colored Floor Polishes.

Nut Brown.—I.—Natural umber, ¹/₂ part; burnt umber, 1 part; and yellow ocher, 1 part, gives a fine red-brown color when incorporated with the same wax and soda mixture.

II.—Treat 5 pounds of wax with 15 pounds of caustic soda lye of 3° Bé. so that a uniform wax milk results; boil with ¹/₂ pound of annatto, 3 pounds of yellow ocher, and 2 pounds of burnt umber.

Mahogany Brown.—Boil 5 pounds of wax with 15 pounds of caustic soda lye as above. Then add 7 pounds of burnt umber very finely powdered, making it into a uniform mass by boiling again.

Yellow Ocher.—The wax milk obtained as above is boiled with 5 pounds of yellow ocher.

The mass on cooling has the consistency of a salve. If it is to be used for rubbing the floor it is stirred with sufficient boiling water so as to form a fluid of the consistency of thin syrup or oil. This is applied very thin on the floor, using a brush; then it is allowed to dry only half way, and is rubbed with a stiff floor brush. The polishing is continued with a woolen rag until a mirror-like gloss is obtained. It is best not to paint the whole room and then brush, but the deals should be taken one after the other, otherwise the coating would become too dry and give too dull a luster. The floors thus treated with gloss paste are very beautiful. To keep them in this condition they should be once in a while rubbed with a woolen rag, and if necessary the color has to be renewed in places. If there are parquet floors whose patterns are not to be covered up, the ocher (yellow) paste or, better still, the pure wax milk is used.

French Polish.

Polishes For Furniture.

First make a paste to fill cracks as follows: Whiting, plaster of Paris, pumice stone, litharge, equal parts; japan dryer, boiled linseed oil, turpentine, coloring matter of sufficient quantity. Rub the solids intimately with a mixture of 1 part of the japan, 2 parts of the linseed oil, and 3 parts of turpentine, coloring to suit with Vandyke brown or sienna. Lay the filling on with a brush, let it set for about 20 minutes, and then rub off clean except where it is to remain. In 2 or 3 days it will be hard enough to polish.

After the surface has been thus prepared, the application of a coat of first-class copal varnish is in order. It is recommended that the varnish be applied in a moderately warm room, as it is injured by becoming chilled in drying. To get the best results in varnishing, some skill and experience are required. The varnish must be kept in an evenly warm temperature, and put on neither too plentifully nor too gingerly.

After a satisfactorily smooth and regular surface has been obtained, the polishing proper may be done. This may be accomplished by manual labor and dexterity, or consist in the application of a very thin, even coat of a very fine, transparent varnish.

If the hand-polishing method be preferred, it may be pursued by rubbing briskly and thoroughly with the following finishing polish:

I.—	Alcohol	8 ounces
	Shellac	2 drachms
	Gum benzoin	2 drachms
	Best poppy oil	2 drachms

Dissolve the shellac and gum in the alcohol in a warm place, with frequent agitation, and, when cold, add the poppy oil. This may be applied on the end of a cylindrical rubber made by tightly rolling a piece of flannel which has been torn, not cut, into strips 4 to 6 inches wide.

A certain “oily sweating” of articles of polished wood occurs which has been ascribed to the oil used in polishing, but has been found to be due to a waxy substance present in shellac, which is often used in polishing. During the operation of polishing, this wax enters into close combination with the oil, forming a soft, greasy mass, which prevents the varnish from ever becoming really hard. This greasy matter exudes in the course of time. The remedy is to use only shellac from which the vegetable wax has been completely removed. This is accomplished by making a strong solution of the shellac in alcohol and then shaking it up with fresh seed lac or filtering it through seed lac. In this way the readily soluble rosins in the seed lac are dissolved, and with them traces of coloring matter. At the same time the vegetable wax, which is only slightly soluble, is deposited. The shellac solution which has exchanged its vegetable wax for rosin is not yet suitable for fine furniture polishing. It is not sufficiently taken up by the wood, and an essential oil must be added to give it the necessary properties, one of the best oils to employ for this purpose being that of rosemary. The following recipe is given:

II.—Twenty pounds of shellac and 4 pounds of benzoin are dissolved in the smallest possible quantity of alcohol, together with 1 pound of rosemary oil. The solution then obtained is filtered through seed lac so as to remove whatever vegetable wax may be present.

