5. To clean Turkey Carpets.—To revive the color of a Turkey carpet, beat it well with a stick till the dust is all got out; then, with a lemon or sorrel juice, take out the spots of ink, if the carpet be stained with any; wash it in cold water, and afterwards shake out all the water from the threads of the carpet. When it is thoroughly dry, rub it all over with the crumb of a hot wheaten loaf; and, if the weather is very fine, hang it out in the open air a night or two.
6. Cheap Carpeting.—Sew together strips of the cheapest cotton cloth, of the size of the room, and tack the edges to the floor. Then paper the cloth, as you would the sides of a room, with any sort of room paper. After being well dried, give it two coats of varnish, and your carpet is finished. It can be washed like carpets, without injury, retains its gloss, and, on chambers or sleeping rooms, where it will not meet rough usage, will last for two years, as good as new.
7. To beat a Carpet.—Hang the carpet upon a clothes-line, or upon a stout line between two trees; it should then be beaten on the wrong side, by three or four persons, each having a pliable stick, with cloth tied strongly in a knob on the end, in order to prevent the carpet from being torn, or the seams split, by the sharp end of the stick. When thoroughly beaten on the wrong side, the carpet should be turned, and beaten on the right side.
8. Floor or Oil Cloths.—Floor-cloths should be chosen that are painted on a fine cloth, which is well covered with the color, and the patterns on which do not rise much above the ground, as they wear out first. The durability of the cloth will depend much on these particulars, but more especially on the time it has been painted, and the goodness of the colors. If they have not been allowed sufficient time for becoming thoroughly hardened, a very little use will injure them; and, as they are very expensive articles, care in preserving them is necessary. It answers to keep them some time before they are used, either hung up in a dry barn where they will have air, or laid down in a spare room.
When taken up for the winter, they should be rolled round a carpet-roller, and observe not to crack the paint by turning the edges in too suddenly.