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