Whitewashed Walls: Brush off loose particles, wash grimy spots clean, take out grease spots (see section Spots and Stains), have your whitewash ready, keep it hot, do the work, if possible, in dry, sunny weather, hot or cold, and provide several brushes—long-handled, short, and medium. Have a bucket of water to stand them in when not in use. In whitewashing above your head, wear glasses and stand upon something stable. Wear also a light hat with a narrow brim, and loose, soft, wash-leather gloves. Save strain by having the whitewash pot of handy size, refilling from the main supply at need. Use either milk whitewash or indoor whitewash (see section Renovators). Wood takes up less whitewash than other things—two-thirds as much as plaster, half as much as brick or stone. Whitewash well dashed with carbolic acid is the best and most sanitary finish for the inside of cellars, stables, and outhouses generally.
Window Glazing: Take out sash, break away panes, and remove old putty. If there are whole panes guiltless of putty, take them out carefully and scrape the sash clean, the same as with a broken pane. Lay the sash face down, and fit in new panes. Set a tiny tack on each of the four sides so as to hold the panes. Then put in glazier’s points—to be had at any shop. Small tacks will serve instead. Press in the points, letting them lie flat on the glass. Then lay a worm of putty over glass and points, and smooth it in place with a blunt knife. Dip the knife now and then in cold water—and keep it wiped clean of adherent putty. Smear the glass as little as possible, and wipe away smears as quickly as made. Let lie until the putty hardens a trifle. Paint it as soon as it is firm. Otherwise it will weather and crumble. Indeed, it is the part of wisdom to paint putty over once a year.
Ceilings: Papering a ceiling it not easy, still not impossible to amateurs. It demands a tall stable scaffold almost the length of the room—boxes set upon an extension table will answer very well. Cut lengths of paper, matching the figures, paste, fold, and apply quickly. Begin work in the middle of the ceiling—thus it is easier to keep the seams true. Fasten an end lightly to the ceiling, then press lightly along the middle till you come to the other end. Sight, and if this first length is bias or crooked, loosen it and put it on straight. Press on very hard and be sure there are no blisters. Small blisters can be pin-pricked and patted down, but big ones require to have the paper lifted bodily, the air pressed out, then the paper patted back. Ceiling paper ought to have very small figures and delicate tones, much lighter than those of the walls.
Fabrics of any sort are best applied to ceilings in separate lengths and the joins covered with heavy moldings put on with brass-headed nails. This gives much the effect of a beamed ceiling at lower cost. A ceiling that crumbles badly should have strips of smooth deal nailed fast to it at even distances. The fabric can then be tacked to these with no fear of falling.
If a ceiling is too high, never put anything striped on the wall. A heavy border apparently lowers a ceiling—all the more if it is put on several inches below the ceiling proper, and the wall space finished to match overhead.
Calcimine and Whitewash: Both are applied the same way—with soft, broad brushes slapped back and forth until no grain shows. The surface must be clean and free of loose particles. Wash off old calcimine with strong soda water and let dry before applying fresh. Put on three coats, the same as for walls. The prepared cakes are cheap and handy, but there is more certainty and more satisfaction in home-mixing (see section Renovators).
III
EQUIPMENT AND RENOVATORS
Equipment: These things will make house-work easier by saving strength and temper. Being neither costly nor cumbersome, the simplest home may well find room for them or such part of them as it needs.
A Knee Pad: Make of stout cloth twenty inches by twelve, stuff two inches thick, tack in lines to hold flat, and sew oilcloth upon the under side.