Part 32
Have a wooden horse to put the clothes on, and a small cane or small hand-whip to beat the dust out of them; also a board or table long enough for them to be put their whole length when brushing them. Have two brushes, one hard and the other soft: use the hardest for the great coats, and the others when spotted with dirt. Fine cloth coats should never be brushed with too hard a brush, as this will take off the nap, and make them look bare in a little time. Be careful in the choice of your cane; do not have it too large, and be particular not to hit too hard; be careful also not to hit the buttons, for it will scratch, if not break them.
If a coat be wet, and spotted with dirt, let it be quite dry before you brush it; then rub out the spots with the hands, taking care not to rumple it. If it want beating, do it as before directed; then lay the coat at its full length on a board; let the collar be towards the left hand, and the brush in the right; brush the back of the collar first, between the two shoulders next, and then the sleeves, &c. observing to brush the cloth the same way that the nap goes, which is towards the bottom of the coat. When both sides are properly done, fold them together; then brush the inside, and last of all the collar.
TO TAKE OUT GREASE FROM CLOTHES.
Have a hot iron with some thick brown paper: lay the paper on the part where the grease is, then put the iron upon the spot; if the grease comes through the paper, put on another piece, till it does not soil the paper. If not all out, wrap a little bit of cloth or flannel round the finger, dip it into spirit of wine, and rub the grease spot; this will take it entirely out. Be careful not to have the iron too hot; but try it on a piece of white paper, and if it turn the paper brown, or scorch in the least, it is too hot. If paint should get on the coats, always have spirit of wine or turpentine ready, which, with a piece of flannel or cloth, will easily take it off, if not left to get quite dry.
TO CLEAN TEA TRAYS.
Do not pour boiling water over them, particularly on japanned ones, as it will make the varnish crack and peel off; but have a sponge wetted with warm water and a little soap, if the tray be very dirty, then rub it with a cloth; if it looks smeary, dust on a little flour, then rub it with a dry cloth. If the paper tray gets marked, take a piece of woollen cloth, with a little sweet oil, and rub it over the marks; if any thing will take them out this will. Let the urn be emptied, and the top wiped dry, particularly the outside, for if any wet be suffered to dry on, it will leave a mark.
METHOD OF DARKENING MAHOGANY.
Nothing more is necessary than to wash the mahogany with lime-water, which may be readily made by dropping a nodule of lime into a bason of water.
TO WASH AND CLEAN GENTLEMEN’S GLOVES.
Wash them in soap and water till the dirt is got out, then stretch them on wooden hands, or pull them out in their proper shape. Never wring them as that puts them out of form and makes them shrink; put them one upon another and press the water out. Then rub the following mixture over the outside of the gloves. If wanted quite yellow, take yellow ochre; if quite white, pipe clay; if between the two, mix a little of each together. By proper mixture of these any shade may be produced. Mix the colour with beer or vinegar.
Let them dry gradually, not too near the fire nor in too hot a sun; when they are about half dried rub them well, and stretch them out to keep them from shrinking and to soften them. When they are well rubbed and dried take a small cane and beat them, then brush them; when this is done iron them rather warm, with a piece of paper over them, but do not let the iron be too hot.
TO MANAGE WATER-PIPES IN WINTER.
When the frost begins to set in, cover the water-pipes with hay or straw bands, twisted tight round them. Let the cisterns and water butts be washed out occasionally; this will keep the water pure and fresh.
In pumping up water into the cistern for the water-closet, be very particular, in winter-time, as in general the pipes go up the outside of the house. Let all the water be let out of the pipe when you have done pumping; but if this be forgotten, and it should get frozen, take a small gimblet and bore a _hole_ in the pipe, a little distance from the place where it is let off, which will prevent its bursting. Put a peg in to the hole when the water is let off. Pump the water up into the cistern, for the closet every morning, and once a week take a pail of water, and cast it into the basin, having first opened the trap at the bottom; this will clear the soil out of the pipe.
TO PRESERVE HATS.
