Domestic Cookery, Useful Receipts, and Hints to Young Housekeepers

<h2>MISCELLANEOUS RECEIPTS.</h2> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Clear Starching.</h3> <p></p> <p>Wash your muslins nicely; rub hard soap on them, and pour boiling water on, let them lay in this half an hour, or if they are very yellow, boil them in water that has a little blue, in a bell metal kettle, let them dry in the sun, boil your starch half an hour, as it will be clearer, and the things will take less clapping, rub the starch over the muslin until it is well covered, then clap it a few times, afterwards stretch out the muslin and hold it to the fire until it smokes, then stretch, clap, and shake it until the piece is dry enough to iron. When you begin to starch, have a pile of plates near, and as fast as the things are ready to iron, fold them up, and put them between the plates to keep moist. It is a good plan to have a board about three feet long and a foot wide, with a piece of blanket tacked on round the edges, to iron your collars and handkerchiefs on.</p> <p>There is an art in doing up muslins, which will take but little time when once it is acquired. The same directions answer for clear starching crape, (which must first be bleached as flannels are done,) and add some drop lake to the blue coloring. In cold weather, to rub your hands over with a little clean tallow prevents them from chapping, and will not alter the appearance of the muslin.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To make Corn Starch.</h3> <p></p> <p>Gather the corn when it is a proper age for table use; have a large tin grater, and grate the corn into a clean vessel, into which drop the cobs as you grate them until the vessel is about half full, rub the cobs and squeeze them dry as possible, and put them into another vessel of clean water, rub and squeeze them again the third rinsing will take all the starch out, let it settle, and then pour all the starch together and strain it through a coarse cloth, and then through a flannel, and let it settle until the next morning, when you will find a thick yellow substance under the water, covering the pure white article in the bottom of the vessel, remove the yellow substance and pour clean water on the starch and stir it up, as soon as it settles thoroughly again, pour off the water and put the starch on dishes, and set it in the sun to dry. When you want to use it, moisten it with cold water and pour boiling water on, till it is the right consistency for use. It requires no boiling.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Potato Starch.</h3> <p></p> <p>Pare the potatoes and scrape or grate them in a pan of water, when this is done stir them well, and let them stand a few minutes to settle, pour off the water and the pulp from the top; pour water on the starch that has settled, and stir it up, let it settle again, when it will be nice and white, and may be put on plates to dry in the sun, after which it may be put away in a box or paper bags. It maybe used immediately. Stir it in boiling water as other starch, but boil it much less. It is said that potato starch will injure muslins when left to lay by for some time, it is used in some preparations of confectionary, and answers the same purpose as Poland starch.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To make Common Starch.</h3> <p></p> <p>Mix a pint of wheat flour with cold water, till it is the consistence of batter, stir it into a gallon of boiling water, let it boil a few minutes, when strain it and mix in the blue--when it is ready to thin for white clothes. Some put a small piece of tallow in the starch as it boils--it makes it clearer.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Washing Calicoes, &amp;c.</h3> <p></p> <p>Calicoes may be kept from fading by washing them in the suds after white clothes, if it requires more soap, stir it in the water, as putting it on the garment will fade it, have the water moderately warm, and put in a handful of salt, when all the dirt is out, rinse them in clean water, starch, and hang them to dry on the wrong side, where they will get the air but not the sun. Alum is good to set colors. If you want to wash a calico dress, which you know will fade, make a corn mush, and as it boils, pour off half, which use as soap in washing the dress, and with the other half, (which should be boiled well,) starch it, and hang it out immediately. In washing bed quilts, to prevent fading, spread them on the clean grass wrong side up, this prevents the colors running into each other.</p> <p>For chintz or lawn dresses have very nice starch, and clap it into them, after they are hung on the line, they iron much better this way, and look almost like new, sometimes to wash the cuffs and lower part carefully, and press it all over, will do without washing the whole dress. For ironing the skirt have a narrow ironing board, covered with a piece of blanket, to slip inside the dress.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Table Cloths, &amp;c.</h3> <p></p> <p>When two or three spots get on a table cloth, dip a towel in clean water and rub them off, and dry the cloth before it is put away, this saves washing, and if done carefully it will look like a clean cloth. If table cloths are stained with fruit, pour boiling water on the spots before soap is put on, when it is so deep that this will not take it out, apply lemon juice and salt, dry it in the sun, and put it on several times. You should always have cup-plates, as the marks of a coffee-cup spoils the appearance of a cloth, and the stain is hard to get out. When table cloths and towels get yellow, soak them in sour milk several days. Unbleached table cloths are very good to save washing in winter, and can be laid by in summer, care should be taken to hang them to dry in the shade, as that will keep them from bleaching. New table cloths do not require any starch, but those that are partly worn look better for a little, every thing washes easier that has starch in. Nice table cloths, and all fine things, after being sprinkled and folded, should be tightly rolled up in towels, and ironed till perfectly dry, they will then retain their gloss. Large table cloths should be brushed clean from crumbs, and folded without shaking, as that tumbles them; those in daily use should be put under a press--a heavy book is suitable, or a board may be made for the purpose; they will keep in credit much longer than when laid in a drawer. It is well to put a common muslin cloth under a damask one on the table, as it improves the appearance.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Flannels.</h3> <p></p> <p>Have the water in which you wash flannel as hot as you can bear your hands in, and rub the soap in the water, or it will shrink the flannel. The water it is rinsed in should also be hot.</p> <p>When flannels have become yellow and fulled up, I have often smoked them with brimstone, and they will be as white as new, and the fulled places will open. The best plan is to have a box or chest, with strings put across to hang the flannels on, and a drawer to pull out where you can set in a pan with coals and brimstone. Have the flannels nicely washed, and put them in wet, close it up till you think it wants more brimstone, when you can pull out the drawer and renew it.