Spoil the cushions? No! When you run the rig out of the shop the owner will wonder what you have done to his cushions to make them look so bright. The same operation works well on an old cloth-lined top. After you have brushed all you think you can afford to, and the dust keeps coming to the front, turn the top bottom side up and give it a shower from the sprinkler, and I will guarantee the dust to lie still long enough for you to dress the top and paint the bows. Dust is the natural enemy of the paint shop, and water is one of our best weapons to fight it with.
MIXING QUICK COLOR.
A quick-drying color can be slowed up and made to dry to any required time without injuring it, while if ground in a slow drying preparation, it cannot possibly be quickened without injuring more or less the working and covering properties. The working is certainly important, and the covering more so. The covering property should be strong, because the fewer coats of color on a job the better. Thus a quick dryer saves both labor and time.
Japan colors are best when ground stiff, or with barely enough liquid to bind them firmly, because after being reduced to thinness with turpentine alone they will cling to the surface and will not smut. The color will then have its greatest covering power. Now, by the addition of sufficient pure raw oil to give the best working property, and being also made to dry flat, the color is as near perfection as possible, and the further addition of anything weakens the covering power. When an excess of japan is used in grinding, the color is thin, there being less pigment to the pound; and it is of less value to the consumer, while it affords more profit to the manufacturer than when prepared as it should be.
BLACK VARNISH FOR GASOLINE STOVES, ETC.
Asphaltum two pounds, boiled linseed oil one pint, turpentine two quarts. Melt the asphaltum in an iron pot, heat the oil, and add it to the asphaltum while hot. Stir well. When partly cool, add the turpentine and four ounces of good japan.
BLACK STENCH INK.
Shellac two ounces, borax two ounces, soft water twenty ounces, gum arabic two ounces, lampblack and indigo sufficient. Boil the shellac and borax in the water until dissolved, then add the gum arabic; dissolve and take the mixture from the fire; when cold, add enough lampblack to give it color and proper consistency, and a little powdered indigo. Keep in glass or earthenware vessels.
BRONZE FOR BRIGHT METALS.
Red aniline (fuscine) ten parts, purple aniline five parts, alcohol 95 per cent. one hundred parts, benzoic acid five parts. Add the anilines to the alcohol, and dissolve by placing the vessel in a sand or water bath. As soon as dissolved, add the benzoic acid and boil for five or ten minutes, or until the greenish color of the mixture is turned to a brilliant light bronze; spread with a brush on bright metal.