50. To clean the Back of the Grate, the inner Hearth, and the fronts of Cast-Iron Stoves.—Mix black lead and whites of eggs well beaten together; dip a painter's brush, and wet all over, then rub it bright with a hard brush.
51. To remove the Black from the Bright Bars of Polished Stoves in a few minutes.—Rub them well with some of the following mixture on a bit of broadcloth; when the dirt is removed, wipe them clean, and polish with glass (not sand) paper.
52. For Mixture:—Boil slowly one pound of soft soap in two quarts of water to one quart. Of this jelly take three or four spoonfuls, and mix to a consistence with emery.
53. To clean Bright Stoves.—There are many ways of cleaning a stove, but if the ornamental parts be neglected, rust will soon disfigure the surface, and lead to incalculable trouble. Emery dust, moistened into a paste with sweet oil, should be kept in a little jar; this should be applied on a bung, up and down, never crossways, until marks or burns disappear. A dry leather should then remove the oil, and a polish should afterwards be given with putty powder on a dry clean leather.
54. Another way to clean Grates.—The best mixture for cleaning bright stove-grates is rotten-stone and sweet oil: they require constant attention, for, if rust be once suffered to make its appearance, it will become a toil to efface it. Polished fire-irons, if not allowed to rust by neglect, will require merely rubbing with leather; and the higher the polish, the less likely they are to rust. If the room be shut up for a time, and the grates be not used, to prevent their rusting, cover them with lime and sweet oil.
Bright fenders are cleaned as stoves; cast-iron fenders require black lead; they should not, however, be cleaned in the sitting-room, as the powdered lead may fly about and injure carpets and furniture. A good plan is to send cast-iron fenders to be bronzed or lackered by the iron-monger; they will then only require brushing, to free the dust from the ornamental work. The bright top of a fender should be cleaned with fine emery-paper.