</p> <p>After they are bleached, they should hang up in the air to let the smell of the brimstone escape. If you have but a few things to do, you can put strings across the top of an old barrel, (with both the heads out,) cover it with a thick cloth, and lift it up to put in a pan of brimstone and coals. Always wash scarlet flannel with hard soap.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Mending Clothes.</h3> <p></p> <p>All clothes should be looked over before they are put away, and if any require mending it must not be neglected; a broken stitch that can be mended in a few minutes, if left till it has been worn again, will require much more time. If young housekeepers suffer their mending to get behind hand, it will discourage them. After mending a shirt, it should be pressed before it is put away. If stocking heels are run while they are new, and the thin places darned in time, it saves much work.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Washing Windows.</h3> <p></p> <p>A little soda dissolved in the water is valuable for washing windows; do not let it run on the sash, or it will stain the paint; rinse them in clear water, and wipe dry with a clean soft towel. When they are but little soiled, clear water will answer, but if smoked or coated with any thing, soda should be always used. Some persons rub their windows with soft buckskin or newspaper, when they are dry and clean, to give them a polish.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Make White or Colored Washes, Dyeing, &amp;c.</h3> <p></p> <p>Take half a bushel of unslaked lime, slack with boiling water, covering it during the process to keep in the steam. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve or strainer, and add to it a peck of clean salt, previously dissolved in warm water, three pounds of ground rice boiled, to a thin paste; stir in, boiling hot, one pound of Spanish whiting, one of clean glue, dissolved by soaking it well, and simmering over a slow fire in a small kettle within a larger one containing water; add five gallons of boiling water to the whole mixture; stir it well, and if you are not ready to use it, cover it close. It should be put on quite hot; for this purpose, it can be kept in a kettle on a portable furnace. Coloring matter may be added to make any shade desired. Spanish brown stirred in will make a pink color, more or less deep according to the quantity, a delicate tinge of this is very pretty for inside walls. Indigo mixed with the Spanish brown makes a delicate purple, or alone with the mixture, a pale blue. Lamp-black, in moderate quantity, makes a slate color, suitable for the outside of buildings.</p> <p>Lamp-black and Spanish brown together, produce a reddish stone color, yellow ochre, a yellow wash, but chrome goes further and makes a brighter color. It is well to try on a shingle, or piece of paper, or board, and let it dry to ascertain the color. If you wash over old paper, make a sizing of wheat flour like thin starch, put it on, and when dry, put on the coloring, for a white-washed wall, make a sizing of whiting and glue water. This precaution should always be taken before using chrome yellow or green, as the previous use of lime injures the color of the chrome. When walls have been badly smoked, add to your white-wash sufficient indigo to make it a clear white.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Mix White-wash.</h3> <p></p> <p>Pour a kettle of boiling water on a peck of unslaked lime, put in two pounds of whiting, and half a pint of salt, when all are mixed together, put in half an ounce of <i>Prussian blue,</i> finely powdered, add water to make it a proper thickness to put on a wall.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>White-wash for Buildings or Fences.</h3> <p></p> <p>Put in a barrel, one bushel of best unslaked lime, pour on it two buckets of boiling water, and when it is mixed put in six pounds of fine whiting, fill up the barrel with water, stir it well, and keep it covered from the rain, let it stand several days before you use it, when stir it up; thin it with milk as you use it, and put half a pint of salt to each bucket full. This makes a durable wash for a rough-cast or frame house, or for fences; the salt prevents it from peeling off.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Chrome Yellow-wash.</h3> <p></p> <p>Mix four pounds of whiting with as much water as will go over the room; dissolve a tea-cupful of glue, and put in; then wash the walls with this to prevent the lime from affecting the chrome; if they come in contact, the walls will be striped, and will not look at all well. Mix a wash of whiting, water and glue, and color it with two pounds of chrome yellow. After walls have been yellow, and you want to have them white, they must be washed over with whiting and glue, and then white-washed in the usual way.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Yellow Ochre wash.</h3> <p></p> <p>Dissolve a pound of glue in hot water, and stir into it three pounds of yellow ochre, and one of whiting; mix it well, and thin it with water or skim milk. It is a suitable wash for a common room or kitchen.</p> <p>Lamp-black mixed with molasses, and put in white-wash, makes a good color for a kitchen.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Dye Orange Color.</h3> <p></p> <p>For five pounds of woolen yarn, have one pound of annotta; dissolve it in boiling water, and put it in a pot of soft water with half a pound of pearl-ash; boil them ten minutes, stirring it well; wet the yarn in soap-suds; put it in, and let it boil twenty minutes; then hang it in the sun, and when dry, if it is not deep enough, dip it in again; and after it is thoroughly dry, wash it in soap and water.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Green-wash.</h3> <p></p> <p>Take four pounds of blue vitriol, pound it fine, and mix with it three pounds of beat whiting, and half a pound of potash; pour on them six quarts of boiling water, and mix in half a pound of glue dissolved in water. Wash the walls with whiting before it is put on.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Chrome Yellow for Dyeing Carpet Rags.</h3> <p></p> <p>Dissolve the chrome in warm water in an earthen vessel; dip the rags in vinegar and water, then in the chrome dye, and hang in the sun to dry. This color will stand for years in a rag carpet, and is very little trouble. Six cents worth of chrome will dye several pounds.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Dye a Dark Drab.</h3> <p></p> <p>For ten pounds of cotton or wool, have half a bushel of maple bark, the same of sumach berries, and a peck of walnut hulls or bark; put a layer of this in an iron pot, and a layer of the wool, till all is in; cover it with water, and boil it slowly for three hours, keeping the pot filled with water; then hang it out, and when dry, wash one skein, and if it is not dark enough, strain the dye, and put in a tea-cup of copperas; put in the yarn, and let it scald a few minutes; take it out, dry it, and wash it well with soft soap and water.