Page:Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management.djvu/2021

Rh this composition well covered for use in a tin or earthen pot. A little of this gloss should be spread on a piece of coarse woollen cloth, and the furniture well rubbed with it; afterwards it should be polished with a fine cloth.

Mix with ¼ of a pint of soap-lees, ½ of a gill of turpentine, sufficient pipeclay and bullock's gall to make the whole into a rather thick paste. Apply it to the marble with a soft brush, and after a day or two, when quite dry, rub it off with a soft rag. Apply this a second or third time till the marble is quite clean.

Take two parts of soda, one of pumice-stone, and one of finely-powdered chalk. Sift these through a fine sieve, and mix them into a paste with water. Rub this well all over the marble, and the stains will be removed; then wash it with soap and water, and a beautiful bright polish will be produced.

Make a paste of powdered pipe-clay and fullers'-earth; mix with strong soap lye; lay a thick coating of this paste on the marble, and pass lightly over it a moderately warm flat-iron until it is dry. Leave it for a short time, and then wash it off with clean water. If the marble be not entirely free from grease, repeat the process till every stain disappears. Discolourisation by smoke may be removed in the same manner.

Melt 1 lb. of common asphaltum, and add gradually to it a ½ pint of linseed-oil, 1 quart of oil of turpentine. Apply this with a small painter's brush, and leave it to become perfectly dry. The grate will need no other cleaning, but will merely require dusting every day, and occasionally brushing with a dry blacklead brush. This is, of course, when no fires are used. When they are required, the bars, cheeks and back of grate will need black-leading in the usual manner.

Mix 2 tablespoonfuls of turpentine and 2 tablespoonfuls of sweet oil together, stirring in sufficient emery-powder to make the mixture of the thickness of cream. Put it on the article with a piece of soft flannel; rub off quickly with another piece, then polish with a little emery-powder and clean leather.

Make a strong paste of fresh lime and water, and with a fine brush smear it as thickly as possible over all the polished surface requiring