Linen takes off the gilding and deadens its brightness; it should, therefore, never be used for wiping it.
A good preventive against flies is, to boil three or four leeks in a pint of water, and then with a gilding-brush wash over the glasses and frames with the liquid, and the flies will not go near the articles so washed. This will not injure the frames in the least. Stains or spots may be removed by gently wiping them with cotton dipped in sweet oil.
33. To retouch the rubbed parts of a Picture-frame.—Give the wood a coating of size made by dissolving isinglass with a weak spirit. When nearly dry, lay on some gold leaf; and polish, when quite dry, with an agate burnisher, or any similar substance.
34. Furniture Oil.—Put into a jar one pint of linseed oil into which stir one ounce of powdered rose pink, and one ounce of alkanet root, beaten in a mortar: set the jar in a warm place for a few days, when the oil will be deeply colored, and the substances having settled, the oil may be poured off, and will be excellent for darkening new mahogany.
35. Furniture Paste.—Put turpentine into a glazed pot, and scrape beeswax into it, which stir about till the liquid is of the thickness of cream; it will then be good for months, if kept clean; and furniture cleaned with the liquid thus made, will not receive stains so readily as when the turpentine and wax are heated over the fire; which plan is, besides, very dangerous; but if the heating be preferred, place the vessel containing the wax and turpentine in another containing boiling water.
36. French Polish for Furniture.—To one pint of spirits of wine, add half an ounce of gum-shellac, half an ounce of gum-lac, a quarter of an ounce of gum-sandarac; place the whole in a gentle heat, frequently shaking it, till the gums are dissolved, when it is fit for use. Make a roller of list, put a little of the polish upon it, and cover that with a piece of soft linen rag, which must be lightly touched with cold-drawn linseed oil. Rub the wood in a circular direction, not covering too large a space at a time, till the pores of the wood are sufficiently filled up. After this, rub in the same manner spirits of wine, with a small portion of the polish added to it; and a most brilliant polish will be produced. If the article should have been polished with wax, it will be necessary to clean it off with fine glass paper.