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Dye Cotton or Woollen Black.</h3> <p></p> <p>To each pound of yarn, have one ounce of copperas, nine of logwood, a handful of salt, and a quart of good vinegar, which boil with copperas ten minutes in a brass kettle; shave the logwood, and boil it in an iron pot; when the color is extracted, strain it into the vinegar; put in the yarn, and let it simmer twenty minutes stirring it; then hang it in the air, and if it is not black enough, boil it over. You should have a clear day to do all coloring in.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Cedar Dye.</h3> <p></p> <p>Boil the boughs of cedar in two or three gallons of water, for several hours, in an iron vessel; strain it off, add half a tea-spoonful of copperas, put it on the fire, and put in the articles you wish to dye; let them boil a few minutes, then hang them up to dry. This will dye sage color, and can be used for cotton, woollen or silk, and has the advantage of retaining its color. The cedar boughs should he used in the fall of the year, when the berries are on them. Pear bark is an improvement and makes the color darker.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Dye Olive.</h3> <p></p> <p>Make a strong sage tea, and add copperas and alum till it is dark; strain it; dip the cloth or silk in weak soap-suds, and then in the dye, and air it, till it is the color you wish.</p> <p>Maple bark and copperas make a good dark color for common purposes.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Dye Yellow.</h3> <p></p> <p>Boil peach leaves when they are turning yellow in the fall, with a little alum.</p> <p>Onion skins boiled with alum make a good yellow.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Dye Brown.</h3> <p></p> <p>Take young walnuts, with some of the leaves and bark; wash your wool in soap-suds; put a layer of it in a barrel, and a layer of the walnuts; fill it up with water, and put a weight on the top; at the end of a week wring it out, and let it lay in the hot sun two hours; put it back in the dye, and at the end of another week, sun it again; keep it in until sufficiently dark, when wash it in soap-suds. This makes a pretty brown that will not fade, and is stronger than when dyed with copperas.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Dye Red.</h3> <p></p> <p>To four pounds of yarn, take one pound of fine alum, and boil it in as much water as will cover the yarn; put in the yarn, and let it boil gently half an hour; then take it out and dry it; make a dye of two pounds of madder, and two ounces of crude tartar pulverized, and boil it; then put in the yarn, and let it boil half an hour; take it out and air it, and if it is not dark enough, put it in again, and boil it longer.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Brazil Wood Dye.</h3> <p></p> <p>Tie two pounds of red or Brazil wood in a thin bag, and boil it for several hours in a brass or copper kettle in water; take out the Brazil wood and add a pound of alum, then put the rags in, and let them boil some time; hang them in the sun, and dry without washing them. This will dye woolen <i>red</i>, and cotton <i>pink</i>. Washing in soap suds will change it to purple.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Lead Color.</h3> <p></p> <p>Take four ounces of red wood, two of logwood, half an ounce of pounded nut-galls, and quarter of a pound of green copperas; boil them in ten gallons of water, and strain it; wash the wool or cloth in soap-suds, put it in, and let it remain till it is as dark as you wish it; dry it in the sun, and wash it in soap-suds. Sugar paper, boiled in vinegar, makes a good lead color for stockings.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Dye Scarlet.</h3> <p></p> <p>Take one pound of blood root, and one pound of madder, boil them in six gallons of ley, then stir them three or four times in twenty-four hours, till there are signs of fermentation. This dyes ten pounds of cotton or linen.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Dye Yarn Green.</h3> <p></p> <p>Take one ounce of best Spanish indigo, finely powdered, and half a pound of oil of vitriol; put them in a bottle, and let them stand in the sun a week; shake it often, but do not cork it tight, lest it should burst the bottle; take four pounds of black-oak bark, and the same of hickory, shave them fine, and soak them till wet through; then boil them in ten gallons of water till all the color is extracted; when take out the chips, put in a pound of alum; shake the bottle of indigo and vitriol, and pour it in; let them boil together a few minutes, and put in the yarn; turn it over several times, and let it boil half an hour; then spread it out in the sun for about an hour, and wash it well in strong soap-suds through two waters, to keep it from becoming tender. This will color ten pounds of yarn. You may have a fine blue color by omitting the bark. It will not answer for any thing but wool or silk, as the vitriol will destroy linen or cotton.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Dye Cotton Blue.</h3> <p></p> <p>Boil a pound of chipped logwood in water enough to cover the cotton; take out half a gallon, and dissolve in it an ounce of verdigris, and one of alum; boil the yarn in the logwood water an hour, stirring it, and keeping it loose; then take it out, and mix in the verdigris; put back the yarn, and let it boil four hours, stir all the time, and take it out every hour to give it air, dry it in the sun, and the next day boil it in soap-suds. This will dye six pounds of cotton a deep blue. After it is done, you may put in as much more, and it will dye a pale blue.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Keep Apples in Winter.</h3> <p></p> <p>Pick them carefully, so as not to bruise them; put them in an out-house, exposed to the north, either in boxes, or barrels, or lying in heaps; after they have been several weeks in this situation, pick them over and put them in barrels which should be headed; if the weather is not severe, let them remain in this cold situation as long as it will be safe, without their being frozen, then remove them to the cellar. Do not shut the windows till the severe weather comes on. Some persons pack them, in dry chaff, or sand, and put them in barrels and boxes in a cool garret.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Directions for Making Matresses.