Old papers are excellent to put the polish on tin-ware, cutlery, silver spoons, and to renew the polish of stoves and ranges that are strangers to the " Rising Sun " polish or any other. Nothing, not even chamois skin, is as good as newspaper for polishing mirrors after they have been first wiped off with a cloth wrung out of strong suds. The same may be said of window-glass. Benzine and com- mon clay will clean marble. Strong soda-water, if left to remain half an hour on the spots, will generally remove them. To clean steel or iron, make a paste of two ounces soft soap, and two of coarse emery powder and two of fine, apply; allow to remain a while, then rub off with wash-leather. For polishing steel, crocus powder, moistened with sweet-oil, is best. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," and if steel fire-sets and any steel articles that are to be put away for the season are well rubbed in sweet-oil, and done up in soft brown paper, they will keep free from rust. To clean paint there is nothing more labor-saving than common whiting. Use a flannel cloth, clean warm water; squeeze the cloth nearly dry; then take as much whiting as will adhere to it, rub the paint, then wash off with clean water, dry with a chamois. Paint thus cleaned looks as well as when first laid on, without any injury to the most delicate colors. It is far better than using soap, and does not require half the time or labor. Gray marble hearths may be rubbed with linseed-oil, and no spots will show. Kerosene and powdered lime, whiting or wood-ashes will scour tins with the least labor. Wooden bowls oj trays if well rubbed, inside and out with lard or any clear grease, before ever using, will never crack. Camphor placed in drawers or trunks will prevent mice from doing them any injury. Offensive cistern-water may be purified by sinking a bag of pow- dered charcoal in it. 556 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. To purify a pitcher of water, attach a plum-sized lump of alum to a string and swing slowly around in it for a few times and all the sediment will soon fall to the bottom.- The ivory keys to a piano which have become yellow, may be made white again by washing them with a sponge diluted with sul- phurous acid, or a solution of hyposulphate of soda, and then expose the keys to the sun. To remove the white spots which often seriously injure the ap- pearance of a dining or other table, pour some lamp-oil on the spot and rub it hard with a soft cloth; then pour on a little cologne and rub it dry with another cloth. Varnished paints, window-panes and mirrors, can be much better washed with the liquid saved from tea-leaves than with water. Save the tea-leaves for a few days, then steep them in a tin-pail or pan for half an hour, strain through a sieve, and the liquid will be found to be excellent for the purpose named. It acts as a strong detergent, cleansing the paint from all its impurities and making the varnish equal to new. It will not do to wash unvarnished paint with it as it would take the paint off.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Old papers are excellent to put the polish on tin-ware, cutlery, silver spoons, and to renew the polish of stoves and ranges that are strangers to the " Rising Sun " polish or any other. Nothing, not even chamois skin, is as good as newspaper for polishing mirrors after they have been first wiped off with a cloth wrung out of strong suds. The same may be said of window-glass. Benzine and common clay will clean marble. Strong soda-water, if left to remain half an hour on the spots, will generally remove them. To clean steel or iron, make a paste of two ounces soft soap, and two of coarse emery powder and two of fine, apply; allow to remain a while, then rub off with wash-leather. For polishing steel, crocus powder, moistened with sweet-oil, is best. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," and if steel fire-sets and any steel articles that are to be put away for the season are well rubbed in sweet-oil, and done up in soft brown paper, they will keep free from rust. To clean paint there is nothing more labor-saving than common whiting. Use a flannel cloth, clean warm water; squeeze the cloth nearly dry; then take as much whiting as will adhere to it, rub the paint, then wash off with clean water, dry with a chamois. Paint thus cleaned looks as well as when first laid on, without any injury to the most delicate colors. It is far better than using soap, and does not require half the time or labor. Gray marble hearths may be rubbed with linseed-oil, and no spots will show. Kerosene and powdered lime, whiting or wood-ashes will scour tins with the least labor. Wooden bowls or trays if well rubbed, inside and out with lard or any clear grease, before ever using, will never crack. Camphor placed in drawers or trunks will prevent mice from doing them any injury. Offensive cistern-water may be purified by sinking a bag of powdered charcoal in it. 556 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. To purify a pitcher of water, attach a plum-sized lump of alum to a string and swing slowly around in it for a few times and all the sediment will soon fall to the bottom. The ivory keys to a piano which have become yellow, may be made white again by washing them with a sponge diluted with sulphurous acid, or a solution of hyposulphate of soda, and then expose the keys to the sun. To remove the white spots which often seriously injure the appearance of a dining or other table, pour some lamp-oil on the spot and rub it hard with a soft cloth; then pour on a little cologne and rub it dry with another cloth. Varnished paints, window-panes and mirrors, can be much better washed with the liquid saved from tea-leaves than with water. Save the tea-leaves for a few days, then steep them in a tin-pail or pan for half an hour, strain through a sieve, and the liquid will be found to be excellent for the purpose named. It acts as a strong detergent, cleansing the paint from all its impurities and making the varnish equal to new. It will not do to wash unvarnished paint with it as it would take the paint off.

The hearthstone; or, Life at home