Hats require great care, or they will soon look shabby. Brush them with a soft camel-hair brush, which will keep the fur smooth. Have a stick for each hat, to keep it in its proper shape, especially if the hat be wet: put the stick in as soon as the hat is taken off, and when dry put it into a hat-box, particularly if not in constant use, as the air and dust soon turn hats brown. If the hat is very wet, handle it as lightly as possible; wipe it dry with a cloth or silk handkerchief; then brush it with the soft brush.
VARNISH FOR WAINSCOTTING, SMALL ARTICLES OF FURNITURE, BALUSTRADES, AND INSIDE RAILING.
Take gum sandarac, 6 oz. shell lac, 2 oz. colophonium, or resin, white glass pounded, clear turpentine, each 4 oz. pure alcohol, 32 oz. Dissolve the varnish according to the directions given for compound mastic varnish.
This varnish is sufficiently durable to be applied to articles destined to daily and continual use. Varnishes composed with copal ought, however, in these cases, to be preferred.
_Another._
Melt over a moderate fire, in a very clean vessel, two ounces of white or yellow wax; and, when liquefied, add four ounces of oil of turpentine. Stir the whole until it is entirely cool, and the result will be a kind of pomade fit for waxing furniture, and which must be rubbed over them according to the usual method. The oil of turpentine is soon dissipated; but the wax, which by its mixture is reduced to a state of very great division, may be extended with more ease, and in a more uniform manner. The essence soon penetrates the pores of the wood, calls forth the colour of it, causes the wax to adhere better, and the lustre which thence results is equal to that of varnish, without having any of its inconveniences.
COLOURED VARNISH FOR PLUM-TREE, MAHOGANY, AND ROSE-WOOD.
Take of gum sandarac, 4 oz. seed lac, 2 oz. mastic, Benjamin in tears, each 1 oz. pounded glass, 4 oz. Venice turpentine, 2 oz. pure alcohol, 32 oz.
The gum sandarac and lac render this varnish durable; it may be coloured with a little saffron or dragon’s blood.
TO MAKE BLACKING.
Take of ivory-black and treacle, each 12 oz. spermaceti oil, 4 oz. white wine vinegar, 4 pints. Mix.
This blacking, (recommended by Mr. Gray, lecturer on the materia medica,) is superior in giving leather a finer polish than any of those that are advertised, as they all contain sulphuric acid, (oil of vitriol,) which is necessary, to give it the polishing quality, but it renders leather rotten and very liable to crack.
_Another._
Take of vinegar, No. 18, (the common,) 1 quart, ivory-black, and treacle, each 6 oz. vitriolic acid, and spermaceti, (or common oil,) each 1½ oz. Mix the acid and oil first, afterwards add the other ingredients; if, when it is used, it does not dry quick enough on the leather, add a little more of the vitriol, a little at a time. When there is too much of the vitriolic acid, which is various in its strength, the mixture will give it a brown colour.
_Liquid Japan Blacking._
Take 3 ounces of ivory-black, 2 ounces of coarse sugar, one ounce of sulphuric acid, one ounce of muriatic acid, one table-spoonful of sweet oil and lemon acid, and one pint of vinegar. First mix the ivory-black and sweet oil together, then the lemon and sugar, with a little vinegar, to qualify the blacking; next add the sulphuric and muriatic acids, and mix them all well together.
_A Cheap Method._
Ivory-black, two ounces; brown sugar, one ounce and a half; and sweet oil, half a table spoonful. Mix them well, and then gradually add half a pint of small beer.
_Another Method._
A quarter of a pound of ivory-black, a quarter of a pound of moist sugar, a table spoonful of flour, a piece of tallow about the size of a walnut, and a small piece of gum arabic. Make a paste of the flour, and whilst hot, put in the tallow, then the sugar, and afterwards mix the whole well together in a quart of water.
_Bailey’s Composition for Blacking Cakes._
Take gum tragacanth, one ounce; neat’s-foot oil, super-fine ivory-black, deep blue, prepared from iron and copper, each two ounces; brown sugar-candy, river water, each four ounces. Having mixed well these ingredients, evaporate the water, and form it into cakes.