</h3> <p></p> <p>If you have an old curled hair matress, you can make two, that will be equally useful as those that are composed of curled hair, by using cotton and hackled corn husks, in alternate layers with the hair. Some persons use a quantity of green corn, and save all the husks, and strip them with a fork, or hackle, and spread them on a garret floor to dry; they are nicer in this state than prepared from the dry husk; but if you have not sufficient, take the dry husks from corn that has been stripped off the top and blade in the field, and have it hackled as flax; for one matress, have as much as will fill two flour barrels tightly packed; sixteen pounds of refuse cotton, (such as is sometimes sold very low at the factories,) and half the hair of an old matress, (which should be well picked;) measure the bedstead you wish it for, and allow to each breadth of the ticking, a quarter of a yard in length over; for a small matress less should be allowed, and the same in width, (as it takes up in making;) cut the side strips as deep as you wish the matress, fit the corners, cut out a place for the foot posts, or fit each end square alike; after the bottom and sides are sewed together, run a tuck all round to save binding, sew the tick in a quilting frame, and stay it to the end pieces as a quilt; put a table under to support the weight, (which can be shifted as it is sewed;) first put a layer of hair, then cotton, then husks alternately, till it is done; be careful to let the hair be next the ticking; put some all round the sides and edges. When all is in, put on the top, and baste it down with strong thread; then with a chalk line strike across, to form squares to sew it by. Have a long needle prepared and polished smoothly, threaded with twine, or several strands of strong shoe thread; this should be well waxed, and long enough to go through and back again; have tufts, or two pieces of strong cloth prepared, to secure the stitches on both sides; one person should be under the frame, to pull the needle through and put it back; it should be tied tightly as possible; when you have done stitching, the matress should be sewed all round, taken out of the frame and the raw edges bound. They can be made of cotton and husks, without hair, or cotton alone. Those that have sheep can use the coarse wool, (and such as is not profitable for manufacturing,) with the husks, it is more elastic than cotton. Many persons are deprived of one of the greatest comforts in summer, and sleep on feathers, when a little care in preparing the materials, and putting them together would furnish your chambers with the most healthy and pleasant beds; a large cotton sheet should be kept on a matress, or a case made of unbleached muslin, this covering should be occasionally washed and starched. If you cannot get husks, straw will answer, or hay.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Make a Rag Carpet.</h3> <p></p> <p>Ten pounds of purple warp, ten of green, four of yellow, seven of red, will make a pretty stripe, mingled and arranged according to your fancy; the above quantity of warp, with fifty-eight pounds of rags will make forty-two yards, yard wide. In most cities warp can be purchased ready colored. A very good proportion is a pound and a quarter of rags, and three-quarters of a pound of warp to the yard. Save all the scraps in cutting out work; have a bag for the purpose hanging in a convenient place, and when you have leisure cut them. Old muslin garments that are not worth giving away, may be torn in strips and colored. In cutting out clothes for boys, from men's garments, there will always be scraps and strips. By purchasing a little red flannel to mix in, the appearance is improved. A carpet wears cleaner to be about one-third cotton, and two-thirds woollen rags to mix the colors. Do not sew a strip that is longer than three yards, and the cotton should be much shorter, as the warp is usually of that material, there is more danger from fire.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Keep Furs and Woollens.</h3> <p></p> <p>Crack the grains of black pepper, and sprinkle in among your furs and woollen clothes; after they have been shaken and aired, fold them smooth and put them in linen bags or sheets; keep them in a large trunk or dark closet, and look at them once through the summer to see that they are safe. Tobacco and camphor are also good to pack them in, but the smell continues with them a long time, and is disagreeable to some persons. They should be well shaken and aired before they are worn.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Keep Curtains.</h3> <p></p> <p>Take the curtains down in the spring, shake them carefully and brush the dust from them; let them air a day, but not so that the sun will fade them; then fold them neatly, and pin them up in sheets.</p> <p>Moreen or worsted curtains require the same care as woollen cloths.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Keep Blankets in Summer.</h3> <p></p> <p>If you have any blankets that are soiled and require washing in the spring, have it nicely done; when they are perfectly dry, put them on a bedstead in a spare chamber, keeping out one to use on each bed through the summer; spread a large sheet over; tuck under all round, and secure the corners with pins; tins will keep them from dust and moths, and makes a good bed to use in hot weather.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Carpets, &amp;c.</h3> <p></p> <p>When you take up carpets in the spring to put down matting, have them well shaken, and if there are any spots on them, they should be washed off with a stiff brush and dried; if there is oil or grease spilt on them, mix up whiting or nice clay with water; spread it on both sides of the spot, and baste thick paper over it. When dry, fold it up the size of a bedstead, and pin a coarse sheet round it. In this way they will be secure from moths, and the addition of a few quilted comforts on the top, makes a very pleasant bed in summer. The small moth-fly appears early in the summer, and should always be destroyed when seen, as the moth is produced from the eggs which they deposit in woollens; by being careful to kill them when they first come, a house may be kept nearly clear of them. Select the softest brooms for sweeping carpets, as stiff ones wear them out.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>House Linen.</h3> <p></p> <p>Have a book in which to set down all the bed and table linen, towels and napkins; every article of which should be marked and numbered, and counted at least once a month.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Clean Paint.</h3> <p></p> <p>Rub some whiting very fine on a plate; have ready some clean warm water, and a piece of flannel, which dip in the water and squeeze very dry; then take as much whiting as will stick to the flannel, and rub the paint to remove dust or grease, then wash it well with clean water and wipe it dry with a soft cloth.</p> <p>Bran boiled in water, and left to settle, is very good to clean paint; use a soft cloth or flannel; it will take off fly specks and impart a gloss to the paint; wipe it quite dry. Unless soap is used with great care, it will injure paint.</p> <p>Varnished paint requires nothing but clean warm water and to be wiped dry.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Clean Bedsteads.