The daily care of the hardwood floor is very simple. A room that is much used must first be swept with a soft-haired brush, then wipe with a long-handled dust-mop or with a cotton flannel bag put over a broom. If there are spots on the floor they should be rubbed with a flannel cloth. If this does not remove them, clean with a little turpentine on a piece of cloth. The floor should be thoroughly cleaned and polished twice a year. If any water should get spilled on them it must be wiped up at once. Any liquid spilled on a waxed floor will produce a stain if left to dry, which can only be removed by hard rubbing and the encaustic.
A good floor polish
Melt not quite half a pound of beeswax and pour it into a quart of turpentine, then add five cents worth of ammonia. Put it in a tin pail and set it in another vessel containing hot water, and leave it on the back part of the stove to heat. Keep warm while using, for it goes on better. Apply with a flannel cloth, and polish with a piece of Brussels carpet.
To clean hairbrushes
Put a tablespoonful of ammonia into a basin of tepid water and dip the brushes up and down in it until they are clean. Dry with the bristles down, and they will be like new.
To wash blankets
Pour into a tub half a pint of household ammonia and lay a blanket over it; cover immediately with lukewarm water. This sends the fumes of the ammonia through the blanket and loosens the dirt. The blanket should then be stirred about with a stick and pressed until all the dirt seems to be in the water, then rinse in a tub of clear water of the same temperature as the first, run lightly through a wringer and hang out to dry.
To keep tinware from rusting
If the tinware is new rub over carefully with fresh lard and heat thoroughly before it is used.