Teapots, coffee-pots, chocolate-pots, and the like, should be washed in hot soapy water and be rinsed in boiling water. Use a wooden skewer to remove every particle of sediment that may lodge in the spouts or creases of the pots. Wipe perfectly dry, and expose to the sun and air, if possible, for an hour or more.
Pans in which fish or onions have been cooked, should be washed and scalded; then they should be filled with water, in which should be put a teaspoonful of soda for every two quarts of water. Place them on top of the stove for half an hour or more. This will insure the removal of the flavor of fish or onions.
Care of Silver.
Silver that is properly washed and wiped every day will require very little extra cleaning. Remove it from the table on a tray and then put it into a wide-mouthed kitchen pitcher containing warm water. When ready to wash it, have a pan of hot soap-suds and a clean soft dish-cloth. Put all the silver, except the knives, into the suds, and wash a few pieces at a time, rubbing well with the cloth. Wipe the silver, while it is still warm, with a fine soft silver-towel, rubbing it until perfectly dry and bright. Always keep the towel between the hands and the silver. As fast as a piece is finished lay it on the tray, and when all the work is done wipe the hands perfectly dry, and then put the silver away.
Should there be any tarnish on any of the pieces, rub with a little wet whiting and a piece of chamois skin. Wash again in the hot suds, and wipe.
When the silver is to have a regular cleaning, put it in a pan of hot suds and wash well. Spread several thicknesses of paper on the table. Have at hand a saucer of French whiting, finely powdered and sifted. Wet a little of this with water, unless the silver is very much tarnished, in which case use half water and half alcohol; or, instead of the alcohol, half household ammonia. Rub the article with this and then with dry whiting and a chamois skin, finally using a soft silver-brush to clean out all the chasing and creases. When all the silver has been cleaned in this manner, wash it in clean hot suds, wipe on a towel kept for silver, and put away.
Do not put silver in woollen bags, as the sulphur in this cloth tarnishes the metal. Rubber should not be placed near silver.
Only substances which are well known have been suggested for the cleaning of the various articles of silver. There are preparations in the market which many housekeepers use because they consider them harmless, and great savers of labor. Each one will decide for herself in these matters.
Do not Slight the Knife Blades.
In nearly all cases the blade of the knife requires different treatment from the handle. If it be of unplated steel it must be thoroughly polished every time it is used. If it be of silver, or be silver-plated, a careful washing with soap and water, and a thorough drying, will be all the daily care that is required,—a thorough cleaning about once a week sufficing to keep the blade perfectly clean. There should be a knife-board for the steel knives. Boards covered with leather that come for this purpose may be purchased at any first-class kitchen furnishing store.