Red Furniture Paste.—

Soft water	6 pints
Turpentine	6 pints
Beeswax	3 pounds
White wax	1 ¹/₂ ounces
White soap	18 ounces
Red lead	12 ounces

Cut up soap and dissolve in water by aid of heat; then evaporate to 6 pounds. Melt the waxes and add turpentine in which red lead has been stirred, pour into this the soap solution, and stir until it is nearly cold. If a darker color is wanted add more red lead, 4 to 6 ounces.

Beechwood Furniture.

Polishes For Glass.

II.—Crush to powder cologne chalk, 60 parts, by weight; tripoli, 30 parts, by weight; bole, 15 parts, by weight. For use moisten the glass a little, dip a linen rag into the powder and rub the glass until it is clean.

III.—Tin ashes may be employed with advantage. The glass is rubbed with this substance and then washed off with a piece of soft felt. In this manner a very handsome polish is obtained.

Polishes For Ivory, Bone, Etc.

II.—Tortoise-shell articles have a way of getting dull and dingy looking. To repolish dip the finger in linseed oil and rub over the whole surface. Very little oil should be used, and if the article is a patterned one it may be necessary to use a soft brush to get it into the crevices. Then rub with the palm of the hand until all oil has disappeared, and the shell feels hot and looks bright and shiny.

Marble Polishing.

This mastic is usually composed of a mixture of yellow wax, rosin, and Burgundy pitch, mixed with a little sulphur and plaster passed through a fine sieve, which gives it the consistency of a thick paste; to color this paste to a tone analogous to the ground tints or natural cement of the material upon which it is placed, lampblack and rouge, with a little of the prevailing color of the material, are added. For green and red marbles, this mastic is sometimes made of gum lac, mixed with Spanish sealing wax of the color of the marble. It is applied with pincers, and these parts are polished with the rest. Sometimes crushed fragments of marble are introduced into the cement, but for fine marbles the same colors are employed which are used in painting, and which will produce the same tone as the ground; the gum lac is added to give it body and brilliancy.

The third operation in polishing consists in rubbing it again with a hard pumice stone, under which water is being constantly poured, unmixed with sand. For the fourth process, called {594} softening the ground, lead filings are mixed with the emery mud produced by the polishing of mirrors or the working of precious stones, and the marble is rubbed by a compact linen cushion well saturated with this mixture; rouge is also used for this polish. For some outside works, and for hearths and paving tiles, marble workers confine themselves to this polish. When the marbles have holes or grains, a lead muller is substituted for the linen cushion. In order to give a perfect brilliancy to the polish, the gloss is applied. Wash well the prepared surfaces and leave them until perfectly dry, then take a linen cushion, moistened only with water, and a little powder of calcined tin of the first quality. After rubbing with this for some time take another cushion of dry rags, rub with it lightly, brush away any foreign substance which might scratch the marble, and a perfect polish will be obtained. A little alum mixed with the water used penetrates the pores of the marble, and gives it a speedier polish. This polish spots very easily and is soon tarnished and destroyed by dampness. It is necessary when purchasing articles of polished marbles to subject them to the test of water; if there is too much alum, the marble absorbs the water and a whitish spot is left.

Polishing Powders.

Polishing powders are advantageously prepared according to the following recipes:

I.—Four pounds magnesium carbonate, 4 pounds chalk, and 4 pounds rouge are intimately mixed.

II.—Four pounds magnesium carbonate are mixed with ¹/₄ pound fine rouge.

III.—Five pounds fine levigated whiting and 2 pounds Venetian red are ground together.

IV.—	Kieselguhr	42 pounds
	Putty powder	14 pounds
	Pipe clay	14 pounds
	Tartaric acid	1 ¹/₂ pounds

Powder the acid, mix well with the others. This is styled “free from mercury, poisonous mineral acids, alkalies, or grit.” It may be tinted with 12 ounces of oxide of iron if desired.

