FoodNetArchive

The standard book of recipes and housewife's guide, comprising as complete cook book

1901

Page 93 · 1 recipe record on this page

Presented as published in 1901. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
A good marble polish is the following : Melt over a slow^ fire four ounces of white w^ax , and, while still warm, stir into it an equal w^eight of oil of turpentine. When these are fully combined, put the compound into a bot- tle or other vessel, which must be kept well corked when not in use. A little of the above put upon a piece of flannel and well rubbed upon the marble will bring the sur- face to a fine polish. To polish furniture, prepare white wax and oil of turpentine as above directed. A small quantity applied with flannel or other woolen cloth, and well rubbed in, is excel- lent for mahogany and walnut. If a yel- lowish tint is desired for light-colored wood , put into the turpentine in advance a small quantity of quercitron, or dyer's oak, and let stand for two days. To give a reddish tinge, a little alkanet may be used in the same manner as the quercitron. For another furniture polish take one a half ounces each of alcohol and butter of antimony, one-half ounce of nuiriatic acid, eight ounces of linseed oil, one-half pint of cider vinegar ; mix these cold and apply with Canton flannel, then rub with dry Canton flannel. 443 76 THE MODEL COOK BOOK Recipes for Cleaning. Steps and Flag=stones.— Where there are large flights of stone steps and broad pavements of flag-stones, the process of cleaning is a tedious one. To clean with hearthstone, or caked whiting, as usual, gives a smeary appearance, and washes off" with the first shower. The following preparation is preferable alike for its ap- pearance and as a labor saving appliance, as it need be used but twice a week, washing being sufficient for the remaining days : Take a gallon of water, and color with stone-blue to a deep tint. Boil in this a pound of white size, and dissolve in the mixture a quarter pound of whiting and three cakes of pipe-clay, stirring well. Wash the steps rapidly with this solution, and finish with clean water in the usual way. Damp Walls. — Damp walls may be dealt with in the following manner : Mix two quarts of tar with two ounces of kitchen fat, and boil together for a quarter of an hour. Then add some slaked lime and very finely pounded glass. The lime and glass must be in the proportion of two to one, and thoroughly mixed. Apply immediately, as the mixture soon sets and becomes hard. A coat an inch thick will usually quite over- come the dampness, though in extreme cases two coats may be necessary. To Clean Soiled or Stained Furniture. — Use spirits of turpentine, and afterwards polish with linseed oil colored with alkanet root. If, however, the furniture is badly stained or inky, it .should be washed with sour beer or vinegar, warm. Afterwards rub the stains with spirit of salts, which will remove them. The wood may then be polished, with linseed oil colored with alkanet root, or with beeswax, dissolved in turpentine, with a little copal varnish or resin added. New mahogany may be given the dark tint of old by washing with various sub- stances. Soap and water will darken some- what, but oil is more efiicacious ; if a very dark tint is desired use lime w^ater. Pai?it may be cleaned with the following preparation : Mix one pound of soft soap, two ounces of pearlash, one pint of sand and one of table beerCleaning Mixture for Paint. L,et these simmer together 444 till fully incorporated, and use the mixture in the manner of soap.