Or use 3 tablespoonfuls of vinegar to 1 of rice. Shake well.
To polish, use fuller's earth finely powdered or whiting. Never use hot water for these articles. Allow the water to cool until it will bear the hands comfortably.
To Clean a Chandelier.—Apply pure vinegar with a small sponge; afterwards wash in soapsuds and polish with flannel or chamois.
To renovate tarnished metallic parts, paint black with the dull-black paint used for ebonizing. Or apply white, gilt, or any other enamel paint desired.
Glass Stoppers.—The glass stop pers of decanters or carafes and oth er bottles sometimes stick and are very difficult to remove. To obviate this, use a large glass marble, either of clear glass or containing fancy figures. This makes a good stopper for a decanter or water bottle and is easily removed.
To remove a stopper that sticks, first apply a few drops of sweet oil or salad oil to the neck of the stop per, and let stand a few minutes to soak in between the stopper and the neck of the bottle.
If this does not loosen the stopper, apply heat to the neck of the bottle on the outside. It is well known that heat expands all substances, and, if applied to the outside, the neck of the bottle will expand before the stopper does, and the stopper will become loosened. This may be done by putting a narrow strip of flannel about the neck of the bottle and drawing it back and forth rapidly to create friction. This will some times cause heat enough in a few minutes.
Or hold the hand about the neck of the bottle until the heat of the hand causes it to expand.
Or, if this is not sufficient, dip a rag in water as hot as the hands will bear and wrap it about the neck of the bottle. This must not be done, however, when the bottle is very cold, as it may be cracked by ex panding too suddenly.
Or hold the neck of the bottle near a gas jet or an open flame, turning it constantly to prevent any part from becoming overheated.
Or wrap a piece of cloth about the stopper and with a light piece of wood tap it gently, first on one side, then on the other. Do not use a
hammer or other metal tool or uten sil for this purpose.
To Clean Clocks. — To clean a clock, saturate a cloth or pad of cotton with kerosene oil and lay it inside on a small dish that will pre vent the woodwork from being satu rated. As it evaporates, the fumes will loosen any foreign substance on the wheels of the clock and cause it to drop. Repeat as often as neces sary. The fumes also tend to lubri cate the works.
Or remove the works of alarm clocks and others which are made exclusively of metal, and place them in an earthenware jar or other clean vessel having a tight-fitting cover. Pour over them kerosene oil through a cloth strainer or filter paper to remove all sediment. Let stand un til the grease and dirt have been en tirely cut and removed. The clock may be returned to its case without waiting for the excess of oil to evap orate.
To Oil Clocks.—To oil a clock, ob tain the purest olive oil and cleanse it by adding half a pint of lime wa ter to each quart of oil. Shake well and let stand three or four days, when the pure oil may be carefully poured off the sediment and strained through silk or filter paper.
To Clean Metals. — Various acids are recommended for cleaning metals, as tartaric, oxalic, acetic, muriatic, and the like; also alcohol, turpentine, and petroleum products, and such materials as whiting, powdered pum ice, rotten stone, bath brick, etc., mixed with water or oil.
Paste for Metals.—Mix 1 ounce of oxalic acid with 6 ounces of rotten stone, and dilute to a soft paste with equal parts of train oil and spirits of turpentine.
Or mix strong potash or soda lye with alcohol and apply to metals with a brush. Let dry, and polish with a soft cloth or moist chamois. This will remove verdigris and most other forms of rust or tarnish.
Brass — To Prevent Tarnishing. Moisten powdered sal ammoniac with water and apply to the brass by means of a brush. Afterwards heat the ar ticle until the sal ammoniac is melt ed. Cool, and polish with dry whiting and soft cloth.