Liquid Polishes.—

I.—	Malt vinegar	4 gallons
	Lemon juice	1 gallon
	Paraffine oil	1 gallon
	Kieselguhr	7 pounds
	Powdered bath brick	3 pounds
	Oil lemon	2 ounces
II.—	Kieselguhr	56 pounds
	Paraffine oil	3 gallons
	Methylated spirit	1 ¹/₂ gallons
	Camphorated spirit	¹/₂ gallon
	Turpentine oil	¹/₂ gallon
	Liquid ammonia fort	3 pints
III.—	Rotten stone	16 av. ounces
	Paraffine	8 av. ounces
	Kerosene (coal oil)	16 fluidounces
	Oil of mirbane enough to perfume.

Melt the paraffine, incorporate the rotten stone, add the kerosene, and the oil of mirbane when cold.

IV.—	Oxalic acid	¹/₂ av. ounce
	Rotten stone	10 av. ounces
	Kerosene (coal oil)	30 fluidounces
	Paraffine	2 av. ounces

Pulverize the oxalic acid and mix it with rotten stone; melt the paraffine, add to it the kerosene, and incorporate the powder; when cool, add oil of mirbane or lavender to perfume.

Pour the ammonia into the oil, methylated spirits, and turpentine, add the camphorated spirit and mix with the kieselguhr. To prevent setting, keep well agitated during filling. The color may be turned red by using a little sesquioxide of iron and less kieselguhr. Apply with a cloth, and when dry use another clean cloth or a brush.

Polishing Soaps.—

I.—	Powdered pipe clay	112 pounds
	Tallow soap	16 pounds
	Tartaric acid	1 ¹/₄ pounds

Grind until pasty, afterwards press into blocks by the machine.

II.—	Levigated flint	60 pounds
	Whiting	52 pounds
	Tallow	20 pounds
	Caustic soda	5 pounds
	Water	2 gallons

Dissolve the soda in water and add to the tallow; when saponified, stir in the others, pressing as before.

III.—	Saponified cocoanut oil	56 pounds
	Kieselguhr	12 pounds
	Alum	5 ¹/₂ pounds
	Flake white	5 ¹/₂ pounds
	Tartaric acid	1 ³/₄ pounds

Make as before.

IV.—	Tallow soap	98 pounds
	Liquid glycerine soap	14 pounds
	Whiting	18 pounds
	Levigated flint	14 pounds
	Powdered pipe clay	14 pounds

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Metal Polishes:

Polishing Pastes.—

I.—	White petroleum jelly	90 pounds
	Kieselguhr	30 pounds
	Refined paraffine wax	10 pounds
	Refined chalk or whiting	10 pounds
	Sodium hyposulphite	8 pounds

Melt wax and jelly, stir in others and grind.

It is an undecided point as to whether a scented paste is better than one without perfume. The latter is added merely to hide the nasty smell of some of the greases used, and it is not very nice to have spoons, etc., smelling, even tasting, of mirbane, so perhaps citronelle is best for this purpose. It is likely to be more pure. The dose of scent is usually at the rate of 4 ounces to the hundredweight.

II.—	Dehydrated soda	5 parts
	Curd soap	20 parts
	Emery flour	100 parts

To be stirred together on a water bath with water, 100 parts, until soft.

III.—	Turpentine	1 part
	Emery flour	1 part
	Paris red	2 parts
	Vaseline	2 parts

Mix well and perfume.

IV.—	Stearine	8 to 9 parts
	Mutton suet	32 to 38 parts
	Stearine oil	2 to 2.5 parts

Melt together and mix with Vienna chalk, in fine powder, 48 to 60 parts; Paris red, 20 parts.

V.—	Rotten stone	1 part
	Iron subcarbonate	3 parts
	Lard oil, a sufficient quantity.
VI.—	Iron oxide	10 parts
	Pumice stone	32 parts
	Oleic acid, a sufficient quantity.
VII.—	Soap, cut fine	16 parts
	Precipitated chalk	2 parts
	Jewelers’ rouge	1 part
	Cream of tartar	1 part
	Magnesium carbonate	1 part
	Water, a sufficient quantity.

Dissolve the soap in the smallest quantity of water over a water bath. Add the other ingredients to the solution while still hot, stirring all the time to make sure of complete homogeneity. Pour the mass into a box with shallow sides, and afterwards cut into cubes.

Non-explosive Liquid Metal Polish.

Miscellaneous Metal Polishes.