_Blacking Balls for Shoes._
Take mutton suet, four ounces; bees’ wax, one ounce; sweet oil, one ounce; sugar-candy and gum arabic, one dram each in fine powder; melt these well together over a gentle fire, and add thereto about a spoonful of turpentine, and lamp black sufficient to give it a good black colour. While hot enough to run, make it into a ball, by pouring the liquor into a thin mould; or let it stand till almost cold; when it may be moulded by the hand.
TO RENDER LEATHER WATER PROOF.
This is done by rubbing or brushing into the leather a mixture of drying oils, and any of the oxides or calxes of lead, copper, or iron: or by substituting any of the gummy resins, in the room of the metallic oxides.
FURNITURE PASTE.
Scrape four ounces of bees’-wax into a basin, and add as much oil of turpentine as will moisten it through. Then powder a quarter of an ounce of resin, and add as much Indian red as will bring it to a deep mahogany colour. When the composition is properly stirred up, it will prove an excellent cement or paste for blemishes in mahogany, and other furniture.
_Another Method._
Scrape four ounces of bees’-wax, as before. To a pint of oil of turpentine, in a glazed pipkin, add an ounce of alkanet-root. Cover it close, and put it over a slow fire, attending it carefully that it may not boil over, or catch fire. When the liquid is of a deep red, add as much of it to the wax as will moisten it through, also a quarter of an ounce of powdered resin. Cover the whole close, and let it stand six hours, when it will be fit for use.
_Furniture Oil._
Put some linseed-oil into a glazed pipkin, with as much alkanet root as it will cover. Let it boil gently, and it will become of a strong red colour: when cool it will be fit for use.
TO REMOVE FLIES FROM ROOMS.
Take half a tea-spoonful of black pepper, in powder, one tea-spoonful of brown sugar, and one table-spoonful of cream; mix them well together, and place them in the room, on a plate, where the flies are troublesome, and they will soon disappear.
_Another Way._
Dissolve two drams of extract of quassia in half a pint of boiling water, sweeten it, and pour it into plates to be set about the room. This mixture, though fatal to the flies, is not otherwise pernicious.
TO EXTINGUISH FIRE IN A CHIMNEY.
Put a wet blanket over the whole front of the fire-place, which will stop the current of air, and thus extinguish the flames.
TO CLEAN BOOT TOPS WHITE.
Take an ounce of oxalic acid, dissolve it in a pint of soft water, and keep it in a bottle well corked; dip a soft sponge into the mixture to clean the tops with, and if there are any spots which refuse to disappear, rub them with a little fine Bath brick dust: sponge the tops afterwards with clean water. Take particular care always to have any mixtures, or powders for boot-tops, labelled with the word poison in large letters, as fatal accidents have arisen from oxalic acid, being so like Epsom salts in appearance, as to be often taken for them in mistake.
TO CLEAN BOOT TOPS BROWN.
Take a pint of skimmed milk, half an ounce of spirits of salt, half an ounce of spirits of lavender, one ounce of gum Arabic, and the juice of two lemons; mix them well together, and keep them in a bottle closely corked; rub the tops with a sponge, but use no brick dust; and when they are dry, polish them with a brush or piece of flannel.
TO REMOVE UNPLEASANT ODOURS.
The unpleasant smell of new paint is best removed by time, and atmospheric ventilation: but tubs of water placed in the apartment will act more rapidly; with this inconvenience, however, that the gloss of the paint will be destroyed. Unpleasant smells from water-closets, or all articles of furniture connected with them, may be modified by the application of quick-lime, to which may be added the soap-suds that have been used in washing, which neutralize the pungently offensive salts. A little quick-lime put into a night-chair will destroy all disagreeable effluvia.
Aromatic pastiles of the following composition may be burned with great success: take of camphor, flowers of benzoin, powdered charcoal, powdered cascarilla bark, powdered Turkey myrrh, and powdered nitre, each equal quantities; beat them with syrup sufficient to form a mass, and divide into pastiles of conical shape. They may be mixed up with spirit of turpentine, or any thing inflammable.
TO CLEAN KNIVES AND FORKS.
