POWDER FOR CLEANING GOLD LACE.—Of burnt roche-alum, powdered as fine as possible, take two ounces and a half. Mix, thoroughly, with it, half an ounce of finely-powdered chalk. Take a small, clean, dry brush; dip it into the mixture, and rub it, carefully, on gold lace, or gold embroidery, that has become tarnished. Finish with a clean piece of new canton flannel. Keep a box or bottle of this mixture, that it may be ready to use on occasion. It is equally good for silver lace, and for jewelry.
TO KEEP BRITANNIA-METAL BRIGHT.—Dip a clean woollen cloth into the best and cleanest lamp oil, and rub it, hard, all over the outside of your Britannia-ware. Then wash it well in strong soap-suds, and afterwards polish with finely-powdered whiting and a buckskin. The inside of Britannia vessels should be washed with warm water, in which a little pearlash has been dissolved. They should then be set, open, to dry in the sun and air. If not kept very nice, this metal will communicate a disagreeable taste. There is so much copper in its composition, that tea-pots or coffee-pots of china, or white-ware, are far preferable to Britannia-metal.
TO CLEAN SILVER EXPEDITIOUSLY.—Put some powdered magnesia into a saucer. Have ready a few bits of new canton flannel. It is well, in cutting out canton flannel, to save the small shavings, or clippings, for this purpose. Dip a bit of the flannel into the magnesia, and with it rub the silver, very hard. It will brighten, immediately, if there are no black stains on it. Finish, by polishing with a clean piece of the flannel, without magnesia.
Dark stains on silver are best removed by rubbing them with flannel, dipped in sulphuric acid. This should be done before any brightening substance is applied.
PASTE FOR CLEANING KNIVES.—Make a mixture, one part emery, and three parts crocus martis, in very fine powder. Mix them to a thick paste, with a little lard or sweet oil. Have your knife-board covered with a thick buff-leather. Spread this paste on your leather, to about the thickness of a quarter-dollar. Rub your knives in it, and it will make them much sharper and brighter, and will wear them out less, than the common method of cleaning with brick-dust, on a bare board.