II.—This is recommended for machinery by the chemical laboratory of the industrial museum of Batavia:

Oil of turpentine	15 parts
Oil of stearine	25 parts
Jewelers’ red	25 parts
Animal charcoal, of superior quality	45 parts

Alcohol is added to that mixture in such a quantity as to render it almost liquid, then by means of a brush it is put on those parts that are to be polished. When the alcohol has dried, the remaining cover is rubbed with a mixture of 45 parts of animal charcoal and 25 parts jewelers’ red. The rubbed parts will become quite clean and bright.

III.—The ugly spots which frequently show themselves on nickel-plated objects may be easily removed with a mixture of 1 part sulphuric acid and 50 parts alcohol. Coat the spots with this solution, wipe off after a few seconds, rinse off thoroughly with clean water, and rub dry with sawdust.

IV.—Crocus, dried and powdered, when applied with chamois leather to nickel-plated goods, will restore their brilliancy without injuring their surface.

V.—Articles of tin should be ground {596} and polished with Vienna lime or Spanish white. The former may be spread on linen rags, the latter on wash leather. Good results may be obtained by a mixture of about equal parts of Vienna lime, chalk, and tripoli. It should be moistened with alcohol, and applied with a brush. Subsequent rubbing with roe skin (chamois) will produce a first-rate polish. Tin being a soft metal, the above polishing substances may be very fine.

VI.—To polish watch cases, take two glasses with large openings, preferably two preserving jars with ground glass covers. Into one of the glass vessels pour 1 part of spirit of sal ammoniac and 3 parts water, adding a little ordinary barrel soap and stirring everything well. Fill the other glass one half with alcohol. Now lay the case to be cleaned, with springs and all, into the first-named liquid and allow to remain therein for about 10 to 20 seconds. After protracted use this time may be extended to several minutes. Now remove the case, quickly brush it with water and soap and lay for a moment into the alcohol in the second vessel. After drying off with a clean cloth heat over a soldering flame for quick drying and the case will now look almost as clean and neat as a new one. The only thing that may occur is that a polished metal dome may become tarnished, but this will only happen if either the mixture is too strong or the case remains in it too long, both of which can be easily avoided with a little practice. Shake before using.

VII.—This is a cleanser as well as polisher:

Prepared chalk	2 parts
Water of ammonia	2 parts
Water sufficient to make	8 parts

The ammonia saponifies the grease usually present.

It must be pointed out that the alkali present makes this preparation somewhat undesirable to handle, as it will affect the skin if allowed too free contact.

The density of the liquid might be increased by the addition of soap; the solid would, of course, then remain longer in suspension.

VIII.—Serviettes Magiques.—These fabrics for polishing articles of metal consist of pure wool saturated with soap and tripoli, and dyed with a little coralline. They are produced by dissolving 4 parts of Marseilles soap in 20 parts of water, adding 2 parts of tripoli and saturating a piece of cloth 3 inches long and 4 inches wide with it, allowing to dry.

IX.—In order to easily produce a mat polish on small steel articles use fine powdered oil stone, ground with turpentine.

Polishes For Pianos.—

I.—	Alcohol, 95 per cent	300 parts
	Benzol	700 parts
	Gum benzoin	8 parts
	Sandarac	16 parts

Mix and dissolve. Use as French polish.

II.—	Beeswax	2,500 parts
	Potassium carbonate	25 parts
	Oil of turpentine	4,000 parts
	Water, rain or distilled	4,500 parts

Dissolve the potassium carbonate in 1,500 parts of the water and in the solution boil the wax, shaved up, until the latter is partially saponified, replacing the water as it is driven off by evaporation. When this occurs remove from the fire and stir until cold. Now add the turpentine little by little, and under constant agitation, stirring until a smooth, homogeneous emulsion is formed. When this occurs add the remainder of the water under constant stirring. If a color is wanted use alkanet root, letting it macerate in the oil of turpentine before using the latter (about an ounce to the quart is sufficient). This preparation is said to be one of the best polishes known. The directions are very simple: First wash the surface to be polished, rinse, and dry. Apply the paste as evenly and thinly as possible over a portion of the surface, then rub off well with a soft woolen cloth.

Polishes For Silverware.