</h3> <p></p> <p>In the summer, bedsteads should be brushed and searched every week; if they are infested with bugs, boil the sacking in ley and water, or put it in an oven, on some boards, after the bread is taken out, to kill the eggs; fill a large bottle with red pepper pods of the strongest kind, and fill it up with vinegar; put this in each crack of the bedsteads every morning, until they entirely disappear; never omit to search the bedsteads longer than a week. It is a good way to fill up all the cracks of the bedsteads with resin soap. After they are cleaned, move the bed from the wall and fill up every crack in the plastering with calcined plaster and water, or putty.</p> <p>Sometimes bed-bugs are brought in the cleanest houses before the family are aware of it. When persons return from travelling, the trunks should always be examined before they are taken into the chambers, or put away; a little care at the proper time will prevent much trouble. Some persons scald their bedsteads with boiling vinegar; the acid is said to dissolve the shell of the egg. If poison is used, great care is necessary.</p> <p>It is said that lard is good to use on bedsteads that are infested with bugs; the grease prevents their increase. All the cracks should be filled after the bedstead has been well searched.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Clean Floors.</h3> <p></p> <p>Scour all the spots with soap and sand, then go all over with the long scrubbing brush, a few boards at a time; rinse it well and wipe it dry. A floor that has been well cleaned, and dried without being walked on, will keep clean much longer than one that has been half done; too much soap or ley makes a floor look yellow.</p> <p>Bare floors are very pleasant in summer, and when they get a few spots, they can be taken out with dry white sand, and a shoe-sole, and will not need scrubbing more than two or three times in a summer.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Cleaning Cellars--Rats, Roaches.</h3> <p></p> <p>In the spring, cellars should be swept, and all refuse vegetables taken out; if left till warm weather, they will become putrid, and endanger the health of your family. The sprouts should be rubbed from the potatoes; all the barrels should be moved and swept under. Have boards laid on the floor for meat and fish barrels, and after they are emptied, have them washed and drained ready for use. Empty flour barrels should be swept out and the heads and hoops saved. Have lime sprinkled over the cellar floor twice during the summer, or oftener if it should be necessary. If the windows are kept shut in warm weather, the air will be unwholesome. Do not trust to servants, examine and see that it is done thoroughly.</p> <p>The apartments where cold meat and milk are kept should be cobwebbed and swept once a week, and the safe washed out at least that often. If the cellar is paved with brick, keep a part of it washed clean, to set cold meat and milk on; cover them with tin pans and put a weight on the top if rats are troublesome. If there are rat holes have them stopped with pieces of brick, and broken glass bottles; never use ratsbane without the greatest caution, as it is a dangerous remedy. No food or milk should be in the cellar at the time, and keep it locked up all the while it is there. I have heard of lives being lost by it. Have water set about in pans for the rats to drink, and after three days, clear it all away and have the cellar cleaned and aired before putting any thing in it. Several persons have been in great danger from burning the arsenic; when it is used it should be put deep in the ground and covered up.</p> <p>Mice are kept under by a good cat, and traps. If roaches are troublesome, set bowls or deep dishes, with molasses and a plate on the top, with room for them to get in, and set it close to a wall. I have seen hundreds caught in this way in one night, and it is much safer than setting any thing poisonous about the kitchen or pantry. They should be burnt in the morning, and the dishes set again at night. If you find a closet infested with ants, remove every thing that will attract them, scald and clean it well, and they will soon leave it. It is said that strips of cotton or linen dipped in spirits of turpentine, and placed about the closets, will drive them away.</p> <p>Mats should be placed at all the outside doors, and at the top and bottom of the cellar stairs.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Putting Straw under Carpets.</h3> <p></p> <p>It is thought that carpets wear better when straw is spread over the floor before they are put down, and it will prevent the dust from rising so much. Care should be taken to have them well tacked down, as it is dangerous on account of fire. Where straw is used, they may be kept down a much longer time without being shaken.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Picking Geese, &amp;c.</h3> <p></p> <p>When you pick geese and ducks, have a tub of boiling water; dip each one in, turning it over to let every part be well scalded, and as each one is scalded, wrap it up in a cloth, and when they are nearly cold, pick them. In this way the pen feathers are loosened, and they can be picked much cleaner. Wetting the feathers does not hurt them if they are well dried. They should be put in bags, and frequently sunned. Baking them in the oven after the bread comes out, cures them more thoroughly than any other way. Turkey and chicken feathers are not so good for beds as goose and duck; they may be picked in the same way.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Marble, &amp;c.</h3> <p></p> <p>Marble mantles should be washed but seldom; wipe off spots with a damp cloth, and rub them dry. Hearths should be washed with soap and water. When there is a spot of grease, mix clay or whiting with soft soap, and put on. Soap-stone hearths may be scoured with soap and fine sand, and washed off.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Restore Colors taken out by Acid, &amp;c.</h3> <p></p> <p>Hartshorn rubbed on a silk or woollen garment will restore the color without injuring it. Spirits of turpentine is good to take grease or drops of paint out of cloth; apply it till the paint can be scraped off. Rub French chalk or magnesia on silk or ribbon that has been greased and hold near the fire; this will absorb the grease so that it may be brushed off.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To make New Feather Beds.</h3> <p></p> <p>In making new feather beds, put half a pound of cayenne, and half a pound of black pepper in each bed; this will prevent the moths from getting into new feathers that have not been well cured. It is best to air your beds frequently, and shake them up, even if they are not slept in. It is the oil in the feathers that makes them smell bad, and when in constant use the heat of the body dries it up gradually; when beds or pillows have acquired this unpleasant smell, open them and put a few pounded cloves in each.</p> <p>When new beds are covered with cases, the moth will sometimes eat through without its being discovered. Covers also prevent the air from sweetening the feathers, and when new they should never be covered unless in use. When beds are slept on, it is best to have a thick cotton sheet, or if it is cold weather, a blanket between the under sheet and the bed, and have them washed and aired occasionally.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Clean Silver.