Procure a smooth board, free from knots, or one covered with leather. If the latter, melt a sufficient quantity of mutton suet, and put it hot upon the leather with a piece of flannel; then take two pieces of soft Flanders brick, and rub them one against the other over the leather till it is covered with the powder, which rub in until no grease comes through, when a knife is passed over the leather, which may easily be known by the knife keeping its polish.
If only a plain board, rub the brick two or three times over it; for if too much be put on at once it will make the blades of the knives look rough and scratched. Let the board be of a proper height, and set so that you may be in a sloping position while cleaning the knives. Take a knife in each hand, holding them back to back; stand opposite the middle of the board; lay the knives flat upon it, and do not bear too hard upon them; by this method it will be easier to clean two knives at a time than one, and they will be less liable to be snapped or broken, when pressed on too heavily.
Be careful to keep a good edge on the knives. Carving knives in particular ought to be kept sharp, which may easily be done by taking one in each hand, back to back when cleaning, scarcely letting them touch the board when expanding the arms, but when drawing the hands together again, bearing a little hard on the edge of the knives; this will give them not only a good edge and a fine polish, but is much better than sharpening them with a steel.
The best way to clean steel forks is to fill a small oyster barrel with fine gravel, brick dust, or sand, mixed with a little hay or moss: make it moderately damp, press it well down, and let it always be kept damp. By running the prongs of the forks a few times into this, all the stains on them will be removed. Then have a small stick, shaped like a knife, with leather round it to polish between the prongs, &c. having first carefully brushed off the dust from them as soon as they are taken out of the tub. A knife board is often spoiled by cleaning forks, and the backs of the knives, upon it; to prevent this, fasten a piece of old hat or leather on the board where the forks and backs of knives are to be cleaned.
Always turn the back of the knives towards the palm of the hand in wiping them, which will prevent all danger from cutting. In wiping the forks put the corner of the cloth between the prongs, to remove any dirt or dust that may not have been thoroughly brushed out; and if there be silver ferules on the knives and forks, or silver handles, they must be rubbed with a piece of leather and plate powder, keeping the blades covered while the handles are cleaning.
Wipe the knives and folks as soon as possible after being used, as the longer they are left with grease and stains on them the harder they will be to clean; particularly if they have been used for acids, salads, tarts, &c. Have then a jug of hot water ready to put them into as soon as done with, and wipe them as before directed.
In order to keep knives and forks in good condition when they are not in use, rub the steel part with a flannel dipped in oil; wipe the oil off after a few hours, as there is often water in it; or dust the blades and prongs with quick-lime, finely powdered, and kept in a muslin bag.
TO CLEAN PLATED ARTICLES.
Plated articles require even more care than silver ones; they should be cleaned with soft brushes, not too often, and never with any thing but plate powder, not even whiting by itself; do not wet them more than can be helped or they will tarnish; nor brush them more than is necessary, or the silver will come off; the best thing for them is spirit of wine or oil, and take care that no plated articles remain long dirty or damp, for if they do they will rust, in case they are plated on steel, and canker if plated on copper.
Wash the brushes after the plate is cleaned with warm water and soap, and then set them to dry, with the wooden side uppermost.
THE UNDER BUTLER.
Is entirely under the controul and direction of the Butler. He cleans all the plate—the parlour knives and forks—lays the cloths—sets out the side-board, and assists to wait at table. As he is supposed to be busily employed, after dinner, in the Butler’s pantry, cleaning the plate, he is not usually expected to answer the bells at that period. He trims the lamps belonging to the dining and drawing-rooms, and is frequently required to assist the Butler in cleaning his master’s clothes and shoes. The Under Butler, generally looking to the situation of Butler, and as even in his present station he will have occasion for more particular directions, he will do well frequently to refer to the hints to the Butler, where he will find the immediate duties of the Butler and _himself_ more particularly given.
A chief part of his duty consists in assisting in the rough work of the butler, such as brewing, bottling, and cellar business in general, in all which he should be as expert as the butler himself.
Wages 16 to 25 guineas.
TO CLEAN CHINA AND GLASS.
The best material for cleaning either porcelain or glass-ware is fullers’ earth, but it must be beaten into a fine powder, and carefully cleared from all rough or hard particles, which might endanger the polish of the brilliant surface.