I.—	White lead	5 parts
	Chalk, levigated	20 parts
	Magnesium carbonate	2 parts
	Aluminum oxide	5 parts
	Silica	3 parts
	Jewelers’ rouge	2 parts

Each of the ingredients must be reduced to an impalpable powder, mixed carefully, and sifted through silk several {597} times to secure a perfect mixture, and to avoid any possibility of leaving in the powder anything that might scratch the silver or gold surface. This may be left in the powder form, or incorporated with soap, made into a paste with glycerine, or other similar material. The objection to mixtures with vaseline or greasy substances is that after cleaning the object must be scrubbed with soap and water, while with glycerine simple rinsing and running water instantly cleans the object. The following is also a good formula:

II.—	Chalk, levigated	2 parts
	Oil of turpentine	4 parts
	Stronger ammonia water	4 parts
	Water	10 parts

Mix the ammonia and oil of turpentine by agitation, and rub up the chalk in the mixture. Finally rub in the water gradually or mix by agitation. Three parts each of powdered tartaric acid and chalk with 1 part of powdered alum make a cheap and quick silver cleaning powder.

III.—Mix 2 parts of beechwood ashes with ⁴/₁₀₀ of a part of Venetian soap and 2 parts of common salt in 8 parts of rain water. Brush the silver with this, using a pretty stiff brush. A solution of crystallized permanganate of potash is often recommended, or even the spirits of hartshorn, for removing the grayish violet film which forms upon the surface of the silver. Finally, when there are well-determined blemishes upon the surface of the silver, they may be soaked 4 hours in soapmakers’ lye, then cover them with finely powdered gypsum which has been previously moistened with vinegar, drying well before a fire; now rub them with something to remove the powder. Finally, they are to be rubbed again with very dry bran.

Polishes For Steel And Iron.

The polishing of steel must always be preceded by a thorough smoothing, either with oilstone dust, fine emery, or coarse rouge. If any lines are left to be erased by means of fine rouge, the operation becomes tedious and is rarely successful. The oilstone dust is applied on an iron or copper polisher. When it is desired to preserve the angles sharp, at a shoulder, for instance, the polisher should be of steel. When using diamantine an iron polisher, drawn out and flattened with a hammer, answers very well. With fine rouge, a bronze or bell-metal polisher is preferable for shoulders; and for flat surfaces, discs or large zinc or tin polishers, although glass is preferable to either of these. After each operation with oilstone dust, coarse rouge, etc., the polisher, cork, etc., must be changed, and the object should be cleaned well, preferably by soaping, perfect cleanliness being essential to success. Fine rouge or diamantine should be made into a thick paste with oil; a little is then taken on the polisher or glass and worked until quite dry. As the object is thus not smeared over, a black polish is more readily obtained, and the process gets on better if the surface be cleaned from time to time.

For Fine Steel.

For polishing and cleaning fenders, fireirons, horses’ bits, and similar articles: Fifty-six pounds Bridgewater stone; 28 pounds flour emery; 20 pounds rotten stone; 8 pounds whiting. Grind and mix well.

To make iron take a bright polish like steel, pulverize and dissolve in 1 quart of hot water, 1 ounce of blue vitriol; 1 ounce of borax; 1 ounce of prussiate of potash; 1 ounce of charcoal; ¹/₂ pint of salt, all of which is to be added to one gallon of linseed oil and thoroughly mixed. To apply, bring the iron or steel to the proper heat and cool in the solution.

Stove Polish.

I.—	Ceresine	12 parts
	Japan wax	10 parts
	Turpentine oil	100 parts
	Lampblack, best	12 parts
	Graphite, levigated	10 parts

Melt the ceresine and wax together, remove from the fire, and when half {598} cooled off add and stir in the graphite and lampblack, previously mixed with the turpentine.

II.—	Ceresine	23 parts
	Carnauba wax	5 parts
	Turpentine oil	220 parts
	Lampblack	300 parts
	Graphite, finest levigated	25 parts

Mix as above.

III.—Make a mixture of water glass and lampblack of about the consistency of thin syrup, and another of finely levigated plumbago and mucilage of Soudan gum (or other cheap substitute for gum arabic), of a similar consistency. After getting rid of dust, etc., go over the stove with mixture No. 1 and let it dry on, which it will do in about 24 hours. Now go over the stove with the second mixture, a portion of the surface at a time, and as this dries, with an old blacking brush give it a polish. If carefully done the stove will have a polish resembling closely that of new Russian iron. A variant of this formula is as follows: Mix the graphite with the water glass to a smooth paste; add, for each pound of paste, 1 ounce of glycerine and a few grains of aniline black. Apply to the stove with a stiff brush.

