Have ready some soft pomatum, made of fresh beef-marrow, boiled with a little almond oil or olive oil, stirring it all the time till it is well amalgamated, and as thick as an ointment. When you take it from the fire (and not before) stir into it a little mild perfume; such as rose-water, orange-flower water, extract of roses, oil of carnations, or essence of violets. Put it into gallicups that have lids, and keep it for use; always well-covered. Take a very small quantity of this pomatum, and rub it among your hair on the skin of your head, after it has been washed as above.
At any time you may make your hair curl more easily by rubbing into it some beaten yolk of egg, (washed off, afterwards with clear water,) and then putting on a little pomatum before you pin up your curls. It is well always to go through this process when you resume curls after having worn your hair plain.
All hair should be combed every morning with a fine-toothed comb, to remove the dust which insensibly gets into it during the preceding day, and to keep the skin of the head always clean.
To prevent your bonnet being injured by any oiliness about your hair, baste a piece of white or yellow oiled silk inside of that part of the bonnet where the crown unites with the brim, carrying the silk some distance up into the crown, and some distance down into the brim or front.
Clean your head-brushes by washing them thoroughly with a bit of soft sponge tied on the end of a stick, and dipped into a warm solution of pearlash, prepared by dissolving a large table-spoonful of pearlash in a pint of boiling water. When the bristles have thus been made quite clean, rinse the brushes in hot water; letting them remain in it till it becomes cool, or cold. Afterwards, drain the brushes; wipe them with a clean cloth; and set them upright before the fire to dry.
The most convenient way of cleaning combs is with a strong silk thread, made fast to the handle of a bureau-drawer—in front of which, seat yourself with a towel spread over your lap to catch whatever impurities may fall from the comb. Holding the comb in your left hand, and the thread in your right, pass the thread hard between each of the comb-teeth. Afterwards wash the comb in soap-suds, rinse it in cold water, and dry it with a clean cloth.
SALT OF LEMON OR STAIN POWDER.—This powder, which is erroneously called salt of lemon, is in reality composed simply of equal portions of finely pulverized salt of sorrel and cream of tartar, (for instance an ounce of each,) mixed together in a mortar, and afterwards put into small covered boxes, or gallipots. It will immediately remove ink spots, fruit stains, &c., from the hands or from any articles of white linen or muslin; first wetting the place with water (warm water is best) and then with your finger rubbing on the powder, till the stain disappears. Immediately afterwards wash it off with soap-suds. If applied to a coloured article that has been inked or stained, the powder in removing the stain will take out the colour. But the colour (particularly if black) may in most cases be restored by rubbing the place with hartshorn; which if very strong should be somewhat diluted with water, or it will leave a tinge of its own. If the hartshorn fails to restore the colour, it is on account of some peculiarity in the dye. It is always worth trying. We have seen a large splash of ink taken out of a carpet by first wetting it with warm water and rubbing on some of the above-mentioned stain powder. The colours were all restored to their former brightness by afterwards applying hartshorn. Next day, the place where the ink had been spilled on the carpet could not be distinguished. We have also known the same experiment tried with perfect success on a mousseline de laine dress on which an ink-stand had been overset.