</h3> <p></p> <p>Wash the silver in soda water, rub it with whiting, and polish it with a piece of dry buckskin. Embossed silver requires a stiff brush. Another way is to let the silver lay in chalk and water for an hour, then take it out, and wipe it dry on flannel; polish it with a piece of buckskin.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Britannia Ware.</h3> <p></p> <p>First wash it clean in soap-suds, then rub it with a woollen cloth and whiting, and polish off with dry buckskin.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Brass.</h3> <p></p> <p>First rub the brasses with turpentine, vinegar or whiskey, then with rotten-stone and a woollen cloth, and polish off with a piece of soft leather.</p> <p>For brasses that have been long out of use, chalk and vinegar may be used.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Clean Stoves or Grates.</h3> <p></p> <p>Have the stove slightly warm, and if there is rust on it rub it off with a dry brush; mix some black lead or British lustre with boiling water, rub it on a small part of the stove at a time, and polish it with a stiff brush. If the stove needs but little cleaning, wet the spots with water, dust a little lead on the brush and rub it quickly. The black lead should be washed off several times a year, and then renewed. Sheet iron stoves should be rubbed with a woollen cloth, as a brush is apt to streak. The lead may be mixed with the white of an egg in cold water. Alum water is good to mix lustre; it prevents the stove from rusting.</p> <p>To polish the hearth of a Franklin stove, rub it over with a piece of grindstone, or use coarse sand with the sole of a shoe; when it begins to look bright, polish it with pumice stone.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Cement to Mend Cracks in Stoves.</h3> <p></p> <p>Take two parts of ashes, three of clay, and one of sand; mix them well together with water, and put it on when the stove is cold. It is also good to stop a leak in a roof.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Fire-proof Cement.</h3> <p></p> <p>Slack a peck of lime in boiling water; put into it three pounds of salt, three of brown sugar, and one of alum; mix them well together, and color it with lamp-black or ochre. This has been recommended to put on the roof of a building that is exposed to fire.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Take Spots out of Mahogany.</h3> <p></p> <p>Put a piece of paper on the spot, and hold a warm iron over it, then rub it with a waxed cloth. If furniture is hurt with flies, it should be well washed with a cloth, and rubbed with a cork and a waxed cloth.</p> <p>Varnished furniture should be first rubbed with sweet oil, and then with a waxed cloth.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Take Grease out of Floors.</h3> <p></p> <p>Mix clay or fullers' earth with ley, and put a thick coat on the grease spot; scrape it off every few days, and put on more. To put soft soap on the place, and rub it over with a hot iron, will take out the grease.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Wash for Hearths.</h3> <p></p> <p>Mix red ochre in milk, and put it on the hearths with a brush.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Blacking for Boots and Shoes.</h3> <p></p> <p>Take one ounce of vitriolic acid, one wine-glass of olive oil, two ounces of ivory black, an ounce of gum arabic, a quart of vinegar, and a tea-cup of molasses; put the vitriol and oil together, then add the ivory black and other ingredients; when all are well mixed, bottle it.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Make Boots and Shoes Water-proof.</h3> <p></p> <p>Take one pint of linseed oil, one ounce of Burgundy pitch, two of beeswax, and two of spirits of turpentine; melt them carefully over a slow fire. With this you may rub new or old shoes in the sun, or at a short distance from the fire, and they will last longer, never shrink, and keep out water.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Make Blacking for Morocco Shoes.</h3> <p></p> <p>Pound some black sealing wax, and put in a bottle with half a pint of alcohol; shake it frequently, and when it is dissolved, you may rub it on morocco shoes when they are scaled or defaced, and they will look almost like new; dry it on in the sun.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Grease Eggs for Winter.</h3> <p></p> <p>In the spring when eggs are plenty and cheap, it is very well to put up several hundred, to use in the winter, when it is very difficult to get them, even in the country.</p> <p>Grease each egg with sweet lard, and as you do so, lay them in a keg or jar, or old tin vessels that are out of use; put them in a dry closet and keep them covered over; if they are put in the cellar, they are liable to mould, which spoils them entirely. Do not put in any cracked ones, or they will injure the rest. In this way they have been known to keep a year, and were nearly as good for puddings, or batter cakes, as fresh eggs. They do not do to boil, or make pound or sponge cake, as they lose part of their lightening property.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Keep Eggs in Lime Water.</h3> <p></p> <p>Pour two gallons of hot water on a pint of lime and half a pint of salt; put the eggs in a jar or keg, and when it is cold, pour it over them, and put them in a cellar to keep; be sure that there are no cracked ones. Eggs may be kept a month or longer, spread out separately on dishes, so as one will not lay on another. They will keep best in a dark closet.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Clean Soiled Eggs.</h3> <p></p> <p>When eggs are discolored from laying on the ground, wash them first in strong vinegar, and then in cold water, and wipe them dry on a soft towel.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Chloride of Lime.</h3> <p></p> <p>A few spoonsful of chloride of lime dissolved in some water in a bowl or saucer, is very useful to purify the apartment of an invalid, or in any case where there is an unpleasant smell, of any kind. It is a cheap article, and should always he kept convenient where there is sickness in the house.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Take Lime out of Cloth.</h3> <p></p> <p>Lime spots on woollen clothes may be effectually removed, by putting a little strong vinegar on the part, which completely neutralizes the lime, and does not usually effect the color; but it will be safest to wash it over with a cloth dipped in water, and rub it till nearly dry.</p> <p>Hartshorn and alcohol mixed together are very useful in taking spots out of cloth or merino, applied with something that will not leave lint.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Take Wax or Spermaceti out of Cloth.</h3> <p></p> <p></p> <p>Hold a red hot flat-iron within an inch or two of the cloth, and this will make the wax or spermaceti evaporate entirely; then rub the place with a towel (that is free from lint) or clean brown paper.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Remove a Stopper from a Decanter.