Page:The English housekeeper, 6th.djvu/50

22 a little more. Wash the table clean with stale beer, let it dry, then brush it well with a clean furniture brush. To polish it, use the following :—½ lb. beeswax, turpentine to moisten it, or spirits of wine, melt it, stirring well, and put by in a jar for use. Rub some on with a soft cloth, rub it off directly, and polish with another soft cloth.

Nothing betrays slovenliness and want of attention more than ill-used and badly cleaned knives and forks. Plate, glass and china, however common, may be made to answer every purpose; but knives and forks ought to be good in quality, or they soon wear out, and nothing looks so bad on a table as bad knives and forks, and when good they are so expensive that it is unpardonable not to take care of them. Carving knives are of great consequence; there should be a judicious assortment of them, to suit various joints, or different carvers, and particular attention paid to their cleaning and sharpening. When it can be done, knives and forks should be cleaned immediately after they have been used; but when not, they ought, if possible, to be dipped in warm (not hot) water, wiped dry, and laid by till the time of cleaning comes. After bath brick has been used, dip the handles into lukewarm water, or wipe them with a soaped flannel, and then with a dry soft cloth. Inexperienced men servants seldom wipe knives and forks sufficiently; but it is next to impossible for a woman to clean them well, and it is a masculine occupation. To preserve those not in daily use from rust, rub with mutton fat, roll each one in brown paper, and keep in a dry place. A good knife-board indispensable; covered with leather saves the steel, but the knives not so sharp as if cleaned on a board, and bath brick. Both knives and forks are the better for being occasionally plunged into fresh fine earth, for a few minutes. It sweetens them.

Knife-trays do not always have so much care as they ought to have. Out of sight when in the dining-room, they are often neglected in the pantry; but they ought to be as clean as the waiters on which glasses are handed. The tray made of basket work and lined with tin, is best; there should be a clean cloth spread in it, before it is brought into the parlour, and also one in the second tray to receive the knives and forks, as they are taken from the table.