Polishes For Wood:

See also Polishes for Furniture, Floors and Pianos.

In the usual method of French polishing, the pad must be applied along curved lines, and with very slight pressure, if the result is to be uniform. To do this requires much practice and the work is necessarily slow. Another disadvantage is that the oil is apt to sweat out afterwards, necessitating further treatment. According to a German patent all difficulty can be avoided by placing between the rubber and its covering a powder composed of clay or loam, or better, the powder obtained by grinding fragments of terra cotta or of yellow bricks. The powder is moistened with oil for use. The rubber will then give a fine polish, without any special delicacy of manipulation and with mere backward and forward rubbing in straight lines, and the oil will not sweat out subsequently. Another advantage is that no priming is wanted, as the powder fills up the pores. The presence of the powder also makes the polish adhere more firmly to the wood.

Oak Wood Polish.

Hard Wood Polish.

The polish is the same as for soft wood. The simplest method of applying wax is by a heated iron, scraping off the surplus, and then rubbing with a cloth. It is evident that this method is especially laborious; and for that reason solution of the wax is desirable. It may be dissolved rather freely in turpentine spirit, and is said to be soluble also in kerosene oil.

The following recipes give varnish-like polishes:

I.—Dissolve 15 parts of shellac and 15 parts of sandarac in 180 parts of spirit of wine. Of this liquid put some on a ball of cloth waste and cover with white linen moistened with raw linseed oil. The wood to be polished is rubbed with this by the well-known circular motion. When the wood has absorbed sufficient polish, a little spirit of wine is added to the polish, and the rubbing is continued. The polished articles are said to sustain no damage by water, nor show spots or cracks.

II.—Orange shellac, 3 parts; sandarac, 1 part; dissolved in 30 parts of alcohol. For mahogany add a little dragon’s blood.

III.—Fifteen parts of oil of turpentine, dyed with anchusine, or undyed, and 4 parts of scraped yellow wax are stirred into a uniform mass by heating on the water bath. {599}

IV.—Melt 1 part of white wax on the water bath, and add 8 parts of petroleum. The mixture is applied hot. The petroleum evaporates and leaves behind a thin layer of wax, which is subsequently rubbed out lightly with a dry cloth rag.

V.—	Stearine	100 parts
	Yellow wax	25 parts
	Caustic potash	60 parts
	Yellow laundry soap	10 parts
	Water, a sufficient quantity.
Heat together until a homogeneous mixture is formed.
VI.—	Yellow wax	25 parts
	Yellow laundry soap	6 parts
	Glue	12 parts
	Soda ash	25 parts
	Water, a sufficient quantity.

Dissolve the soda in 400 parts of water, add the wax, and boil down to 250 parts, then add the soap. Dissolve the glue in 100 parts of hot water, and mix the whole with the saponified wax.

VII.—This is waterproof. Put into a stoppered bottle 1 pint alcohol; 2 ounces gum benzoin; ¹/₄ ounce gum sandarac, and ¹/₄ ounce gum anime. Put the bottle in a sand bath or in hot water till the solids are dissolved, then strain the solution, and add ¹/₄ gill best clear poppy oil. Shake well and the polish is ready for use.

VIII.—A white polish for wood is made as follows:

White lac	1 ¹/₂ pounds
Powdered borax	1 ounce
Alcohol	3 pints

The lac should be thoroughly dried, especially if it has been kept under water, and, in any case, after being crushed, it should be left in a warm place for a few hours, in order to remove every trace of moisture. The crushed lac and borax are then added to the spirit, and the mixture is stirred frequently until solution is effected, after which the polish should be strained through muslin.

IX.—To restore the gloss of polished wood which has sweated, prepare a mixture of 100 parts of linseed oil, 750 parts of ether, 1,000 parts of rectified oil of turpentine, and 1,000 parts of petroleum benzine, perfumed, if desired, with a strongly odorous essential oil, and colored, if required, with cuicuma, orlean, or alkanna. The objects to be treated are rubbed thoroughly with this mixture, using a woolen rag.

Miscellaneous Polishing Agents:

Polishing Agent Which May Also Be Used For Gilding And Silvering.