</h3> <p></p> <p>Wet a cloth with hot water and wrap it round the neck of the bottle; this will cause the glass to expand, and the neck will be enlarged so as to allow of the stopper to be withdrawn, without any trouble.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Precautions against Fire.</h3> <p></p> <p>Perhaps it may not be improper to remark that houses have been saved from being destroyed by fire at night, by there having been buckets of water left in the kitchen.</p> <p>Never go to bed without seeing that there is a supply in readiness. Housekeepers should also arrange their family affairs so as to have as little going about with lights by servants as possible. Chimneys should be swept at proper intervals, and if you burn them, let it be on a rainy morning and never at night.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Take Ink and Stains out of Linen.</h3> <p></p> <p>Dip the spotted part in pure melted tallow, then wash out the tallow and the ink will come out with it. If you get a stain of fruit of any kind on linen, boil a little new milk, and dip the parts in and out for a few minutes; this must be done before any water is used, or it will not be likely to succeed. Oxalic acid, or salt and lemon juice are good, and care should be taken to rinse the articles well after the application.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Herbs, Gardens and Yards.</h3> <p></p> <p>If you have a garden, be careful to raise herbs, both for cooking and to use in sickness. Parsley, thyme, sage and sweet marjoram occupy very little room in a garden, and cannot very well be dispensed with for kitchen use; and every family should have a bunch of wormwood; it is a fine tonic, either made while fresh, cut fine, with cold water, or after it has been dried, made with boiling water. Tansey is also a useful herb. Hoarhound is excellent for coughs, and is particularly useful in consumptive complaints, either as a syrup or made into candy. Balm is a cooling drink in a fever. Catnip tea is useful when you have a cold, and wish to produce a perspiration, and is good for infants that have the colic. Garlic is good for colds, and for children that have the croup; you should have some taken up in the fall to use through the winter. The root of elecampane gathered in the fall, scraped, sliced, and strung with a needle and thread to dry, will keep its strength for several years, and is useful for a cough with hoarhound. Rue is a valuable herb, a tea made of it and sweetened is good for worms.</p> <p>It is not expected that persons living in a town should have room in their garden for herbs, but they are generally to be purchased at market, and should always be kept in the house, as sometimes in the winter they are much needed when it is difficult to find them.</p> <p>Herbs should be spread out on a cloth to dry; turn them every day; when dry, put them in thick paper bags, and close up the top, so as to exclude the air. They can be kept hanging up, or laid on the shelf of a closet, where they will not be affected by damp.</p> <p>Such herbs as sage, thyme and sweet marjoram, when thoroughly dry, should be pounded, sifted, and corked in bottles. Parsley should be cut fine with a pair of scissors, dried, and put in bottles; it is nearly as good this way as when fresh; keep it in a dark closet.</p> <p>Where you have a garden, do not throw away the soap-suds that are left from washing, as they are very good to water herbs and flowers.</p> <p>It is very important to have early vegetables. A garden that is spaded, or ploughed in the winter, is ready to plant much earlier. There are many things that will bear the spring frosts without injury, and if planted early will be ready to grow when the fine weather comes. Tomatoes should be sowed in boxes or a hot-bed to be ready to transplant.</p> <p>The scrapings of a cellar are good to put in the garden to enrich it. Ashes sprinkled on a yard, or grass plat, will keep down the coarse grass, and produce white clover.</p> <p>The grass should be cut out of a brick pavement with a knife, and boiling ley poured on to kill the roots.</p> <p>Seeds should be saved as they ripen, from the finest plants; they should be kept in a box with a tight lid to keep them from mice.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Greasers for Bake-irons.</h3> <p></p> <p>Take pieces of fat from the back bone, or chine of pork; cut them in pieces of half a pound each; leave the skin on; salt them. They will do to grease the bake-iron where you have buckwheat cakes every morning in winter, and should be kept in a cool place; after remaining in salt several weeks, they may be hung up in an airy place. This is nicer than suet.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Cement for the Tops of Bottles or Jars.</h3> <p></p> <p>Take equal parts of rosin and brick-dust pounded fine; a lump of beeswax; stew them together, and keep in an old tin, melting it when you want to seal your bottles or jars.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Cement for Mending Cast-iron.</h3> <p></p> <p>To mend a crack or sand hole in an iron pot, beat up the white of an egg, and mix equal weight of salt and sifted ashes; work it very smooth and fill up the crack, let it harden before it is used. If it is a large sand hole you wish to mend, put in a rivet and secure it with the cement, if it gets loose it is easily fastened by the same process.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Weather Proof Cement.</h3> <p></p> <p>Take of fine sand one part, two of clay, three of ashes; mix with linseed oil to the consistency required. Put it on with a towel or brush. It is said to become as hard as marble.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Cleanse Vials, &amp;c.</h3> <p></p> <p>Put ashes and water in each one, and boil them in water, letting them heat gradually. Pie plates may be cleansed in the same way. Iron pots that have been used for boiling milk, may be cleaned by boiling ashes and water in them.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Mending China with Milk.</h3> <p></p> <p>China can be mended if not too badly broken, by boiling it in skim milk, it should be entirely clear of cream, or the oily particles will prevent its adhesion. Tie the pieces with tape or fine cord, put them into a kettle of cold milk, and let them boil two hours, then take it off the fire, and when cold take the china out, and set it away; let it stand for several months. China pitchers, tea-pot lids, cup-plates and dishes, have been used for years after being mended in this way.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Mending China with White Lead.</h3> <p></p> <p>Take the bottom of an old paint keg, and carefully with a small knife, put it on the edge of glass or china, close the parts together, and place away; if badly broken, mend the small parts first, and set away; then when dry, putty the edges you wish to join carefully, and set on the top shelf of a closet, where it will be undisturbed for a year.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Linseed Oil for Furniture.