TO CLEAN PLATE.
Wash the plate in boiling water to free it from grease, and if it has wrought edges, brush it well before you begin to clean it. The leathers ought to be soft and very thick, and the sponges well soaked in water.
_Another Way._
Boil an ounce of prepared hartshorn-powder in a quart of water. While on the fire, put as much plate into it as the vessel will hold; let it boil a little time, then take it out, drain it over the saucepan, dry it before the fire, and rub it bright with leather. Then put more into the pan in the same manner until it is all boiled. Put clean linen rags into the pan to soak up the remainder, and when dry, they will give a beautiful polish to the plate merely by rubbing it with them. They are likewise admirable for cleaning brass locks, and the finger-plates of doors.—This method will only suit small articles of plate.
TO CLEAN PLATED ARTICLES.
Take an ounce of killed quicksilver, which you may buy at the chemist’s, and half a pound of the best whiting sifted; mix them with spirits of wine when used. Hartshorn-powder may be used instead of whiting; but whiting is quite as good, when dried and pounded.
TO GIVE SILVER PLATE A LUSTRE.
Dissolve alum in strong ley, skim it carefully, mix it with soap and wash your silver utensils with it, using a linen rag.
TO TAKE STAINS OUT OF SILVER PLATE.
Steep the plate in soap leys for the space of four hours; then cover it over with whiting wet with vinegar, so that it may stick thick upon it, and dry it by a fire; after which, rub off the whiting, and pass it over with dry bran, and the spots will not only disappear, but the plate will look exceedingly bright.
TO MAKE PLATE LOOK LIKE NEW.
Take of unslaked lime and alum, a pound each, of aqua vitæ and vinegar, each a pint, and of beer grounds, two quarts; boil the plate in these, and they will set a beautiful gloss upon it.
TO TAKE FRUIT SPOTS OUT OF CLOTH.
Let the spotted part of the cloth imbibe a little water without dipping, and hold the part over a lighted common brimstone match at a proper distance. The sulphurous gas which is discharged, will soon cause the spot to disappear.
_Plate Powder._
Whiting properly purified from sand, applied wet, and rubbed till dry, is one of the easiest, safest, and, certainly the cheapest, of all plate powders.
THE UNDER, SECOND, OR LADY’S COACHMAN.
The business of the _Under Coachman_, is precisely the same as that of the _Head Coachman_, as before detailed. He attends with the assistance of the helper, to the care and dressing of his horses, washing and cleaning the harness and the coach, which is always the second best, and is driven by him at night; whereas the best coach and the best horses, are driven by the Head Coachman by day.
Wages from 20_l._ to 24 guineas, with two suits of livery, a box coat occasionally, hat and boots—also one or two stable dresses.
He is sometimes required to ride as postillion, or as courier, when the family travel _post_.
THE UNDER COACHMAN.
If there be other Coachmen kept, their duties are similar to those of the first and second Coachmen, but their wages are somewhat lower, and the liveries, &c. not always quite so costly.
THE LADY’S FOOTMAN.
The chief business of this servant is to wait on his lady only, for whom he performs all the offices of a footman. He carries out all her messages and cards of invitation. He prepares the breakfast, and waits behind her chair both at breakfast and dinner—must be ready at all times to go out with his lady, either behind her carriage or on foot. For his more general duties, see the Directions to the Footman.
A genteel exterior and a good figure are principal recommendations of this servant; to which he should add great cleanliness in his person, and studied neatness in his dress. He is, of course, expected to assist the other servants in waiting at the dinner table, and to receive instructions through the lady’s maid, in whose out-door concerns he must officiate when required.
Wages 18l. to 25 Guineas—two liveries and a working dress.
THE UNDER FOOTMAN.
In families where two or more footmen are kept, the under footman is expected, and indeed, engages to do that part of the business of a footman, which is deemed the most laborious; that is, he cleans knives and forks—boots and shoes—carries up the coals and attends all the fires above stairs during the day. He likewise carries out cards, messages, &c. and assists to carry up and wait at dinner, &c. &c. Wages, 16 to 20 guineas, with liveries.
THE HALL PORTER.