Silver Polishing Balls.

To Prepare Polishing Cloths.

Castile soap, white	4 parts
Jewelers’ red	2 parts
Water	20 parts

Mix. One ounce of this mixture will answer for a cloth 12 inches square, where several of them are saturated at the same time. For the workshop, a bit of chamois skin of the same size (a foot square), is preferable to wool, on account of its durability. After impregnation with the soap solution, it should be dried in the air, being manipulated while drying to preserve its softness and suppleness.

To Polish Delicate Objects.

Polish For Gilt Frames.

Steel Dust As A Polishing Agent.

Polishing Bricks.

Polishing Cream.—

Denaturized alcohol	400 parts
Spirit of sal ammoniac	75 parts
Water	150 parts
Petroleum ether	80 parts
Infusorial earth	100 parts
Red bole or white bole	50 parts
Calcium carbonate	100 parts

Add as much of the powders as desired. Mirbane oil may be used for scenting.

Polishing Paste.—

Infusorial earth (Kieselguhr)	8 ounces
Paraffine	2 ounces
Lubricating oil	6 fluidounces
Oleic acid	1 fluidounce
Oil mirbane	30 minims

Melt the paraffine with the lubricating oil, and mix with the infusorial earth, then add the oleic acid and oil of mirbane.

To Polish Paintings On Wood.

Polishing Mediums.

For copper, brass, German silver, and tombac, stearine oil and Vienna lime are used. Articles of brass can be polished, after the pickling, in the lathe with employment of a polish consisting of shellac, dissolved in alcohol, 1,000 parts; powdered turmeric, 1,000 parts; tartar, 2,000 parts; ox gall, 50 parts; water, 3,000 parts.

Gold is polished with ferric oxide (red stuff), which, moistened with alcohol, is applied to leather.

For polishing silver, the burnisher or bloodstone is employed, using soap water, thin beer, or a decoction of soap wort. Silver-plated articles are also polished with Vienna lime.

To produce a dull luster on gold and silver ware, glass brushes, i. e., scratch brushes of finely spun glass threads, are made use of.

Pewter articles are polished with Vienna lime or whiting; the former on a linen rag, the latter on leather.

If embossed articles are to be polished, use the burnisher, and for polish, soap water, soap-wort decoction, ox gall with water.

Antimony-lead alloys are polished with burnt magnesia on soft leather or with fine jewelers’ red.

Zinc is brightened with Vienna lime or powdered charcoal.

Vienna lime gives a light-colored polish on brass, while ferric oxide imparts a dark luster.

Rouge Or Paris Red.

For the most part, Paris red consists of ferric oxide or ferrous oxide. In its production advantage is taken of a peculiarity common to most salts of iron, that when heated to a red heat they separate the iron oxide from the acid combination. In its manufacture it is usual to take commercial green vitriol, copperas crystals, and subject them to a moderate heat to drive off the water of crystallization. When this is nearly accomplished they will settle down in a white powder, which is now placed in a crucible and raised to a glowing red heat till no more vapor arises, when the residue will be found a soft smooth red powder. As the temperature is raised in the crucible, the darker will become the color of the powder and the harder the abrasive.

Should an especially pure rouge be desired, it may be made so by boiling the powder we have just made in a weak solution of soda and afterwards washing it out repeatedly and thoroughly with clean water. If treated in this way, all the impurities that may chance to stick to the iron oxide will be separated from it.

Should a rouge be needed to put a specially brilliant polish upon any object its manufacture ought to be conducted according to the following formula: Dissolve commercial green vitriol in water; dissolve also a like weight of sorrel salt in water; filter both solutions; mix them well, and warm to 140° F.; a yellow precipitate, which on account of its weight, will settle immediately; decant the fluid, dry out the residue, and afterwards heat it as before in an iron dish in a moderately hot furnace till it glows red.

By this process an exceptionally smooth, deep-red powder is obtained, which, if proper care has been exercised in the various steps, will need no elutriation, but can be used for polishing at once. With powders prepared in this wise our optical glasses and lenses of finest quality are polished.

POLISHES FOR THE LAUNDRY: See Laundry Preparations.

POMADE, PUTZ: See Cleaning Preparations and Methods.

POMADES: See Cosmetics.

POMEGRANATE ESSENCE: See Essences and Extracts.