</h3> <p></p> <p>For polishing mahogany or walnut furniture, (that has never been varnished) linseed oil has been recommended. It possesses a tendency to harden and become solid, on long exposure to the air. It is this peculiar quality that renders it useful in its application to furniture. Rub the furniture you wish to polish (having previously washed all the wax from it with soap and water) all over with the oil; a small piece of sponge is suitable for the purpose, let it remain a few minutes so as to sink in the wood; then rub it in with a soft cloth, and again with a clean cloth. Do this every other day and your table will soon be fit to use for breakfast or tea without fear of spoiling the polish; when you wash it off it should be done with plain warm water, as soap will injure it. It is best not to use a table till it has had several rubbings with the oil, and then apply it once a week. The pores being filled with the application it becomes hard. Always give a table that is in use a rub with a dry cloth every morning.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>For Filtering Water.</h3> <p></p> <p>Put a thick layer of pounded charcoal, (say six inches,) at the bottom of a large earthen flower-pot; over this, lay a bed of fine sand, which has been washed, (to prevent its giving a taste to the water;) pour the water in the filterer and put a large stone pitcher under to receive it.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>On A Larger Scale.</h3> <p></p> <p>Prepare a tight barrel by charring it on the inside, (by having some hickory or oak shavings burnt in it,) then put in half a peck of quick lime, and fill it with water. After the lime water has stood in the barrel for two weeks, it will be ready for use.</p> <p>This preparation of the barrel is necessary to remove the acid from the wood, which would communicate an unpleasant taste to the water.</p> <p>Fit a partition in the barrel, (perforated with many holes,) about three inches from the bottom of the barrel, and having put in a tube, to go down from the top through the partition nearly to the bottom, put on the perforated partition some broken charcoal, then finer charcoal a foot thick, then about a foot of clean washed sand.</p> <p>To use this filter pour the water through the tube, (which should be open at the top like a funnel;) the water runs to the bottom, and filters upward, leaving all the impurities at the bottom.</p> <p>The pure water is drawn off from the top of the barrel by means of a spile or faucet.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Keep Water Cool in Summer, when you have not Ice.</h3> <p></p> <p>Where you live at a distance from water, and wish to keep it cool, put a large stone vessel in the coldest place you can find; fill it with water, cover it with a towel and wrap a wet cloth around it; this will keep it cool for some hours, which is a comfort in warm weather.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Purify Water.</h3> <p></p> <p>To put a small lump of lime into your water-cask is useful. Agitating and exposing it to the air, will help to keep it fresh.</p> <p>Strain muddy water through a sieve, in which a cloth or sponge, (or a layer of fine sand or charcoal,) has been placed.</p> <p>Hard water may be softened and rendered suitable for washing, by adding to every twelve gallons of water, about a quarter of a pound of sal soda.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Gum Arabic Paste.</h3> <p></p> <p>Pulverize in a mortar an ounce of gum arabic, pour on boiling water and stir it till dissolved; do not put too much water. If you wish to keep this paste any length of time, put it in a wide-mouthed phial, and pour alcohol over it; keep it corked, and as you use it, you may thin it with water if required; put it on with a feather or brush.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Preserving Kettles.</h3> <p></p> <p>Bell-metal, copper and brass kettles require very nice cleaning immediately before they are used, or it will endanger your health. Vinegar with salt or ashes should be used; save the vinegar that is left in the pickle jars for this purpose.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Clean Knives and Forks.</h3> <p></p> <p>In some families the knives are a great care to the housekeeper, but by proper management it is rendered easy. After using them, they should be wiped with a cloth, dipped in warm water, then wiped dry, (the handles should never be put in hot water,) then polish them with Bristol or Bath brick, which, with the rubbing cloths, should be kept in a small box, with a strip of leather nailed on one edge, on which to polish them after they are rubbed with the brick.</p> <p>Knives that are not in daily use should be wrapped in raw cotton and then in paper, and if kept in a dry place will not be liable to rust.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Clean Teeth. <i>With Remarks on Fixing the Habit, &amp;c.</i></h3> <p></p> <p>Pulverized charcoal mixed with honey, is very good to cleanse teeth, and make them white. A little Peruvian bark put in a phial with lime water is excellent to use occasionally by those that have offensive teeth; and tincture of myrrh mixed with a little water, may be used with advantage, to harden the gums. A little Peruvian bark put in the teeth just before going to bed, and washed out in the morning, is an excellent preservative of teeth. It is very important for parents to insist on children cleaning their teeth, at least, it is well for them to begin before they lose their first set, as it makes them last longer, and fixes the habit, which is of great importance.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Clean Kid Gloves.</h3> <p></p> <p>Take a piece of flannel; moisten it with a little milk; rub it on a cake of mild soap, and apply it to the soiled spots on the gloves; as soon as the dirt is removed, rub the spot with a dry piece of flannel, and dry them on the hands. Care must be taken that the gloves are not made too wet, or they will have a wrinkled appearance. Dark gloves that are worn in winter, should be exposed to the sun for about a quarter of an hour in the spring, before putting them away, or they will be liable to spot.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Clean Papered Walls.</h3> <p></p> <p>Cut the crust off of stale bread very thick, and rub the walls carefully from top to bottom, in a straight line, using a fresh piece of bread as soon as it looks much soiled.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>To Take Old Putty from Window Glass.</h3> <p></p> <p>Warm an iron, and rub it on the glass opposite the putty; this melts the oil, and you may easily remove the putty.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <h3>Cutting Glass for Mending Windows.</h3> <p></p> <p>If you want to cut glass for mending windows, and have no diamond, dip a piece of cotton twine into turpentine, and stretch it tightly across the glass where you wish to break it; then set the string on fire, and after it is burned, break the glass while it is warm.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <hr> <p></p> <p></p> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />